Chavalit made the comment on Thursday at what was a rare press briefing for him these days. Many media organisations chose to ignore the remark, believing his actions to be politically motivated.

He said: “The authorities should not assume that the declining violence means the end. It is not |true.”

He said there was a new group of the militants, the so-called Black Swan, which should be monitored closely as it could be linked to Islamic State militants operating actively in Syria and Iraq.

The car bomb attack at a special forces base in Pattani’s Muang district took place in a broad daylight and injured seven on-duty policemen and three civilians.

“This is clear evidence that the militants are intentionally challenging the government’s side,” a former senior security Army officer said.

The atmosphere in the southernmost region became more tense following the Pattani attack.

General Prawit Wongsuwan, deputy prime minister and defence minister, had said that this year could see an end to the violence in the deep South.

The Internal Security Operations Command claimed the violence had decreased by up to 50 per cent.

But some parties monitoring the crisis called on authorities not to jump to conclusions, saying the violence may have decreased but the problems still existed as root causes remained unresolved.

Chavalit compared the Southern crisis to a drug user resisting drugs. He said the authorities had to change their methods of dealing with the crisis.

An Army source agreed the reduced violence was not an indicator the problem was getting better.

“They decreased [the violence] because the military did not operate a psychological propaganda campaign,” he said.

He said the peace dialogue Thailand was engaged in with the Mara Patani insurgency network, with Malaysia as the facilitator, was not a significant factor that had helped to decrease the attacks.

He said Mara Patani members who were engaged in talks were from the network’s political wing and were not leaders of the armed forces or the organisation’s field operations.

He said the Thai side had to talk with the organisation’s field commanders to create safety zones.

The militants wanted to discredit authorities by launching the attack on the military base, which was near a major checkpoint in the province, he said.

The incident took place just one day before the third anniversary of the peace dialogue, which was celebrated by activities at Prince of Songkhla University’s Pattani campus.

Meanwhile, General Aksara Kerphol, head of the peace dialogue, said in a statement yesterday that journalists and analysts had mentioned the Pattani United Liberation Organisation in relation to rocket-like bombs that had been found in the province.

But he said the group had no forces there, adding that the devices were counterfeit.

Bombings over |the past 12 years

Total car bombs since the insurgency flared in 2004: 47

22 in Narathiwat.

12 in Yala.

9 in Pattani.

3 in Songkhla.

1 in Koh Samui, Surat Thani.

Number of bomb blasts in Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat since 2004: 3,544

2004: 103

2005: 242

2006: 344

2007: 471

2008: 250

2009: 284

2010: 266

2011: 333

2012: 276

2013: 331

2014: 325

2015: 319

Bomb blasts in 2015

92 in Pattani

132 in Yala

91 in Narathiwat

4 in Songkhla

Source: Isra and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Anothai Task Force