A new peace negotiation team chief will not be appointed until a comprehensive strategic plan for the restive southern provinces is finalised, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Tuesday.
The remark comes amid speculation that former defence permanent secretary Gen Nipat Thonglek will take over as chief negotiator.
Gen Nipat served as adviser to former prime minister Srettha Thavisin and is currently assistant minister to the PM's Office Minister.
Mr Phumtham, who also serves as defence minister, said the strategic plan aimed at resolving violent conflicts in the deep South is under review, and no appointment will be made until the plan is complete.
His meeting with Chatchai Bangchuad, secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), on Monday focused on security issues and the endorsement of prior agreements, he said.
Mr Chatchai previously served as the chief negotiator in peace talks under the Srettha administration.
The defence minister also criticised attempts to link the surge in violence in the South to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's visit to the region, saying violence is occurring at Ramadan despite the government's repeated calls for a halt.
"I've said it over and over that violence must be halted for the talks to proceed. You can look at statistics ... attacks do take place during Ramadan. We can't say when they will carry them out," he said.
He was responding to observations that violence typically escalates toward the end of Ramadan but has occurred earlier this year, leading to speculation that Thaksin's recent trip to the region had stoked up animosity to the authorities.
Meanwhile, an army officer was seriously wounded in an ambush by an unknown number of armed men in front of a military outpost in Yala's Bannang Sata district on Tuesday morning.
Lt Phuwiwat Khamsong, 41, of Nakhon Si Thammarat, was shot in the chest in front of the Jatae military outpost in Sanambin village Moo 1 in tambon Khuen Bang Lang, said a police officer at Bannang Sata Police Station who was alerted at 9.45am.
The soldier was rushed to Bannang Sata Hospital before being transferred to Yala Hospital, police said.
According to soldiers at the outpost, a number of assailants had opened fire following a violent weekend in which three people were killed and at least a dozen injured in separate attacks in Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.
They were unusual in that they occurred during Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month when insurgents in the area typically lie low. It was not clear exactly who was responsible for the violence.
Meanwhile, security footage showed two assailants on a motorcycle passing a checkpoint in Pattani's Khok Pho before turning back and throwing a pipe bomb at officers on duty, which, although landing nearby, caused no injuries.
Authorities said they were reviewing the footage to identify and track down the attackers.