Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will visit Thailand end of next month, his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha announced today.

The visit by Malaysia's premier, according to Prayut, would provide an opportunity for both neighbours to further discuss issues related to the southern Thai peace talks, which is facilitated by Kuala Lumpur.

"The Malaysian government emphasised this matter and (peace) talks have been continuing. The new Malaysian prime minister also wanted Malaysia's mission as the facilitator to be as successful as it can be," he told the media after chairing the cabinet meeting at the Government House here.

Mahathir, he said, was supposed to make the trip Thailand in early October but had to reschedule to later in the month due to his packed schedule.

Prayut was also asked on whether his government would change its delegation to the peace talks to correspond with the appointment of a new facilitator by the Malaysian government.

He said his government was still deliberating on how to deal with the appointment of a new facilitator and had yet to arrive on any decision on the matter.

Putrajaya replaced Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim as the facilitator to the peace talks with former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor.

Ahmad Zamzamin was appointed to the post during the previous BN government.

Facilitated by Malaysia, delegations from the Thai government and Mara Patani (Majlis Syura Pattani), representing several groups within the province have held several rounds of talks mainly in Kuala Lumpur.

The armed conflict in southern Thailand since 2004 has claimed more than 6,500 lives, according to NGO Deep South Watch (DSW) which monitors the conflict.

- Bernama