Police said two five-kilogram bombs had gone off almost simultaneously about 300 metres apart in Tambon Kayukala shortly after dawn yesterday, crippling power supplies in the area throughout the morning.

In Yala's Banangsta district suspected militants shot and killed Hanwa Ha, 22, after he ran out of his home, which they had just set ablaze. Hanwa's body was found just metres away from his home riddled with bullets. About the same time in Krongpinang district suspected insurgents torched a public school in Tambon Purong. The fire inflicted minor damage to the school and did not spread to other parts of the building. Meanwhile medical staff at Narathiwat hospital said blood supplies were running dangerously low as two of the 12 victims of a karaoke bar-restaurant bomb attack remained in intensive care.

Suspected militants planted a bomb, destroying a karaoke bar and a small Buddhist-owned restaurant next to it in Tambon Khokhean in Narathiwat's Muang district.

In the province's Rangae district, officials were recovering from simultaneous bomb attacks on a 26-strong security force that had been lured to a fake crime scene. Two rangers were injured in the attacks, authorities said.

In Sungai Padi district, two gunmen shot dead plastic-vendor Preecha Khunsua, 54, and then planted 5kg bombs aimed at hitting the police upon their arrival. An official said the bombs had gone off prematurely just minutes before they arrived on the scene.

In Chanae district, a six-man motorcycle-patrol unit came under a roadside bomb attack that resulted in severe injuries to one soldier, who was hit in the left eye by shrapnel.

Security officials transferred Usman Mahthaeha, 26, from Banangsta police station to the Fourth Army Forward Command Headquarters for further questioning. Usman was arrested at one of the crime scenes. He has been accused of taking part in a series of arson attacks on three public schools in Banangsta district on Thursday evening.

The same group is believed to have been behind an arson attack on the home of Pamorn and Ratana Boonchuay. Separately, Sonthi asked villagers in the restive region to act as informants for the security forces, still trying to put an end to three years of separatist unrest.

"I know that some of you here know where the militants make their bombs but you don't give any clues to the authorities. If residents don't cooperate, we will not be able to put down the violence," Sonthi told a group of Muslim religious teachers.

The army chief, who is a Muslim, told the Malay residents that soldiers would be making greater efforts to reach out the them in the hope of coming up with a suitable partnership to deal with the violence.

"But I feel that people are still reluctant to cooperate with officials," he admitted.

In Bangkok Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont insisted that cooperation between villagers and the public had been improving. He plans to step up communications with officials and agencies on the ground through weekly teleconferences. The government was jolted yesterday by another travel advisory by the Australian government that warned of a "high threat" of terrorist attacks. A similar warning was issued late last month.

"Australia has a right to warn its people, but the situation in our country is not as bad as they say," Deputy Foreign Minister Sawanit Kongsiri told reporters after a meeting of the National Security Council.

No attacks related to the Muslim insurgency in the Malay-speaking South have happened in Bangkok in the three years since the insurgency flared up. A wave of bombings on New Year's Eve in the capital, which killed three, is still under investigation.  Surayud insisted that tourists should stay away from the restive South but otherwise feel safe.

"Tourists will be safe and sound as long as they don't travel into risk zones," Surayud said. "The situation in the South is an internal problem. It will not become an international one."