Buddhist, Catholic and Muslim groups have called on the government to use only "peaceful and ethical means" to quell unrest in the deep South.
They also asked the media to be more informative and refrain from giving sensational or distorted reports about the southern situation.
The calls were made in a joint statement made yesterday by the Sekhiyadhamma (Buddhist) group, the Catholic Committee for Justice and Peace, and the Muslim Council of Thailand.
They demanded the government stop using weapons and all kinds of violence in tackling security problems in the three border provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
The government must forge cooperation among all parties to create peace instead of focusing on use of force which could affect innocent people, they said.
Phra Kittisak Kittisopano of the Sekhiyadhamma group said the use of military forces and war weapons, questioning of Muslim religious teachers and raids on Islamic ponoh schools had done more harm than good. Such actions could only lead to more violence and villagers' reluctance to cooperate with state officials, the monk said.
Reverend Wichai Phokkathawi of the Catholic committee said the fatal attacks on Buddhist monks in the South reflected a moral crisis in the country.
Somdech Massalae, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Thailand, said those who killed monks in the South were outlaws who deserved punishment according to Islamic law.
The violence in the South was not a Muslim religious war, or jihad, as some people claimed since jihad referred to a fight in self-defence against injustice, he said.
The attempts to instigate religious strife in the deep South were similar to what had happened before in India, Afghanistan and Indonesia. He believed the perpetrators were well trained.
"The government and the defence minister knew well that members of international terrorist groups were moving in the South. But, in the wake of violence, only ordinary people have been arrested. I can say that there will be more violence in the future and no masterminds will be arrested," he said.