Two soldiers were shot and killed and their bodies set ablaze by militants in Narathiwat Thursday, while several anti-government cloth banners were hung up in three southern provinces.
In Narathiwat, Pol Lt Uthai Panthong, the duty officer at Rueso police station, was alerted to the soldiers' killings about 11.30am.
The victims were later identified as Cpl Prasit Nakararuang and Pvt Yusop Teli. Both were attached to the Narathiwat Special Task Force 30.
According to the investigation, eight or nine attackers in a pickup truck started firing at another pickup carrying the soldiers as they were passing a mosque in Baluka Hulu village in tambon Batong of Rueso district.
Cpl Prasit, the truck driver, was hit and killed behind the wheel, bringing the truck to a halt on the roadside.
Pvt Yusop was wounded and ran out of the vehicle. But the attackers caught up with him and shot him dead. They then dragged his body inside the soldiers' vehicle.
The attackers searched the soldiers' truck and took a handgun and a rifle before pouring petrol on the vehicle with the soldiers' bodies inside it and setting it on fire.
The attackers also had strewn metal spikes on the road to prevent authorities from pursuing them, police said.
Also in Narathiwat, five cloth banners with anti-government messages as well as suspicious objects were discovered in five districts of Sungai Padi, Sungai Kolok, Rangae, Si Sakhon and Bacho.
Police said banners were also found in neighbouring Pattani and Songkhla, written in Thai and Rumi, the Romanised version of the local Jawi language.
In Sungai Padi district, authorities found one banner and two suspicious black bags left at the Todeng railway station. The station was sealed off for inspection causing train delays for five hours.
The banner was hoisted from the station's gate along with a suspicious looking bag while another bag was left on the railroad tracks.
A bomb disposal unit used a high-pressure hose to shoot water at the objects which turned out to be fake bombs.
In Pattani, the authorities found eight banners hung up in Yarang, Nong Chik and Khok Pho districts. Another five banners were hung on trees in Songkhla's Saba Yoi district. One read: "The nature of Siamese colonial hunters is that they lack humanitarian concern and they always lie to the international community."
A paper box was also left at the Nong Chik hospital. The authorities found only bricks and electrical wires in the box, police said.