More than 200 billion baht have been spent by successive governments during the past 11 years since 2004 to cope with the unrest problem in the Deep South, according to the latest report from the Police Operations Centre of Southern Border Provinces and Isra News Centre.

I looked at the monitor of my computer to glance through the news stories from the troubled Deep South in the past two months and found out that there were several violent incidents which caused serious loss of lives and properties.

It looks likely that the military make take over from the National Security Council in leading the peace talks with the southern separatist groups.

"He likes to be hugged while we are sleeping together. We have never been far from each other," said a grieving Mrs Sobriya Sama-ae as she watched her two-year old boy, Muza, fall asleep on a bed in Pattani provincial hospital’s intensive care unit.

The Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) separatist group has threatened to walk out of the peace talks process unless its five demands are endorsed by the Thai parliament.