Following more than a year of silence, the military authorities are providing a glimmer of hope with moves to revive talks with the separatists fomenting violence in the deep South.
After more than 10 years of terrorism the only stable peace will be a negotiated one. A chief negotiator has been named, and both the National Security Council chief and the prime minister are due to visit Malaysia to arrange more details.
NSC chief Thawil Pliensri was put in overall charge of the peace talks shortly after the May 22 military coup. He is an experienced security veteran, but more importantly he is familiar with the situation, problems and possible solutions in the South. Like the other two major figures in reviving the peace talks, he is known generally as a "hard-liner". Mr Thawil actually opposed last year's peace talks, which broke down after a few sessions, with no discernible progress.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is, of course, in overall charge of all security operations in the South, from pursuing the violent gangs to trying to negotiate a settlement. He will go to Kuala Lumpur within weeks to follow up Mr Thawil's visit with Prime Minister Najib Razak. Malaysia has direct interests in achieving peace in southern Thailand. Furthermore, Kuala Lumpur has participated in past negotiations to settle violent revolts in the Philippines.
The third man at the top of the negotiations is Gen Akanit Muansawat. He is expected to be named chief negotiator once peace talks are actually arranged. He was also an outspoken critic of the Yingluck government's negotiations last year with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN). He has been a chief proponent of including as many southern groups as wish to participate in this year's round of talks. He participated in the negotiations in the 1980s to convince communist forces to lay down their arms and return to peaceful society.
Past peace talks have little effect on current negotiations, of course. But Gen Akanit's experience must be welcomed on the government's side of the table.
The Malaysian help is a slightly different matter. As a facilitator, Kuala Lumpur has provided welcome and necessary aid as a mediator. But the presence of the Malaysian government is also somewhat misleading. It gives the impression that two equal sides will negotiate over how to restore peace to the deep South. That is neither the desired nor the actual reality.
The groups that will make up the separatists' delegation are rebels opposing the Thai government and nation, foreign nationals supporting violence inside Thailand, or both. If last year's opening of peace talks are an indication, the anti-government participants in peace talks will attempt to seize the microphone of publicity, make strong demands of Thai authorities, and use social media to try to make their demands appear legitimate.
While the separatists have refused so far to describe their explicit aims, their overall goal seems obvious. It is to force Thailand to grant some sort of independence to the southernmost provinces. Gen Prayuth and his two chief aides in the negotiations have made it clear this objective is not on the table.
The immediate goal at the talks must be to permanently halt the violence. This can only happen if the rebel leaders agree to stand down and then convince the most violent, independent groups to take part. All the people in the South deserve justice and respect from the government, but a permanent end to violence must be the first step.