Fourth Army Commander Lt Gen Walit Rojanapakdi is likely to be transferred after a six-month stint in the violence-torn South in an upcoming annual reshuffle.
Lt Gen Walit, appointed to tackle the southern unrest in April this year, is tipped to become deputy chief-of-staff at the Royal Thai Armed Forces. He is expected to be promoted to a full general in the transfer order at the end of this month.
The much-speculated transfer is believed to have been triggered by a series of bomb attacks in the region in recent months. They included the July 25 car bomb in Yala's Betong district that killed two people and injured 52 others.
Some believe Lt Gen Walit may not be familiar with southern insurgency even though he has worked in the region before.
Lt Gen Walit, known to belong to the influential Burapha Payak (Tigers of the East) military clique, is believed to have expertise in issues along the Thai-Cambodia border.
He will have to be transferred to the Royal Thai Armed Forces because there is no vacant position to accommodate his seniority.
It is believed his appointment as the Fourth Army commander in the mid-year reshuffle was largely thanks to pressure from the red shirts who backed the then Yingluck Shinawatra administration.
Moving him from Bangkok to the far South was seen as an effort to appease the red shirts. Lt Gen Walit was a key officer taking part in 2009-2010 military operations to disperse the red-shirt protesters during the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration.
Tipped to replace Lt Gen Walit is Maj Gen Prakarn Chonlayuth, deputy commander of the Third Army, which is in charge of the army jurisdictions in the northern region.
Maj Gen Prakarn, a former deputy commander of the Fourth Army, is said to be widely recognised by local officials and residents in the deep South.
In his weekly televised speech on Friday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the National Council for Peace and Order and the government will put the southern unrest high on the government's priority list.
Referring to peace talks with separatists, Gen Prayuth, also the army chief, said changes are being made to make the process "formal and standard".
He said a Thai delegation led by National Security Council secretary-general Thawil Pliensri has been assigned to hold talks with Malaysia, which acts as the facilitator, to prepare for the talks.
Gen Prayuth said the process should resume as soon as possible to restore peace and order in the region. While there are improvements in some areas, the situation seems to have worsened in other locations.
He insisted that all separatist groups should be included in the dialogue. "We talked to this group while others still carry out attacks. It shouldn't be like that," he said.
He said a strategic plan for the deep South is in place to make sure the work will not be disrupted when there are changes of individuals responsible.
"We have a clear strategic plan, and it will be carried out despite changes to the people in charge. The work will not be affected. The armed forces function in accordance with policy and planning," he said.
Gen Prayuth dismissed allegations in social media that the troops have used excessive force against suspected militants.
On local leaders' calls for the withdrawal of troops, he said soldiers would not have been needed if the situation in the deep South had been normal. The soldiers have been deployed to protect people.
He also said a military court or a special method for criminal justice administration might be considered to ease a backlog of cases in the deep South.