The Defence Ministry's public relations unit has admitted that peace talks with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) separatist group have failed to bear fruit as violence continues to plague the far South.
PR unit chief Surachat Chitchang said yesterday the three rounds of talks held between the National Security Council (NSC) and the BRN since early this year appear to have done little to dampen violence in the region.
He made the comments yesterday as part of an update on the latest state efforts to end the insurgency in the Muslim-dominated provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Maj Gen Surachat said several fatal attacks on community leaders and local politicians since early this month proved the talks were failing.
"There are killings happening as we speak," he said. "This has frustrated and raised doubts among the people."
The next round of peace talks has also faced months of delays.
The BRN's five demands for ending the southern violence, which include the unconditional release of detainees charged with security-related charges, have caused the government to spend time considering its next move.
A demand by the authorities that the BRN proves its sincerity by reducing incidents of violence in the South has also slowed the dialogue.
NSC secretary-general Paradorn Pattanatabut yesterday denied speculation the government has accepted the BRN's list of demands.
There has been "no signing on or accepting of any issues", he insisted .
The security chief remained optimistic about the prospect of holding a fresh round of peace talks early next month.
Authorities have finished considering requests from representatives of other separatist groups in the region to join the peace talks, and are thus ready for the next meeting, Lt Gen Paradorn said.
"What we can say now is we have made some progress in starting talks with groups other than the BRN," he said.