Maj-General Chuchaichana, a Yala police chief, said the phone signals had been suspended during the two hours of the meeting out of fear that ill-intentioned groups would take the opportunity to cause violence.

Some 300 police were deployed at the meeting to ensure safety for the participants. After the meeting, police and soldier numbers were reinforced at many spots to make sure that the participants returned home safely, he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's official news agency, Bernama, quoted Malaysia's police inspector-general Musa Hassan as saying that the killing of a Malaysian official by suspected Islamic militants in southern Thailand was an isolated incident, but warned that care was needed when visiting the area.

"This is an isolated case. People intending to visit southern Thailand must exercise caution," Musa said.

Che Ayub Yaakup, 54, was killed along with a village chief in Narathiwat on Friday when gunmen sprayed their vehicle with bullets.

Musa said Malaysian police would investigate the shooting and were awaiting a full report from their Thai counterparts, but that Che Ayub had not been on official business.

"Although the victim is a civil servant, his trip to southern Thailand was not for official duty," he said.

A fisheries officer from Malaysia's northern Terengganu state, Che Ayub was visiting friends in the village near the Malaysia-Thailand border, according to Bernama.

Malaysia's northern states share close ethnic and cultural ties with Thailand's South, where a separatist insurgency has long been simmering.