ABSTRACT
This chapter explores why the current insurgency erupt did and how the author explains and depict its unprecedented form, its ideology, and its persistence. The southern violence has far outlived the Thaksin regime, which was toppled by military coup in late 2006. The classic definition of "insurgency", developed during the cold war to define communist-inspired resistance movements, refers to an organized movement seeking to undermine the authority of an established state through violence and subversion. In many people's eyes, Thaksin's policies weakened democracy and democratic institutions during his time in office and he contributed to an increasing dynamic of political polarization and alienation. The formal policy outline of the Democrat-led coalition government, like its predecessor, profiled the crisis in the south as a priority, though other exigencies concerted extra-parliamentary opposition from organized "red-shirt" supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra. A Democrat cabinet member, deputy Minister of the Interior Thaworn Sennium, was given the specific duty of overseeing matters in the Deep South.
