Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 06CHIANGMAI131, THE YUNNAN CONNECTION: ISLAM, TRADE, FAMILY SUSTAIN LINKS

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #06CHIANGMAI131.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06CHIANGMAI131 2006-08-16 11:50 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Chiang Mai
VZCZCXRO1717
PP RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHVC
DE RUEHCHI #0131/01 2281150
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161150Z AUG 06
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0251
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0524
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 0285
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000131 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL SCUL TH CH
SUBJECT: THE YUNNAN CONNECTION:  ISLAM, TRADE, FAMILY SUSTAIN LINKS 
TO CHINA 
 
REF: A. A) CHIANG MAI 4 (UPHEAVAL IN CHIANG MAI ISLAMIC COMMITTEE WORRIES AUTHORITIES) 
 
     B. B) CHIANG MAI 117 (NORTHERN MUSLIMS CULTIVATE MODERATE IMAGE) 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000131  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1.  (U)  Summary:  Northern Thai Muslim families with roots in 
China's Yunnan province play a significant role in the local 
economy and cross-border trade.  Known throughout the region as 
"Jin Haw", this group's heritage as caravan traders manifests 
itself today in religious, commercial, historical and family 
links throughout the Burma-Thailand-Laos-China quadrangle. 
Yunnanese Muslims have used family connections in northern 
Thailand to secure limited slots on the hajj pilgrimage.  End 
summary 
 
2.  (U)  In recent years as northern Thai Chinese became more 
financially and politically able to travel to China and send 
their children to Mandarin courses, old connections with Yunnan 
reemerged.   One prominent Chiang Mai family that includes the 
current chairman of the Provincial Islamic Committee (PIC) has 
uncovered its family relationship with Ming dynasty explorer 
Zheng He.  Others have helped their Chinese relatives travel to 
Saudi Arabia, taking advantage of Thailand's higher quota for 
hajj pilgrims. 
 
3.  (SBU)   [In addition to Muslims who began arriving from 
Yunnan in the 19th century, the colloquial designation "Jin Haw" 
includes Chinese Nationalist or Kuomintang (KMT) troops who came 
to Thailand through Burma after the 2nd World War, spearheaded 
by the KMT's 93rd Division.  The two groups live in many of the 
same border communities; officials and others see no religious 
or ideological contradiction in this combination and are quick 
to connect Yunnanese of all types with drug trafficking and 
other illicit activities.] 
 
The Road to Mecca 
--------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU)  According to Praman Mooktaree, a member of both the 
Chiang Mai PIC and the Central Islamic Committee of Thailand, 
Saudi authorities permit 10,000-12,000 Thai Muslims to make the 
hajj each year, a number that is reportedly more generous than 
the number of slots allocated to Chinese Muslims.   Praman 
explained that Yunnanese Muslims unable to get in on the Chinese 
quota had for some time been traveling to Mecca through Chiang 
Mai and Bangkok.  (Thai government contacts cite reports from 
Chinese authorities that some 100 Chinese Muslims per year cross 
the Burma border at Mae Sai under the pretext of pilgrimage.) 
 
5.   (SBU)   Last year, Saudi authorities tightened up on this 
practice, allowing only a hundred pilgrims to continue on to 
Saudi Arabia while a disappointed thousand more cooled their 
heels in Thailand.    Praman claimed that most of the successful 
pilgrims traveled under the care of a non-profit hajj operator 
who worked with the Chiang Mai PIC to screen for those with 
family or kinship ties in northern Thailand.   He blamed the 
crackdown on overly profit-oriented Thai hajj operators, whose 
focus on business made them less credible to the Saudi 
officials. 
 
Roots of the Muslim Jin Haw Community 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
6.  (U)  The current chairman of the PIC, Palangkun Wongluekiat, 
is the grandson of a Muslim Yunnanese caravan trader who moved 
to Chiang Mai in 1905 and built a house that was used to unload 
goods and rest pack animals from China.   The house, which still 
stands today across from the Ban Haw mosque a block from the 
Night Bazaar, combines Chinese courtyard architecture with Thai 
stilt construction.   A large wooden plaque with the Chinese 
family name is flanked by pictures of the King of Thailand and 
the Kaaba in Mecca. 
 
7.   (U)   This family, whose photo is displayed in Yunnan's 
Zheng He museum as the Thailand branch of the explorer's 
descendents, secured a position in Chiang Mai life as successful 
merchants and good citizens, donating land for the airport and 
eventually being awarded a title by the King and the Thai family 
name of Wongluekiat   In keeping with its origins, the house 
environs where mule caravans once unloaded is now a parking area 
for stalls from Chiang Mai's Night Bazaar. 
 
