Governance & Education
- See also Shaykh al-Islām
Chularatchamontri (Thai: จุฬาราชมนตรี) is the title of His Majesty's chief advisor on Islamic affairs. The title was in use in the Ayutthaya Kingdom when King Songtham (1611–1628) appointed Sheikh Ahmad to the office. The modern National Council for Muslims, consisting of at least five persons (all Muslims) and appointed by royal proclamation, advises the ministries of education and interior on Islamic matters. Its presiding officer, the state counselor for Muslim affairs, is appointed by the king and holds the office of division chief in the Department of Religious Affairs in the Ministry of Education. Provincial councils for Muslim affairs existed in the provinces that had substantial Muslim minorities, and there were other links between the government and the Muslim community, including government financial assistance to Islamic education institutions, assistance with construction of some of the larger mosques, and the funding of pilgrimages by Thai Muslims to Mecca, both Bangkok and Hat Yai being primary gateway cities.
Thailand also maintains several hundred Islamic schools at the primary and secondary levels, as well as Islamic banks, (Pattanakarn, Bangkok), shops and other institutions. Much of the packaged food marketed is tested and labeled halal (unless it has pork), regardless of who eats it.
Read more about this topic: Islam In Thailand
Famous quotes containing the words governance and/or education:
“He yaf me al the bridel in myn hand,
To han the governance of hous and land,
And of his tonge and his hand also;”
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