The Matsayit Klang was built in the 1960s and is Thailand's second largest mosque. Pattani, founded in the 15th century, was once the capital of an independent Malay-speaking sultanate. Today it is the spiritual heart and most important town in the Malay Muslim region of Thailands Deep South. About 75 per cent of the population are Malay-speaking Muslims (figures are disputed), and the city and region are at the centre of the current political instability that has disturbed the Deep South border provinces for at least four decades.