Thailand, Malay-Muslim insurgents aim for March-April ceasefire amid cautious hope for permanent peace

The ceasefire could be in effect for several weeks, spanning Ramadan and the Buddhist Songkran festival

The Malay-Muslim insurgents hope the Thai government will work towards resolving the ‘lengthy conflict’, a spokesman says

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Muslim students walk pass a Thai soldier outside a school in Pattani province, southern Thailand, in 2013. Photo: EPA

Published: 6:36pm, 7 Feb 2024Updated: 11:11am, 8 Feb 2024

Corrected [11:11am, 8 Feb, 2024]

[11:11am, 8 Feb, 2024]
An earlier version of this story indicated that a ceasefire had already been agreed. This has been corrected to reflect that talks are still ongoing.

Thai authorities and Malay-Muslim insurgents are aiming for a ceasefire spanning Ramadan and the Buddhist Songkran festival, negotiators said, a small but significant step towards ending a conflict which has claimed several thousand lives over nearly two decades.

The southernmost provinces of Thailand – Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and parts of Songhkla – have seen a bloody insurgency by ethnic Malay groups seeking greater autonomy since April 2004.

Thailand colonised the region over a century ago and has sought to consolidate Malay culture and customs of the majority Muslim population under its control.

The conflict has claimed at least 7,300 lives, the majority of them civilians, caught up in the near-daily shootings and bomb attacks in a restive area just a few hundred miles from Thailand’s southern tourist beaches.

The new Thai civilian government of Srettha Thavisin wants to secure a breakthrough to end the violence, which has pegged back economic development and dogged relations with neighbouring Malaysia, analysts said.

His government took over last year after nearly a decade of military-dominated administration and has retained conservative arch-royalists in the cabinet.