A long-dormant separatist insurgency re-emerged in Thailand's southernmost provinces in
early 2004. Daily shootings and bomb attacks have already claimed over , 00 lives, mostly civilians,
and there is no end in sight. The government's ability to respond has been hamstrung by poor
intelligence, bitter inter-agency rivalries, and a legacy of mistrust and mutual suspicion between the
government and the community. The national political crisis has also distracted attention from the
serious security threat in the south. There is widespread concern in the region that left unchecked, the
unrest in the largely Thai Muslim Malay provinces of Pattani, Yala Narathiwat and four districts of
Songkhla province could turn into a mass-based insurgency, although to date there is no evidence of
any external involvement in violence.