Gen Prayut made his remark after delivering a farewell message as the army chief at the Nakhon Si Thammarat-based Vajiravudh army camp on Sunday (September 28).
He sought cooperation from all branches of the media, saying they should not use the term "movement" to describe those who carry out violent attacks in the far South. He said only a minority of individuals are involved.
He said the government must end the southern violence before the country joins the regional community and more people from other countries begin travelling to Thailand. Unless peace is restored to the deep South by then, there could be even more problems, said Gen Prayut.
The government would place more emphasis on negotiations to achieve long-term peace. Gen Prayut had urged past governments to deal with the insurgency problem differently, he said.
Peace talks must include many stakeholders in the conflict, said the prime minister, adding that moves to kick-start the negotiations again were going well.
The Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, which is well-versed in the problems in the deep South, and newly-appointed Fourth Army Corp commander Lt Gen Kitti Inthasorn have been assigned to handle the southern unrest.
National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Thawil Pliensri said on Friday (September 26) the Thai authorities have no policy to resort to violence to retaliate against insurgents. He insisted the government is ready to sit down with those who have differing views from the state.
Mr Thawil said informal talks have carried on continuously, but they are not in the news. He added the NSC will try to remove obstacles to the renewal of formal peace talks by taking measures to build more trust between Thai authorities and insurgent groups.
Meanwhile, a core militant held responsible for a string of attacks in the deep South was killed in an exchange of fire with government forces in Panare district of Pattani province early yesterday (September 28).
A combined force of rangers and border patrol police laid siege to a house in Bang Maruad village in tambon Ban Klang of Panare district to look for suspects wanted in insurgency-related cases.
When they arrived, militants in the house opened fire and tried to break through the cordon. A brief exchange of fire ensued.
Found dead after the clash was Ahamad Dueramae, 28, of Pattani's Thung Yang Daeng district, who was wanted on a number of arrest warrants for various attacks, including the assassination of four soldiers in Pattani's Mayo district in 2012 and the attack on a government checkpoint at Ban Nam Dam in Thung Yang Daeng district on July 17.
The authorities also arrested Aliyasa Samo, of Panare district, wanted on seven arrest warrants. They seized from him a pistol and five rounds of ammunition.
Read original story here.