She will follow up the progress of her initiated projects, notably self-sufficient villages and experimental farms, in the three southernmost provinces, said Colonel Atthaporn Bosuwan.

The Queen will inspect the first projects in Narathiwat's Ban Rotan Batu, where officials have complet¬ed 103 out of 150 houses for vil¬lagers, he said.

Her visit is earlier than her usual September trip, as she is worried about the wellbeing of residents who are living in fear of violence, said Atthaporn.

A spate of violence has rocked the predominantly Muslim region since the beginning of 2004 and killed more than 1,300 people.

The Queen initiated many proj¬ects for residents aimed at improving their economic conditions and security.

The Supreme Command yester¬day took a group of journalists from Bangkok to the deep South to visit many royal projects.

The journalists also met promi¬nent Muslim educator Ismail Lutfi Japakiya, rector of Yala Islamic College, who urged the government to follow peaceful measures suggested by the nowdefunct National Reconciliation Commission (NRC).

The commission, of which Lutfi was a member, suggested many peaceful measures, including unarmed units, to contain violence.

 "The government might not accept 100 per cent of the recom¬mendations, but if it takes most of the measures suggested in the NRC's report, it would help to install peace," Lutfi told reporters.

Separately, a security guard at a hydropower plant in Yala was shot dead yesterday by suspected insurgents.

In a separate attack late Thursday afternoon, construction worker Boonchai Tankaeo, 36, was shot twice as he drove his motorcycle in nearby Pattani province. The victim died later in hospital, police said.

The Nation