BANGKOK, Nov 3 (Reuters): Thailand's military government vowed on Monday to bring peace to the Muslim-dominated south within a year, despite stalled peace talks aimed at ending an insurgency that has cost thousands of lives in the past decade.
Sporadic violence has killed more than 5,700 people in Thailand's Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia, where resistance to Buddhist rule has existed for decades and resurfaced violently in January 2004.
In the latest violence last Friday, one woman was killed and at least two injured in separate bomb attacks launched by suspected militants at three restaurants in Pattani province, police said.
"We are doing all that we can. We will try to bring peace within a year," Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters.
He blamed the attacks on insurgents retaliating for recent arrests by the authorities.
"The attacks happened because we managed to catch many people, including leaders, of groups involved in instigating acts of violence," Prawit added.
The violence comes as Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha seeks to present an image of greater effectiveness in containing the insurgency, based in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces in Thailand's so-called "Deep South".
It has occasionally spilled into nearby Songkhla province, thronged by tourists from neighbouring Malaysia. The provinces were once part of a Malay Muslim sultanate until being annexed by Thailand in 1902.
Successive governments have tried, with little success, to stem the violence. Responses to the insurgency have drawn criticism, including accusations of widespread rights violations against suspected militants and their supporters.
The government of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawtra formally agreed to start peace talks with a militant group operating in the southern provinces in 2013.
Thai govt vows peace in insurgency-hit south
FE Team | Published: November 04, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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