Thailand's new Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said on Wednesday he wants to solve the insurgency in the kingdom's south by peaceful means and will reach out to Muslims in the troubled region.
Surayud, the military-backed premier installed after last month's coup, signalled he would take a different approach on the crisis to the hard-line stance of the ousted government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"Let me explain my personal strategy of trying to solve the problems in the south, by peaceful means," he said after talks with Malaysian leaders.
"We will try to talk to a lot of people. Initially I told the Malaysian prime minister that I will talk to the Muslim leaders in the south, talk to kids in schools. So that is the way I'm trying to present myself, by way of talking."
But after returning to Bangkok, he said he had no immediate plans to hold talks with insurgent leaders, and indicated that Bangkok was still not sure exactly who was behind the unrest that has left more than 1,500 dead.
"I will try to explain (my policies) to most of the Thai Muslim people. Instead of talking to the people who I don't know, I will talk to the ones that we know," he said.
Surayud said he did not ask Malaysia to extradite insurgent leaders hiding in the country, because he didn't have any information on them.
His comments came after another upsurge in violence in the nearly three-year rebellion in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, with militants early on Wednesday staging a raid on a military camp that left one soldier dead.
Last month's coup in Bangkok sparked hopes for peace in the region after a Muslim army general led the ousting of Thaksin, who had been widely criticised for his heavy-handed response to the violence.
The Thai government had earlier said it hoped to hold talks with two insurgent groups early next month, but Surayud's latest comments underscored the complexities of ending a conflict in which ethnic Malay separatism, religious extremism, and organised crime all play a role.
Malaysia has said it is willing to play a bigger role in resolving the crisis, and former premier Mahathir Mohammad revealed recently he brokered talks between Thai officials and Muslim groups late last year to try to establish a cease-fire.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said after meeting with Surayud, who was on a one-day visit here, that both leaders wanted southern Thailand to be returned to peace.
"For Malaysia we would like to see southern Thailand as an area that is peaceful, where the Thais many of whom are Muslims... will be able to live in peace without fear," he said.
Malaysia also welcomed Thailand's announcement that it would restore a center for mediation in its troubled Muslim provinces, reversing Thaksin's 2001 move to close it down -- a decision linked with the rise in violence.
"In our meeting, the Thai PM has showed his dedication to solve the southern Thailand political issue," said Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak.
"He will restore ties with Muslim leaders in southern Thailand and take steps to start a new administration there, retaining the old administration but with new adjustments," he said, referring to the centre.
"These are positive signs that there will be a political solution there."