The San Jao Lim Ko Niaw shrine is dedicated to the sister of Lim To Khieng; a visiting Chinese merchant who had married a local woman and converted to Islam.

To show his devotion to his new faith; he started building a mosque; the Kru Se Mosque situated outside Pattani town. His sister; Lim Ko Niaw; sailed from China to protest about his conversion; and he swore that he would return to China as soon as the new mosque was finished. However; he made sure that it never was; and his sister; on her deathbed; cursed the building and anyone who attempted to complete it. Her shrine; Chao Mae Lim Ko Niao; located in downtown Pattani; and the Kru Se Mosque; still attract huge numbers of devotees; the former mainly ethnic Chinese; and the latter Muslim.

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 Thailand's 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.