The curer as cultural intermediary in southern Thailand

A glimpse at the life of an illustrious Buddhist monastic curer in Pattani, Thailand, reveals a significant multiethnic component of Southeast Asia's traditional medical systems. The prominence of this curer and the prosperity of his monastery derive in large part from his command of alien occult knowledge, which he uses to combat outside supernatural aggression. The paper concludes with a discussion of how centers of outside magical power are conceptualized among various groups in Thailand.