Can anyone explain?

I'm appealing for some explanation here. There are two things that caught my eye in today's paper. There's an opinion piece about the growing Islamification of Indonesia and a letter from a foreigner in the Postbag about Muslim unrest in the south of Thailand.

The letter argues that tolerance and understanding are central in ending the violence in the south of Thailand. The writer argues that Thailand should follow other countries in being tolerant towards the needs and wants of the Muslim population.

The opinion piece is about the recent move towards a more sharia based system of governance in Indonesia. The result already is that women are fined for being out after dark or without headscarves, Christians are forced to wear headscarves and cover up and churches are being fined and closed. A married mother was fined, given three years in jail and branded a prostitute for waiting for a bus at 8pm without a headscarf and having a stick of lipstick in her bag.

Am I alone in thinking that whilst we're all being told to be more tolerant towards Muslims the Islamic world seems to be nothing short of intolerant.

I come from the UK where it feels that a new law is emerging everyday to make life easier for Muslims. Public swimming pools have to have Muslim only days because Muslims don't want to have to bathe with non-Muslims, Christmas is all but banned in public places and any sign of Christianity is removed for fear of upsetting Muslims; traditional Christmas decorations in the streets are a thing of the past and one member of the Labour government even suggested changing Christmas to Wintermass so as to cause less offence.

Integration is a wonderful thing and I'm all for having mixed societies (I'm a product of mixed blood, my wife's Thai/Chinese and our daughter is a mix of all that). However, it does seem that non-Muslims are being all tolerant and the Muslims are anything but.

I have Muslim friends and one in particular who regularly sends me emails trying to convince me that Islam is very much misunderstood. In a bid to try to understand more I bought a copy of the Qu'ran. I haven't read it in its entirety yet but whenever I flick through it I always seem to come upon a page mentioning how us non-believers will burn in hell etc. "Argh", says my friend, "then you need to read another book to explain what you are reading in the Qu'ran in case you don't understand what the book is really saying". Hmm

Thailand has committed some terrible acts of revenge in the south against Muslim insurgents but at the same time they have not been shy in beheading people, setting off multiple bombs and burning down schools. With this heightened level of violence it's not hard to see why tolerance is in short supply.

I'm curious. I've asked this question to various Muslim friends who can't answer. Where is a true Muslim country? Where can I go and see Islam practiced in its true sense, complete with tolerance and understanding towards others? Iran? Saudi Arabia? Pakistan? Syria? Which Muslim country encourages people of different faiths to live side by side in harmony?

If Thailand bends to the will of the insurgents in the south will it bring peace? Will the lower three provinces become cut off from the rest of Thailand and become strict Islamic provinces run by the rule sharia? Will Thais from Thailand's predominant Buddhist population be able to live freely in those provinces and practice Buddhism openly without fear of persecution, as Muslims in other parts of Thailand can do now?

Can anyone explain?