Interior Minister Aree Wongsearaya said people believed curfews curbed violence in Muang and Bannang Sata districts of Yala.

They should be imposed in other areas, Aree said, without providing details.

The Army imposed curfews from 9pm to 4am in the two districts in a bid to alleviate daily shootings, bombings and arsons in the province. The authorities earlier said violence had decreased after the curfews were imposed.

However, in Narathiwat a couple was killed, as was a Pattani man while others were injured yesterday in Yala.

Rangae-district shopkeeper Charin Ngaonor, 70, and his wife, Rabieb, 68, were killed when four suspected militants, disguised as customers, shot them at close range. Both died instantly.

Yala pickup passengers Sit Chayathong, 63, and Wilai Sukpinkaew, 42, received minor injuries when a bomb exploded near the vehicle in Than To district about 7am.

Later in the same district 37-year-old Thanongsak Sanharat was injured in a drive-by shooting.

Police said suspected militants had ambushed them on the Ban Sakai-to-Ban Rae road.

In Pattani, retired Balatae school director Salai Promanee, 61, was shot dead as he rode his motorcycle home.

Investigations suggest he was ambushed on Mayor Thungyang Daeng Road at about 1.30pm.