A BEAUTIFUL SOUTH, AN UGLY TRUTH

Even in the still of the jungle thicket in this the farthest corner of the southernmost province of Thailand, there lies a potential for violence one cannot ignore. Bloody pinprick assaults in the form of shootings or bombings have peppered almost daily now a region that should be known alone for its majestic natural beauty - but there is in Thailand's South arguably another lesser-known paralysing force at work.

For some state factions the Southern conflict is conveniently protracted. Exploiting the threat the insurgency poses, comfort is provided to the South in the form of security (arms and personnel) for a profit, though at a debilitating cost to Thailand’s poorest region - the seeming dislocation of the beautiful provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala, under martial law, effectively off-limits as fear propaganda is allowed to sustain.

Against this increasingly catastrophic socio-political landscape, seeking refuge from logging and agricultural expansion in small pockets deep in the Betong district of Yala, exist the Mani – a Negrito tribe indigenous to Thailand it is believed have lived here in relative isolation for several (possibly even as much as seventy) thousand years. Increasing genetic evidence suggests that these peaceful hunter-gatherers are descendants of the earliest modern humans to migrate from Africa to the Malay peninsula. In a nation obsessed with skin-whitening cream as much as sovereign rights it is, of course, most ironic that the first true inhabitants of what is now Thailand are such close genetic relations to the African. And this is unquestionably invaluable - even just for bringing into stark relief the notion that we are all guests on whatever soil we are standing.

A raw, striking, poignant black and white documentary photography series, The Beautiful South: The Ugly Truth juxtaposes tension and detachment, subjugation and peace, greed and generosity, and anxiety and grace - one as a foil for the other – starkly reminding us of the scale and gravity of our significance and ultimately the fleeting value of our existence.

"The silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion.”

– Conrad

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