Ever since the government decided to lift emergency decree in Mae Larn district of Pattani province, people have started questioning why, out of dozens of districts in the three southernmost provinces, Mae Larn was specifically chosen.

Buoyed by the new statistics which shows that the number of violent incidents in the Deep South has dropped below 1,000 this year, the first time in seven years since renewed violence broke out in January 2004, the government and security authorities concerned believe that they are on the right direction in their tireless efforts to “douse the fire” in the strife-torn region.

The conceptual modality of a new administrative body for the three southernmost provinces widely known as Nakhon Pattani or the City of Pattani was the subject of a public forum held on Constitution Day December 10 at the Pattani campus of Prince of Songkhla University.

Can women’s power help bring about peace in the Deep South?

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s meeting with two freshly released red-shirt protesters at the parliament on Thursday November 11 was widely seen as critics as a staged photo opportunity to give him a human face.