The conflict in the south of Thailand is "one of the deadliest insurgencies in Asia, " where a mix of inaccessible territory and opaque politics has rendered a violent conflict nearly invisible. Analysts are calling The Patani conflict in Thailand's three southern provinces the "forgotten war". The conflict is an ongoing struggle between Thailand's security forces and Muslim separatists in the country's three southernmost provinces. Insurgent activities continue within the border provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, collectively known as the Patani region. The region has a long tradition of resistance to rule by the majority Buddhist government in Bangkok. Formerly belonging to a Malay sultanate, the region was annexed to Siam, as Thailand was then known, in 1909. Separatist elements began waging guerrilla war against the state in the 1960s but the uprising was suppressed in the 1980s. Violence restarted in December 2001. Since the peak of the violence in 2004, the conflict has claimed more than 5, 000 lives.