THE first formal meeting between Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN) and the Thai government in Kuala Lumpur (KL) yesterday has brought fresh hope for peace in Thailand’s violence-wracked deep south.

Anas Abdulrahman, the head of BRN’s delegation at the talk, said after going through back channels for a long time, the two parties finally reached common ground that negotiations were the best way forward towards resolving the armed conflict in the Muslim-majority provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla in southern Thailand.