Caravans to Tour Buses 
----------------------------- 
 
8.   (U)  Chiang Mai's Night Bazaar, beloved of tourists, had 
its origins in a small trading post set up by Muslims from 
Yunnan fleeing the suppression of a rebellion there in the 19th 
century.    By the late 1890s, Muslim Yunnanese communities were 
established in Chiang Mai and other urban centers of north 
Thailand as well as in more remote rural areas.    Known as Ban 
Haw (or Ho), the area adjacent to the Night Bazaar hosts a 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000131  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
weekly Yunnanese market in the compound of the century-old 
Wongluekiat house.  Villagers from Fang's Ban Yang mosque as 
well as other communities travel every Friday to sell vegetables 
and other goods at this market. 
 
9.  (SBU)  Yunnanese Thai Muslims are woven throughout northern 
Thai commerce, especially in Chiang Mai city and in cross-border 
trade at Mae Sai.  The president of Mae Sai's Al Nur Mosque is 
one of the wealthiest men in town, thanks to his trade interests 
along the Mekong, through Burma's Wa region and into China. 
The largest locally based tour company in Chiang Mai, Standard 
Tour, is run by a Yunnanese Muslim family that specializes in 
trips to China and Taiwan as well as bringing mainland and 
Taiwan tourists to northern Thailand.   Company head Songwit 
Itthipattanakul has served as chairman of both the Chiang Mai 
and national Yunnanese Associations.  His inauguration last year 
as chairman of the Tourism Business Association of Chiang Mai 
was attended by the entire staff of the Chinese Consulate as 
well as by top government and Thai Rak Thai (TRT) leaders. 
Songwit is considered the province's leading Yunnanese 
businessman and reportedly played a behind-the-scenes role in 
last year's controversial PIC election, which saw his fellow 
Yunnanese Muslim Palangkun Wongluekiat - - in alliance with TRT 
MP Pakorn Buranupakorn, a non-Muslim  --  win the PIC 
chairmanship over the previous chairman, an Imam of Bengali 
descent (ref a). 
 
Mosque Remains Predominantly Chinese 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
10.  (U)  Chiang Mai's central Ban Haw mosque is a center for 
Muslims from Yunnan; an estimated 70 percent of the members are 
of Chinese ancestry.   A municipal historical marker on the main 
road of the Night Bazaar reads, "In the time of King 
Inthawichayanon (1870-1897), a group of Ho Chinese settled here 
and built the mosque 'Hidayatun' in 1887 as the center of their 
community." 
 
11.  (U)  Another prominent Chiang Mai mosque, Attaqwa, features 
pictures of Kunming as well as Mecca and displays the mosque 
name in Chinese as well as Arabic, Thai and English.   Students 
at the mosque's school study both Chinese and Arabic.  Farther 
north in Fang at a rural mosque headed by a Yunnan-born Imam, a 
two-classroom school teaches Thai, Arabic, English and Chinese. 
 
 
Comment:   Integration and Identity 
------------------------------------------- 
 
12. (U)   Many Yunnanese Muslims in northern Thailand have 
married non-Muslim Thais, adopted Thai names, and attended 
Thai-language and even Christian schools.  They are usually 
grouped  - often in a negative connection with the infamous drug 
trade that gave this border region its Golden Triangle 
reputation -- with the KMT troops and civilians who moved into 
northern Thailand after the Communist takeover of the mainland; 
in fact many of the newcomers from Yunnan moved into the 
communities of the earlier Muslim settlers.   Despite this 
successful integration, the community retains a distinctive 
identity, with prominent mosques, schools, special foods and 
even a city historical market. 
 
13. (U)  During the visit of Thai-American Imam Rahmat Phyakul 
to Mae Sai (ref b), the mosque president called for a volunteer 
to recite the opening chapter of the Koran in a Yunnanese 
accent, to complement the Thai, American, and Middle 
Eastern-accented recitations just completed.   Although 
initially reluctant, the young man who answered the call clearly 
found new pride in his native roots through this action, 
exclaiming afterward "I grew up with a Thai accent, I studied to 
develop a Middle Eastern style, but this is the first time I've 
recited with a Yunnan accent."  The Imam explained that "This is 
the first time in our lives to listen to the recitation in 
Yunnanese accent. It brought happiness and peace to our hearts." 
CAMP