'I am pessimistic,' said the 45-year-old rubber tapper when asked about the prospects for peace after the polls on Sunday, the first since the military ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup in September last year.

'There is no improvement in security. No one knows the root cause of problems,' he said, adding that his nephew was recently shot by suspected Islamic rebels, a common occurrence in this violence-torn region bordering Malaysia.

The Muslim-majority provinces were once an ethnic Malay sultanate until mainly Buddhist Thailand annexed them a century ago. Since then, separatist violence has periodically flared, reigniting over the past four years.

More than 2,700 people have been killed in near-daily arson attacks, bombings and shootings since January 2004, but the Thai authorities are still unable to identify who is behind the ongoing insurgency.

Mr Miya Wadeng, a 44-year-old Muslim, said he doubts a new government will help improve security in the region.

'The coup government could not solve the violence in the south, so I do not expect the new government to do any better,' he said.

Since the coup, the unrest has become much deadlier.

An average of 72 people have been killed each month since September last year, up sharply from 53 deaths on average before the coup, according to figures from Intellectual Deep South Watch, an independent Thai monitoring group.

The violence has also become more brutal, with some victims beheaded and corpses often mutilated and left in public places for passers-by to discover.

Mr Sanphet Deelertphaibul, a 57-year-old Buddhist in nearby Narathiwat, said the ongoing unrest has created a rift between Buddhists and Muslims, and argues that the new government should first restore communal trust.

'Whoever wins the elections, the first priority of a new government is to build harmony between Buddhists and Muslims,' he said, adding that he is still 'not quite convinced' of the promises by the parties to restore peace.

Mr Sunai Phasuk, a Thai consultant for Human Rights Watch, said the kingdom's leading parties - the Democrat Party and the People Power Party - have virtually the same approach when it comes to solving the insurgency.

'They all say they will encourage more Muslim participation in local administrations, give more educational opportunities to Muslims and push for local economic development,' he said.

'But these pledges are nothing new. No parties, including the Democrat Party, are offering fresh, new approaches to solving the southern crisis.'

During Thaksin's five-year rule, critics widely blamed his heavy-handed approach to fighting the insurgency for fuelling Muslim anger towards the government and escalating the violence.

When General Sonthi Boonyaratglin ousted Thaksin and installed a military-backed government last year, hopes were high that Gen Sonthi, the first Muslim to lead the mainly Buddhist Thai army, could curb the unrest.

Soon after the coup, the Thai junta made a series of peace gestures, including an apology to Muslims for past government abuses and an offer for peace talks with rebel leaders.

But deadly attacks continue to terrorise residents despite the military government's olive-branch strategy and its claim that the violence has decreased since the coup.

The Thai military has deployed 30,000 troops in the south, and Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng said the army will deploy about 3,000 soldiers to protect polling stations on election day.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE