Unhappiness and frustration might best sum up the working relations between past Thai governments and their Malaysian counterparts when it comes to Southern Thailand. For the Thais, cooperation with the Malaysian authorities is needed while dealing with the separatist insurgents that often slip across the porous border from Thailand. On the Malaysian side, sharing the same ethnicity and Islamic religion as the Southern Thai Muslims means their politicians ought to have a key role to play in understanding and resolving insurgency issues in Southern Thailand. It might therefore seem logical that without the help of the Malaysian government, issues in regards to Muslim separatist moments in the deep South would be difficult to resolve. So when the report of a peace dialogue was made in February 2013, it came as a surprise for many.