<p>News articles about Muslim opposition to a statue of Guan Yin goddess in the South have been making rounds on the internet, drawing mockery and allegations about Muslim intolerance, especially from netizens who didn&rsquo;t read past the headlines.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>However, a report by Prachatai English finds that local activists and clerics are not protesting the plan out of religious hatred, but out of concerns that the statue would pave the way for a controversial industrial estate and open the door to Chinese investor influence in the region.</p>

<p>The Aeo Mong Mosque is the last mosque in Khon Kaen remaining unregistered, while people of different cultures in the community seek a way of co-existing amidst a wave of Islamophobia.</p>

<div> <div>This year’s university initiation season has been inaugurated with the message that “touching someone else’s genitals can create love and unity.” Meanwhile, an anti-Islam monk has been disrobed for inciting violence against Muslims.</div> </div> <h2>Too much love at a Thai university</h2> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <div>The beginning of the university year in Thailand is marked by reports of physical, mental and sexual abuse against freshman students during initiation activities. </div></div>

<p>A controversial Thai temple has reportedly given an award to a radical anti-Muslim Burmese monk on his visit to Thailand while a group of Thai monks openly showed him support.</p>

<div> <p dir="ltr">I was relieved to read Ajan Nidhi Eoseewong’s <a href="http://prachatai.org/english/node/5892">article</a> in <em>Prachatai English</em> this past Tuesday, March 1st, about the rise of Islamophobia amongst Buddhist groups in northern Thailand. Ajan Nidhi’s article addresses the recent opposition to the construction of a halal industrial park in Chiang Mai on the part of a consortium of influential Buddhist groups. Sadly, this is only the most recent example of Buddhist objection to Muslim religious expression in the north.</p> </div>

<div>I was surprised and disappointed at a recent statement opposing plans to site a Halal industrial park anywhere in Chiang Mai. The statement was issued to the Governor in late January by a group of Buddhist monks and laity including the head of the Chiang Mai Sangha and members of the Association of Village Heads of Chiang Mai. </div>