BANGKOK - Thailand has proposed building a security fence along its border with Malaysia as part of efforts to bring an end to deadly unrest in the restive Muslim-majority south, sources said today.

The proposal was made during talks Monday between top security officials and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has expressed grave concern over a recent wave of violence which he has blamed on Muslim separatists.

"The idea is to build a fence along the border to make it difficult to travel from one side to the other," the source told AFP.

Thailand's five Muslim-majority provinces are strung along a narrow peninsula separated from Malaysia only by an extremely porous border which can easily be crossed without passing through checkpoints.

The Bangkok Post reported that Thaksin had personally proposed the fence and instructed army chief General Chaisit Shinawatra to build it to prevent separatists from hiding out in Malaysia and sneaking back into Thailand.

The border area is thought to be harbouring the assailants who carried out a pre-dawn raid on an arms depot in Narathiwat province on Jan 4 which killed four soldiers and heralded a wave of violence which has left several police, local officials and Buddhist monks dead.

Thai security experts estimate that some 5,000 people hold dual Thai-Malaysian citizenship, and they have been allowed to cross the border at will.

Survey

Both nations have expressed concern over the dual citizenship issue, and the security source said Thailand aimed to bring the practice to an end.

The Thai government is conducting a detailed survey on those people who carry dual nationality, and the process is due to be concluded at the end of March.

"After the survey, people (with dual nationality) must choose what citizenship they prefer," the source said.

The source also said Thaksin was prepared to approve strict new measures regulating Islamic schools, hundreds of which currently operate in the deep south, and drastically reduce their numbers to make it easier to monitor their activities.

The schools would also be required to display the national flag as a symbol of their allegiance to the kingdom.

"If no Thai flag is present, it means they are rebels," the source added.

Senior Thai officials, including Interior Minister Mohamad Wan Noor Matha, who is himself a Muslim, have expressed concern that the schools could be breeding grounds for Islamic militancy.

Loyalty pledge

Meanwhile, the spiritual leader of Thailand's Muslims, Chulatattamontri Sawas Sumalayasak, called for Muslims to pledge their loyalty to the kingdom and the nation's much-loved monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

"All Muslims should be loyal to the monarchy and should comply with the urging of His Majesty the King and the Queen that all Thais live in harmony," Sawas said, according to his secretariat.

Thaksin was due to meet with Sawas and other Muslim leaders in Bangkok today.

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist nation but five percent of the population is Muslim and most live in the five southern provinces which have been home to a long-running separatist insurgency. - AFP