ABSTRACT
The peoples who have been called 'Sam Sam' are Thai-speaking Muslims. They inhabit the western coast of the Malay Peninsula on either side of the Thai-Malaysian border. This is a frontier area between the Thai and Malay worlds. In the former the people chiefly practise Buddhism and speak Thai; in the latter the people chiefly practise Islam and speak Malay. The salient cultural characteristics of Sam Sam ethnicity are found in their peculiar combination of religion and language, the main factors demarcating ethnic boundaries. They practise Islam, yet use the Thai language, which has resulted in an alienation of Sam San1 ethnicity from the main Thai and Malay ethnicities.
