Government officials and southern insurgency groups have quietly begun talking peace, but neither side is revealing what progress has been made.
National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Anusit Kunakorn said Tuesday that talks "are under way", although the overall peace negotiations remain in the early stages.
The government has set up three peace talk-related panels and assigned tasks to each. The national committee is led by the NSC, the negotiation team is led by Gen Aksara Kerdpol, and the regional team is led by the 4th Army Region.
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No results or progress in the previously undisclosed negotiations will be made, Mr Anusit said, as doing so could jeopardise the peace process.
Daily updates would result in each side offering their own interpretations of progress and positions, leading to confusion. The prime minister, he said, is being updated on developments and, once both sides have reached an agreement, a statement will be issued.
However, Mr Anusit still offered up his impression of the peace process so far.
"I think it has been good, because peace is what everyone wants," he said. "Unrest in the troubled areas, regardless of who started it, has affected all of the South.
"It's now time for everyone to find a way out of this situation, and I think the government has been on the right track," he added.
Asked about recent violent incidents in the South and in Surat Thani province, Mr Anusit said there had been many mistakes, mainly because people look at each other with suspicion and fear. He added, however, that he did not believe the Central Festival Samui bombing on April 10 was related to the southern unrest.
Meanwhile, a network of Muslim and Buddhist women in the deep South is calling on authorities and militants to end the "circle of violence", which hinders attempts to bring peace to the region.
Exemplifying such an unwanted circle, they referred to a spate of seven bomb attacks in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat in one month that they suspected might be violent responses to the killing of four men in Pattani's Ban To Chut on March 25.
The deaths became a problem when the men were later found to be unarmed and had nothing to do with the militant movement, according to a fact-finding panel appointed by the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) Region 4 Forward Command to investigate the victims' relatives complaints over the killings.
In addition, other subsequent violent incidents killed 13 people including nine women and children, said the network, which is made up of 21 civic groups including women and child rights groups.
Speaking on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the Krue Se mosque killings in Pattani Tuesday in which 32 Muslim insurgent suspects were killed by security officers during clashes at the mosque, the network asked all sides to heed its proposals to support peaceful solutions.
The proposals focus on avoiding the deaths of women and children, government transparency about anti-insurgency activities, and not allowing violent provocations to escalate.
