YALA (Thailand) - SUSPECTED separatist militants in Thailand's restive south have shot dead three men in separate fresh attacks, police said on Monday.

They said a 31-year-old man was killed in drive-by shooting in Pattani province Monday morning.

A day earlier in neighbouring Yala province, a 48-year-old rubber plantation owner was shot dead in an ambush as he returned home by motorbike on Sunday evening.

In Narathiwat province a 65-year-old gold seller was shot five times by four militants who opened fire through his shop door. He died in hospital later.

The southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and parts of Songkhla made up an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand in 1902, sparking decades of tension.

More than 3,700 people have died since an insurgency erupted five years ago.

Islamic rebels have targeted both Buddhists and Muslims, with victims ranging from security forces to civilians such as teachers and rubber plantation workers. -- AFP