This article discusses historical and political causes of the conflict in the southern provinces of Thailand known as “Deep South”, where the Malay Muslims have been fighting for secession from Thailand. The violence that has been ongoing since 2004 has resulted in more than 6,500 victims, but received a very little attention from the international community. Among several attempts for a peace dialogue in the region, I would like to focus on some recent developments concerning the official peace dialogue process during the Yingluck administration and the current Prayut administration. In order to ensure a successful peace dialogue and its effectiveness, I argue that civil society has an important role to play. Based on field research conducted in 2015, this article reports on the current state of the civil society in the region and its vulnerability. Civil society organizations （CSO） has the potential to bring people's voice to a peace dialogue and make a positive influence on the national policy, but those in “Deep South” are fragmented and in disagreement with one another, making capacity building and awareness raising critical to promoting a dialogue as a solution to the conflict. I suggest that bottom-up peace-building activities including support for local CSOs will contribute to achieving sustainable, enduring peace in the region, while the process itself should also be long-term. Lastly, the role of the international community is discussed as that of an interested third party playing a key role in trust-building between conflicting parties at the multi-track level.