The group will be sent back to Thailand through the Sadao checkpoint in Songkhla province tomorrow, Wallop Ploitaptim said.

"Kuala Lumpur informed us that some of the group were arrested for illegal entry while others were held for gambling. We have sent our officials to Malaysia to verify their identities," said Wallop.

The group does not include any of the 130 Thais who were detained in Malaysia after sneaking across the border reportedly to escape violence in their home provinces, he said.

Southern violence : Village chief shot dead in Yala

In southern province of Yala, a Muslim village chief was shot dead yesterday by suspected Islamic militants in a drive-by shooting, police said.

Samart Raying, 67, was gunned down while riding a motorcycle and the police believe he was killed because he co-operated with authorities. The militants hid a bomb beside his bullet-riddled body but officers defused it.

Islamic insurgents regularly target government officials, the police, soldiers and Muslims seen as sympathetic to the authorities.