Jiem Wongnoi, who lost her daughter and grandchild on the eve of the Songkran festival, has no tears left. "The tears are all dried up in my heart," she says.
Ms Jiem's daughter, Aree Rattana, had travelled about 70km along the winding hilly road from the border town of Sukhirin to pay her annual respects to her elderly mother living in Muang district for Songkran on April 12.
Ms Jiem did not know it would be the last time she would see her daughter alive.
Three hours after seeing Aree, who had four adult children, head off to her home in Sukhirin district, Ms Jiem was told about 7pm that Aree and one of her sons, Somnuek, had been shot dead.
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Aree and Sommuek were among four Buddhists shot dead in Nom Klao village in Sukhirin. The other two were a couple, Jun In-erb, 70, and Dam Nilsuwan, 66, who lived metres away from Aree's house.
The attackers also burned the houses of the two families after killing them.
It was not the first loss for Ms Jiem's family. About nine years ago, Jiem's youngest son was killed not far from her house.
Five months later, her son-in-law (Aree's husband) was also shot dead inside the Sukhirin house - one of 38 houses belonging to Buddhists straddled alongside 144 houses lived in by Muslims.
Ms Jiem, 88, said the loss was perhaps her karma so she could only offer forgiveness to the people who killed her kin.
She has no idea if the peace dialogue that is about to be relaunched will help ease the violence as she has lost interest in what is going on.
Several days before the killings, passers-by found a spray-painted message saying "You old man, prepare to die" on the bridge crossing the creek near Jun's house.
"We heard so many stories," said Ubon In-erb, 48, the eldest of Jun and Dam's four children
"Some said they wanted this land. Some said insurgents did it. Many linked the murders to botched military operations at Thung Yang Daeng. We're confused," she said.
The two families jointly own a 60-rai plot of land that had no title deeds. Neighbours said they paid about three million baht for the property.
Somjit Rattana, Aree's fourth child, said she only prayed for peace but felt hopeless. "Now we just make merit but how many more bodies [will there be] for merit making?" Ms Somjit, 44, said. She was also disappointed that officials made their presence felt at the religious ceremonies but then swiftly disappeared after the cremations were over.
"It's the same as when my father died. We got wreaths and condolences but know nothing about who killed him," Ms Somjit said.
Jun and Dam's second daughter, who asked not to be named, wondered how many more Buddhists would be killed before the peace dialogue could yield some results.
"There will be no more Buddhists left, while they [separatists] still ask for more and the government still wants to give in," she said.
Ms Ubon said Buddhists were living here "as if they were the outcasts".
Pawin Nilsuwan, 35, the third child of Jun and Dam, said he disagreed with any proposal of an amnesty for insurgents as they should face justice first.
"Whenever there were incidents of violence, I still never thought it would happen to my family," Mr Pawin said.
Neighbours of the two families also said Buddhists and Muslims had lived together amicably for decades.
Wee Yeunchon, 64, said villagers were left numb after the brutal killings and their children who lived in town have asked them to leave.
"But how can we not live here where we are used to tending the land and breathing the fresh air. We just have to live with the fear," said Mr Wee who has lived in the area for 43 years.
He said he would like to see a military outpost near his house.
Siriporn Petchwong, 47, another villager, echoed Mr Wee's opinion.
"We would feel more secure if they patrolled more," she said.
The head of Ranger Company 1109, 1st Lt Saneh Dee-uam, was punitively transferred last week following the Sukhirin violence. But a district administrative official said motives behind the killings might not be linked to the insurgency but rather from personal conflicts.
"This plot of land is a nice one, near the creek. The owners of the land have been targeted for a decade," the official, who asked not to be named, said.
However, other security sources said members of separatist movements "exist everywhere".
