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For a country that churns out thousands of graduates on an annual basis, the first graduating class of the King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI) has, indeed, stood out above the rest. The 92 students of KPI's Class 1, who just completed a year-long course on peace and conflict studies, didn't just do the normal course of test, midterms, final exams and thesis or dissertation. They did something that was extremely bold, challenging and meaningful.

Besides their individual course work, collectively these graduate students came up with a set of recommendations for the government, as well as the society at large, as to how the conflict in the deep South should or could be resolved.

Instead of going on about lengthy theoretical studies that tend to put people to sleep, the students encouraged the government to take a proactive peaceful approach to the deep South, a region where the latest wave of insurgency has claimed the lives of nearly 3,500 people since January 2004.

The proposals from the KPI students were not another of the Bangkok-centric, top-down way of looking at the South. The fact that a significant number of the students were from the restive region, as well as members of officials and civil society working on the ground, enabled them to give a perspective different from the typical top-down approach that has failed to curb the violence and bridge the historical mistrust between local Malay Muslims and the Thai state.

Moreover, the presence of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, not to mention hundreds of participants and distinguished guests, was encouraging, as well as a testimony of the importance of their work.

Among other things, they called on the Thai state to grant the Patani Malays cultural space and to stop imposing state-constructed identity on the Muslims there. They urged the state and the society to come to terms with the past by acknowledging the Malays' historical grievances and understand that the nature of the conflict is deep-rooted in Thailand's nation-state building, a process that has been unkind to its minority.

They made it clear that acknowledging these grievances does not in any way constitute a "defeat" on the part of the state as this conflict should not be perceived as a zero-sum game.

Moreover, respected social critic, Dr Prawes Wasi, went so far as to suggest that Thailand should bring back the glorious past of the Malay-speaking region by strengthening the institution of Islamic studies. Believe it or not, this restive region was once the "cradle of Islamic civilisation" in Southeast Asia. The region's glorious past is also our glorious past.

Why is it so hard for our society and state to acknowledge that there are strengths in diversity, these students asked. After all, if we go back far enough, we will see that many of our grandparents came from somewhere else and that this kingdom of ours is truly a melting pot. If anybody is indigenous here, it is the Malays of the deep South.

Besides the question of pride, dignity and glorious past, these students also addressed the issue of political access, or the lack of it, for the local Malays. This means strengthening local institutions, both secular and religious, and permitting Malay to be a working language. Officially, the three southernmost provinces are a part of Thailand. But in reality, many in the rural areas do not speak good enough Thai to get by in a local market, much less the streets of Bangkok, the capital of their country.

As pointed out by Ismail Lutphi Jakpakiya, the rector of Yala Islamic Univeristy, the Malay-Muslims historically grow up with religious authorities around them and many have yet to fully come to terms with the existing administrative and concept of governance imposed upon them by the state.

Many local Malay-Muslims continue to turn to local clerics for advice from family planning to toothache.

Perhaps the boldest idea from the first class has to do with the idea of pushing through a peace process. Indeed, they rightly pointed out that nobody gets anywhere by fighting. The idea of talking to the enemy should be given serious consideration.

Indeed, considering the enormous amount of money and resources, not to mention manpower, poured into this conflict, one has to wonder if this is worth the effort. This is not to suggest that Thailand should cut off the deep South from the rest of the country. KPI's General Ekkachai Srivilas made a convincing argument that the investment has not paid off and now is time to think outside the box. It's not about quantifying but also about justifying these enormous budgets and tens of thousands of troops dispatched to the region, he said.