Thai govt holds first peace talks with insurgents since taking office

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's government has resumed talks with insurgents in the south for the first time since it took office last year and both sides agreed to further discuss a draft road map for peace in the restive region, participants said on Wednesday.

A Thai government delegation and representatives of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) met in Kuala Lumpur for two days of talks, their first since Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin took office last August.

The two sides agreed in principle on a draft road map, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan Toward Peace (JCPP) and which includes finding a political solution to the conflict, said Chatchai Bangchuad, the government's chief negotiator.

Anas Abdulrahman, the head of peace talks for the BRN, told reporters that both sides will discuss the draft text further at technical-level meetings at the end of February and in March.

The BRN has called for independence for the predominantly Muslim and ethnically Malay southern provinces, where conflict has flared on and off for decades.

The southern region shares a border with Malaysia and was part of an independent Malay sultanate, Patani, before it was annexed by Thailand in 1909 as part of a treaty with Britain.

The most recent phase of conflict erupted in 2004, and more than 7,300 people have been killed since then, according to Deep South Watch, a group that monitors the violence.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; editing by Miral Fahmy)