Bangkok, Thailand - Two years after suspected Muslim militants raided an army base in southern Thailand, sparking a bloody insurgency, the region is riven by distrust and peace remains a distant prospect, analysts say.
A daily tide of violence in the Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia has left more than 1,000 people dead since the January 4, 2004 raid, and critics say government efforts to rein in the violence have been woeful.
Bangkok has tried dumping 120 million paper birds from aircraft in a symbolic peace drop and pledging cable television for village tea houses as part of efforts to bring peace.
But despite repeated government assurances that the unrest is under control or declining, the frequent killings -- two men were found shot and beheaded on Monday -- suggest otherwise.
It appeared an end to the violence was a long way off, said Human Rights Watch consultant on Thailand Sunai Phasuk.
"Until now, the militants haven't identified themselves or made clear their objectives and that in itself indicates they don't have any intention to start negotiations with the government," he told AFP.
"We're talking about a double failure.
"We know the government can't solve the militants (problem), the second is the government can't win the trust of the locals," said Sunai, blaming officials for abuses which started with the investigation into the original January 4 raid.
Former premier Anand Panyarachun, whom Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra tapped in February to run the government-appointed National Reconciliation Commission, has said Bangkok must admit and apologise for past abuses.
When Anand was appointed to the commission and charged with devising a peace plan, the death toll stood at around 610. It is expected to publish its recommendations in March.
The restive provinces once formed an autonomous Muslim sultanate until they was annexed by Thailand a century ago. Separatist violence has periodically flared since then, but the groups who led the last campaign in the 1970s largely disintegrated in the 1980s and many members are in exile.
Abdul, a villager in Narathiwat province who requested his full name not be used because of fears for his safety, said government officials had failed to build unity and peace over the past two years.
He said the main reason was the officials, who are all Buddhists, lacked understanding of the roots of the problems and Thai Muslims' ways of life.
Buddhists form the majority in this country of about 63 million people. Muslims make up fewer than five percent and most of whom live in southern Thailand. Many Muslims are ethnic Malays who speak Yawi or Malayu dialects, not Thai.
A controversial emergency decree the government introduced in July 2005 and renewed for an extra three months in October allows detention without trial and gives officials immunity from prosecution.
"While the decree gives more power to state officials to arrest and detain suspects, it has failed to regain the trust of local people toward the government and somehow made it worse," Abdul said.
The head of Pattani's local administration, Ahmad Somboon Bualuang, said he could not see any improvement in the situation.
Instead, economic conditions had deteriorated, with incomes cut to around one third of what they were before 2004, because people were afraid of leaving their homes and tourism had crashed.
"I haven't seen any improvement over the past two years, even though the government has tried to present positive images about what's going on," he said.
"In fact, local people feel more pressure as the authorities cannot explain clearly who is actually behind the violence, and they've arrested a number of people who haven't done anything wrong," Ahmad added.
Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya said on Sunday the government would work harder to end the violence.
"Officials do not really understand the problem clearly and they haven't implemented follow-up measures," Chidchai conceded. "Lots of things have to be done."