"Most of the militant groups are sticking to their violent methods as well as their separatist ideology,"he said.

He said that the government had yet to identify a major leader of the insurgency, and said he doubted that older separatist groups retained any operational control over forces on the ground.

"The government cannot find anyone willing to come to the negotiation table, because we cannot identify the real leadersl."

Authorities so far have only managed to identify low-level leaders, who rarely know any of the superiors above them, he added.

Violence in the three provinces has surged in the last month, despite a series of peace initiatives launches by Thailand's post-coup government.

Boonrawd said he believed militants had stepped up their attacks because they fear losing public support to new reconciliation efforts launched since the September 19 coup in Bangkok.

"That's why they are stepping up the severity of their attacks, to assault people," he said.

"They are very much on the offensive and have made considerable progress so far. They believe they will achieve their goal (of an independent state) this year," he said.

The Nation