The Long Shadow of Conflict: Thailand's Muslim Separatists Refuse to Back Down The conflict in southern Thailand has cast a dark shadow over the country for decades.
A region where Malay Muslims have long felt marginalized by the dominant Buddhist culture, their struggle is far from over – and its roots run deep.
This conflict began in earnest in 2004, but seeds of discontent were sown much earlier, during the 1960s when BRN militants first took up arms for an independent Islamic nation.