A bomb yesterday wounded nine people, including two Army rangers, at a small petrol station in Thepha district of the southern province of Songkhla.
The homemade device - a steel box packed with explosives - was placed under a petrol pump and detonated by unknown means. The blast damaged five parked motorcycles and a fence.
Six of the civilian victims were discharged from hospital yesterday, while the seventh is still in a serious condition. The two Army rangers sustained minor wounds.
Yala Governor Krissada Bunraj expressed concern over the trend of "new-wave" militants targeting innocent civilians. Many old-school insurgents and sympathisers, who went after mainly security and civilian officials, have turned themselves in or renounced violence.
"Old-school insurgents and sympathisers are giving themselves up, while the nature of recent attacks is apparently to aim at civilians," he said.
The double bomb attacks in downtown Yala over the weekend at a roadside restaurant was one example of such an assault, he said. Of the 23 people wounded, one died, bringing the death toll to two.