Report from Bangkok
South Asians Form Multi-religious Network
Bangkok and Pattani, Thailand, September 19, 2012
Cambodian Patriarch Tep Vong greets Islamic leader in South Thailand’s conflict zone
More than 200 religious leaders, representatives of interreligious councils and peace scholars from the Association of South Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states convened in Bangkok and Pattani, Thailand on 17-19 September 2012, to address the role of religion and interreligious cooperation in resolving conflicts and building peace in the ASEAN region.
The participants made a united mission to the conflict zone in southern Thailand to advance multi-religious cooperation to build peace. The Religions for Peace Interreligious Council of Thailand has been working to build closer relationships among various religious groups in the South of Thailand to help resolve the conflict. “Thai Buddhists and Muslims share deep moral principles, and these can provide a basis for working out a peaceful solution,” noted Rev. Kyoichi Sugino, Deputy Secretary-General of Religions for Peace International …