Peace talks between Thai authorities and southern insurgents have stalled as the Thai government considers the separatists' requests for immunity from criminal prosecution and for the talks to be made an official part of the Thai national agenda.
Sources at the meeting in Kuala Lumpur, facilitated by Malaysia, said discussions on Tuesday did not produce substantive results.
Thai negotiators are meeting with representatives of a new insurgency group alliance called the Majlis Syura Patani, or Mara Patani.
Gen Aksara Kerdpol, head of the Thai delegation, said the two sides discussed pilot safety zone areas, a joint working group to deal with requests from the insurgents, and other judicial matters in the southernmost region.
Gen Aksara proposed that the Mara Patani should choose the areas it wants to designate as violence-free safety zones, and they agreed to consider this suggestion. "We want [the insurgents] to single out the areas as they know which areas they can control 100%," he said.
Mara Patani is a new umbrella group of six insurgent movements, consisting of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), three factions of the Patani Liberation Organisation (Pulo), the Gerakan Mujahideen Islam Patani (GMIP) and the Barisan Islam Pembebasan Patani (BIPP). These groups were part of the talks before, but as separate entities.
The authorities and insurgents previously met during April and May, and the government hailed the lessening of violence during the holy month of Ramadan as a good sign to pursue talks with the umbrella group.
Mara Patani insisted on its demands for immunity from criminal prosecution for the groups it represents, and for the Thai government to formalise the southern peace talks as a national agenda item through parliamentary endorsement, rather than by the Prime Minister's Order No.230, which is the current policy framework for the talks, Gen Aksara said.
The government has to carefully consider these requests and there will be no immediate decisions, he said.
"So it was a repeated explanation and reaffirmation of what both sides wanted ... no significant progress," one of the Malaysian sources said.
A Thai military delegate also conceded that the initial plan to hold formal talks later this year, as expected by both Malaysia and Thailand, was unlikely to happen.
The Malaysian host and facilitator, Datuk Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim, former chief of Malaysia's intelligence agency, and his secretariat were involved in organising and launching the Mara Patani group.
Thai and Malaysian media are due to meet with representatives of the Mara Patani today to listen to their aspirations and objectives for the talks.
Hiccups and obstacles from all parties are to blame for the stop-start nature of the talks, another source noted.
"The secretariat of the facilitator has just seen a change of Special Branch Police chief while the Zamsudin Khan-led Pulo faction also face difficulties in communicating with their military wing -- the Patani Liberation Army -- on the ground," the source said.
Civil society organisations have warned the Mara Patani they should not claim they represent all people in the restive South.
Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch Thailand also reminded all sides that the junta-separatist talks have yet to deal quickly and directly with grievances of civilians in the region.
He cited allegations that Thai security forces have been involved in human rights violations, such as the case of Ashari Sama-ae, who died from injuries sustained during military detention.