Thailand today insisted the insurgency in its Muslim provinces was not turning the region into a terrorist breeding ground, after a grisly beheading pushed the death toll in the conflict over 1,900.

Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtas said some Thai militants may have received training abroad, but the three years of unrest had not turned the southern provinces into a hotspot for international terrorists.

"Terrorists are not gathering in the south, but some insurgents could have received training abroad and still have links with the people they met overseas," Boonrawd told reporters.

He spoke after a 71-year-old Buddhist man was repeatedly stabbed and then beheaded in the southern province of Pattani, apparently in retaliation for an earlier raid by security forces on the insurgents.

The brutal killing took the death toll in the conflict to 1,903, police said.

Despite a raft of peace initiatives by Thailand's post-coup government, violence in the region has surged in the last four months, raising alarm in Thailand's Muslim neighbour Malaysia.

Pak Lah's visit

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar on Thursday urged Thailand to prevent the region from becoming a hotbed of international terrorism, and said the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations was prepared to help resolve the conflict.

Boonrawd said Thailand would not seek Asean's help in the conflict, but added that the kingdom valued its improving relations with Malaysia.

"They were just expressing their concern, as they have seen the situation deteriorate," he said.

"We don't want foreigners to get involved, but we still need good relations with Malaysia," he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is set to arrive in Thailand on Sunday on a two-day visit aimed largely at furthering cooperation to ease the violence.