Wan Noor, an ethnic Malay from Yala, who is also a deputy leader of the Thai Rak Thai party, downplayed his return to the public spotlight.

But he confirmed yesterday he would be heading to northern Malaysia on an unofficial visit next week to meet with Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and representatives from the ruling party Umno in northern Kelantan state.

The visit comes amid a tense diplomatic stand-off between with Kuala Lumpur over 131 Thai Muslims currently taking refuge in Kelantan. They reportedly fled across the border because of fears about unrest in the far South, where over 1,000 people have been killed since January 2004.

Wan Noor will try to break the deadlock with Kuala Lumpur amid a war of words that has sunk bilateral relations to another low point.

The veteran politician sought to play down the significance of his visit, saying he would be going to Malaysia in an unofficial capacity and “as an individual who knows the people”.

He said the aim was to create a dialogue among friends to see how the two sides could work together. But he said it would be nice if Malaysia could respond to some requests Thailand has made, including for suspected criminals and militants to be extradited.

Wan Noor described the status of the 131 Thai nationals as individuals who “illegally entered” Malaysia. He said it was the holy month of Ramadan and a good opportunity for Kuala Lumpur to forgive the Thais and permit them to return home.

But Malaysia has said it would not send them back unless the Thai government can guarantee their safety and basic rights.

Wan Noor lost prominence after his Wadah faction failed to win a single seat in the three southernmost provinces in the general election early this year. The poll saw all but one seat taken by the opposition Democrat Party.

Meanwhile, violence continued in the deep South with a bombing, a gunfight and two fatal shootings.

Wanna Nooklab, a 43-year-old former employee of the Southern Border Provinces Peace-Building Command (SBPPC) was shot dead by two suspected militants as she was having dinner with her son at her home in Pattani’s Muang district on Sunday night.

Investigating officials said the two men walked in as Wanna and her son had broken their daily fast during Ramadan. Wanna’s son was also injured in the attack.

In Narathiwat’s Sukhirin district, a roadside bomb went off as a convoy of police assigned to protect teachers passed by yesterday morning, but no one was injured.

Officials said that suspected militants remotely detonated a 5kg bomb on the Sukhirin-Dusongyoh Road when a convoy of eight police and 15 teachers passed by. The explosion was followed by a brief but tense gunfight.

Police found a SIM card among the debris believed to have been used to detonate the bomb.

Meanwhile, in Narathiwat’s Sungai Padi district, Buniyaning Kaji, 47, was shot dead by two gunmen while riding his motorbike to work on the Taseh-North Laharn road, where 10 people have lost their lives this year.

The two suspected insurgents followed Buniyaning, a temporary worker with the Provincial Electricity Authority, on a motorbike and shot five rounds from an 11mm pistol at his face, chest and elbow. He died at the scene.

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Earlier ID deadline for mobiles in South

Published on October 11, 2005 - The deadline for prepaid phone users in the deep South to register with mobile-phone operators has been brought forward to November 15, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry said yesterday. The users face having their calls blocked if they do not provide proof of their identity.

ICT Minister Sora-at Klinpra-toom said the new deadline applied to prepaid handsets used in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.

The original deadline was December 31, which still applies to users living outside the three provinces, he said.

The government decided in May to make it mandatory for all existing prepaid handset users to register as part of an attempt to stop handsets being used to detonate explosive devices in the deep South. People who purchase new SIM cards will need to show their ID cards.

The new deadline means that prepaid handset users will not be able to make calls in the three provinces after November 15 if they fail to register before the deadline.

They can use the phones outside the three provinces but they also have to register with mobile phone operators before the original deadline of December 31.

Thailand has about 21.5 million prepaid phone users, of which more than 7 million have already registered with their phone operators, Sora-at said.

Over 4 million users belong to Advanced Info Service, 2 million to Total Access Communication, 500,000 to TA Orange and 300,000 to Hutch.

Users of prepaid telecom services can prove their identities at service centres of mobile-phone operators, TOT Plc and CAT Telecom Plc free of charge.