They were among four people killed yesterday in continuing violence in the far South.

Elsewhere, an electrician was shot dead by suspected militants who drove up to a site where he was working on a new home - in Pattani's Yarang district - and started shooting.

Tosaporn Chansorn, 28, died on the way to the hospital while his colleague Sonthaya Tosakit, 22, was shot several times in the body. The two men are from Krabi province but had relocated to the restive area.

Police said several construction workers were working at the time when two gunmen launched their attack in Tambon Prachan in Yarang district.

Eyewitnesses said the gunmen simply walked up to the front door of the home being built and opened fire at the workers.

In Tambon Tohdeng in Narathiwat's Sungai Padi district, suspected militants shot dead Noi Turesapon, 43, and her sister-in-law Nim Turesapon, 46, while they were returning home from a nearby fresh market in the afternoon.

Police said the two were shot at close range by two gunmen who fired at lease six shots from an 11mm handgun.

Meanwhile, four soldiers were wounded when shots were fired at an army unit from Taskforce 14 on patrol in Yala's Tanto district.

In Pattani's Khok Po district, arsonists torched a small restaurant on the roadside just after midnight yesterday. It was completely gutted.

Meanwhile, the district chief of Saba Yoi in Songkhla, Preecha Damkiengkert, yesterday tried to downplay anger expressed by local Buddhists, who say the payment of compensation to victims of violence amounts to reverse discrimination.

Preecha had to face hundreds of Buddhists, who rallied in the district on Monday and demanded the government provide them with weapons to protect themselves.

The protesters fear Muslim residents will demand security forces leave the area following a rare attack on an Islamic boarding school two weeks ago that left three teenage students dead and seven others hurt.

The attack on the Islamic school sparked an outcry from Muslims, who accused the soldiers of being trigger-happy. They refused to let local authorities into the site to investigate the attack.

The military imposed a curfew in two Yala districts on March 15, following the brutal slaying of eight Buddhist passengers in a minibus, who were shot in the head execution-style in Yala. It was the first time a curfew has been imposed in the region since January 2004.