It mainly represents the interests of the Muslim minority in Thailand Southern provinces.

Forerunner of the Matubhum Party was the Wahdah faction (Arab for Unity), initially a cross-party group of Muslim parliamentarians led by Wan Muhamad Noor Matha.

The majority of the Wahdah faction joined the New Aspiration Party and later the Thai Rak Thai Party of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, to achieve improvements for the Muslim population in the South.

[2] The Muslim general Sonthi Boonyaratglin, from 2005 to 2007 Commander-in-Chief of the Army, leader of the 2006 coup d'état, and chairman of the military junta, joined the party in November 2009, and immediately became party leader.

[4] In the 2011 general election, the party won two seats, one for the party-list and one constituency-based in Pattani Province.