Located roughly 745 miles south of Bangkok along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, the Muslim majority province of Pattani was once famous for having been governed by a woman.
Today, while remaining an area with one of the highest concentrations of Thai Muslims who worship daily at its beautiful central mosque, it has forfeited its popularity as a tourist destination due to ongoing violence between local Muslims and Buddhists. Since 2004, more than 3,000 people have lost their lives due to a decades-old religious conflict.