The violent insurgency plaguing Thailand’s southern region has never been more deadly, said Sondhi Boonyarataklin, the army chief who led September’s coup, although he added that the unrest remains an “internal problem”.

“We must admit that the insurgent groups are now at their peak,” Mr Sondhi said in an interview with Bloomberg, in which he defended the overthrow of the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra.