Insurgents first sprayed the van with automatic rifles and then stuck the barrels of their guns through the shattered windows, aimed them at the head of each of the panic-stricken passengers and shot them in cold blood. They then proceeded to lay a roadside bomb and littered sections of the road leading to the scene with spikes to discourage security forces from pursuing them.

The militants' tactics worked as intended. Government troops dispatched to the scene were slowed down because they did not want to puncture their tyres. They chose to go on foot, and were bombed and shot at by insurgents in an ambush. After, the attackers were able to escape and blend into the civilian population, where they will lay low until deciding when and where to commit their next horrific act against defenceless civilians, or the security forces.

They will do all this without having to worry too much about the possibility of a raid by government troops or police on the villages and communities that shelter them. The law of probability is on their side. After all, more than 2,000 people have been killed since January 2004 and investigators have only managed to bring fewer than 20 cases to the courts. The law of probability is obviously on the militants' side.

By using civilians as a shield, insurgents know the security forces will not dare go from door to door searching for them, not only because of the risk of entrapment but also because such operations can lead to civilian casualties.

It is an open secret that the government's worst fear is that a single incident of civilian casualties resulting from a military operation against insurgents could cause outrage among Malay-speaking Thai Muslims in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. The problem is that the insurgents know this and exploit it to their advantage. The security forces are fighting a war against the insurgents with one hand tied behind their back.

It cannot be emphasised enough that not all justice-loving, observant Muslims in the deep South, or anywhere else for that matter, condone such atrocious crimes committed by those who claim to share their faith. But too many have been cowed into submission by extremists who have no compunction about killing and maiming innocent Buddhists, or even fellow Muslims who simply disagree with their ungodly agenda.

As long as the government continues to fail to re-establish even a semblance of law and order in the region, it would be unfair to ask locals to cooperate with the authorities by providing such sought-after intelligence as the identities or hide-out locations of the insurgents.

Muslims who have worked closely with the authorities have frequently been targeted and killed. There is still time yet for the government to try to win the hearts and minds of Malay-speaking Muslim Thais.

But Buddhist Thais, who are in the minority in the deep South, do not have the luxury of time. The persistent failure of the security forces to engage the insurgents militarily is sending a grim message: First, it is no longer safe for Buddhists to live in the region because they will be hunted down and killed mercilessly. Second, the security forces, armed to the teeth with hi-tech weaponry, cannot be relied on to protect them or to restore law and order - let alone peace in this restive region. Third, the insurgents are gaining the upper hand and are capable of attacking military as well as civilian targets with impunity. Fourth, the trickle of Buddhists fleeing the deep South is beginning to turn into an exodus.

This is just what the militants want. But the government must take it upon itself to make sure they do not succeed.