The two men, aged 41 and 28, were killed in a drive-by shooting as they were on their way to work in Yala, one of three provinces hit by four years of separatist unrest, police said.

Elsewhere in Yala, a bomb exploded outside a home, injuring five children aged seven and under. Three boys were hospitalised in serious condition, police said.

The latest attacks came after a car bomb exploded Saturday night in the parking lot of a hotel in nearby Pattani province.

The posh hotel had been considered a safe zone for visiting business and political leaders.

One person died immediately in the blast, while a second man died of his injuries late on Sunday, hospital officials said. Two others remain in hospital.

A smaller bomb hit a restaurant on Sunday in the nearby town of Narathiwat, injuring four people, including a policeman, police said.

More than 2,900 people have been killed since separatist violence erupted in the south in early 2004.

The region was once an autonomous Malay sultanate, but was annexed by Buddhist Thailand a century ago. -- AFP