A reduction in violent incidents in the restive South offer fresh hope that a peace deal with insurgents can be reached, local civil society leaders say.
However, they say authorities have yet to contribute to that progress by recognising civil society concerns about the way insurgent suspects are treated while they are in custody, which could derail gains made in other areas. Arbitrary arrests and claims of torture and mistreatment prevail.
Some believe the courts are also failing to deliver substantive justice, with few security authorities held to account for their transgressions.
Since the arsenal robbery at Narathiwat's Cho Airong military development unit on Jan 4, 2004, which marked a renewed outbreak of violence that has now killed over 6,500 people and injured thousands more, authorities are optimistic they are making progress.
The level of violence is waning along with the number of attacks and clashes, which fell to 167 incidents last year compared to a peak of 471 incidents in 2007. (Story continues below)
Muhammad Ayub Pathan, the newly-elected chairman of the Southern Civil Society Council, said he would like to focus on positive trends rather than problematic issues.
"Violence is still a reality, but a socio-political space has been created since the peace dialogue was inaugurated three years ago. That's already remarkable," said Mr Ayub.
The likely provisions of any lasting peace deal have been raised at many forums in the far South over the past few years, he said.
"Expectations from the international community and local people could not simply be brushed aside. Whatever has taken shape since the peace talks is irreversible.
And despite differing, conflicting or vague proposals emerging from those forums, at least there's an awareness," said Mr Ayub. He was optimistic the situation may not be so rigid or confrontational as it once was. "After all, the peace talks continue and on the ground there's a peace centre to follow up issues," he said.
Anchana Heemmina, the Duay Jai Group director, welcomed the fall in attacks but said the police and military still commit human rights violations.
"At the policy level they preach a nice set of procedures but actual operations for patrols, containment, search and arrests are something else entirely. They still think in terms of conflict management rather than conflict resolution," said the director of the human rights support group.
Security authorities and civil society remain at odds over this issue, said Ms Anchana, adding activists think in terms of "positive peace" -- what conducive developments are taking place -- while authorities are looking at the statistics of reduced attacks.
"So when they talk about safety zones, in reality there's harassment of certain groups of people,'' she said. Arresting people on the military's suspect lists, even when they do not have any criminal records, and house visits to collect DNA samples have become the norm, she said.
In recent months, the public protested against the practice when authorities obtained DNA from a baby found in a house where they were launching search and arrest operations.
Another point of concern, said Ms Anchana, was assault and torture, mostly during detention. She said special laws allow the military to detain people without charges. The Cross Cultural Foundation and the Duay Jai group have documented 28 cases of alleged torture including 15 cases last year, she said.
"Once the suspects are under military detention, it's hard to get any evidence of torture that could lead to punishment of the perpetrators. Even the doctor in the military camp does not do a thorough medical check-up on suspects," said Ms Anchana.
A recent death in a military camp, which authorities have claimed was "undubious", remains a dark spot in the eyes of local people. "At least three verdicts were read last year requiring the authorities to pay compensation, but not a single official was charged with a criminal suit," she said.