Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Thailand should be patient in dealing with the bloody insurgency in the kingdom's Muslim-majority south, according to a newspaper report today.

The premier praised the efforts by new Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to forge peace in the south but said it would take time for people to accept change.

"There was so much distrust and suspicion between these people and the Thai leaders, it is not easy to get them to suddenly embrace a new leader," Abdullah told the newspaper.

"We are concerned about what happens in southern Thailand," he said. "If our neighbour is doing well that would be very comfortable for us. A neighbourhood on fire is not good for us."

Strained ties

More than 1,700 people have been killed in three provinces bordering Malaysia since the latest outbreak of violence in January 2004, with the unrest blamed on ethnic Malay separatists, Islamic extremists and criminal gangs.

Since coming to power after a coup in September, Surayud's government has tried to adopt a more conciliatory approach after years of heavy-handed tactics by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

However, the violence in the provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani appears to be escalating, with almost daily reports of shootings, bombings and arson attacks.

On Tuesday morning, suspected separatist militants killed a 70-year-old Buddhist man in a drive-by shooting in Pattani.

The conflict has strained the relationship between Thailand and Malaysia, with reports of insurgent training camps in Malaysia and claims that Thai restaurants there are funding the separatist movement.