Five shot dead in Pattani

Authorities blamed the attack on Malay separatists in the restive region where about 3,000 have been died since January 2004.

A pedestrian from Yala on his way to Pattani said traffic was held up for several hours as soldiers launched a massive man hunt for the gunmen and remove the spikes on the road scattered by the insurgents as they were fleeing.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off, injuring two soldiers conducting foot patrol with his unit in Narathiwat's Joh I Rong district. Investigating officers who arrived at the scene were also lured by a mysterious about 300 meters away near a local train stop. The box was a fake bomb, a popular tactic employed by insurgents to divert authorities' attention and slow down their work.