text: Sept. 27, 2009 -- TAK BAI, THAILAND: Thai Muslim boys play with toy shotguns in front of their home in Tak Bai, Narathiwat, Thailand. Thailand's three southern most provinces; Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat are often called "restive" and a decades long Muslim insurgency has gained traction recently. Nearly 4,000 people have been killed since 2004. The three southern provinces are under emergency control and there are more than 60,000 Thai military, police and paramilitary militia forces trying to keep the peace battling insurgents who favor car bombs and assassination. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press