Fresh waves of insurgent mayhem have been roiling the border provinces of southern Thailand in recent weeks, refocusing national attention on the chronically troubled region and embarrassing the country's military-led government. But amid the explosions and gunfire of a bitter Malay-Muslim separatist revolt lies a paradox: The latest violence marks an important step on the road to peace.
Under the best of circumstances any settlement still remains a long way off. Fired by local anger over Bangkok's decades-long efforts to assimilate a once-independent Muslim sultanate into the national mainstream, the latest and most virulent campaign of resistance to central rule has cost nearly 7,000 lives since it began in early 2004. In retrospect, however, April 2017 may well be seen as marking a critical watershed.
