It is a 200 years problem and was exacerbated by the Brits when they broke up Pattani in 1909 (an independence country and society) and divided the area up between Thailand and Malaysia.
Under Malaysian rule the Pattani people have much more freedom and less political corruption than under the Thai rule. Thai has been known to cheats on electorate ballots in the region, and police brutality as well as economic disparity in the area lead the Pattani people to seek independence.
That said, the 3 southern province of Thailand never has been a stable area since Thailand had control of it, because Thais and Pattanis are not the same people and do not speak the same language. Racial inequality greatly present, and regular police brutality and killing is the norm., hence it lead the area to be a point of interest and terrors for Muslim extremists from Indonesia and Malaysia to conjugate.
Religion of peace has not thing to do with violent. The problem is that there are foreign extremist/terrorists who come to Pattani to sabotage the daily lively hood of both Buddhist and Muslim Thais. And, the Thai government seems to largely ignore the pleads of the Pattanis, and having not speaking in Thai language may have something to do with it, as well as that they are among the poorest if not the poorest South East Asian.
Please educate yourself before you spouts hates, because people like you are hell bent on destroying innocent people lives.
I have visited Thailand twice and have visited Pattani area, as well as many other Thais regions. I have had good experience with local Thais people (Buddhists and Muslims). One of my good friend who is a white person that live and teach in Puket for over 20 years. He have a Buddhist Thai wife and 2 kids, and he educated me on the conflict, as well as I have read many papers and study on this subject in Thailand.
<-- Born Roman Catholic, but became agnostic.
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While we are on this subject, let it be known that the Thais aren't known to be peaceful loving people as what many people seems to think.
In the 80s many Thais weren't allow to enter Thai Hotels, Supper Markets, or Restaurants because inequality/bigotry/racism is an acceptable practice in Thai culture. Hence, that practice still is present strongly today in the modern era.
Thais also are not free from greed (perhaps because they are poor people), hence they are known to be the largest group of pirates in the mid 70s to the late 90s that robs/rapes/kills from the escaping Vietnamese immigrants (there are perhaps in the 20+ thousands of cases that was reported to the Red Cross and UN).
During the Pol Pot era, the Thais government has been known to turn hundreds of thousands of Cambodian immigrant back into the war torn Cambodian country, and the result was that the majority if not all of them was killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Thailand is a Buddhist society, but suddenly they tried to claimed that the 11th century Hindu temple Preah Vihear belong to them which is well within the Cambodian territory that oil was discovered near by. They invaded Cambodia as well as attacked Cambodia many times since the discovery of oil in the surrounding area of Preah Vihear in the mid 90s.
Thais also has been known to indefinitely keeping hundred of thousands people in refugees camps (some have lived in the camps for more than 50 years) even those most Burmese descendent are born in Thailand. They are not provided with refugee or citizen status so that they can legally seek employment. IMHO, it is Thai officials way of milking international organizations for money, because theses organizations must pay the officials so that they are allow to help the Burmese refugees/poor, and some if not most of the donations also are skimmed off the top before it get to the hands of the people that needed it.
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