Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa will travel to the South this week on an inspection tour following the five attacks in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat province on Saturday night.
Gen Yutthasak said he wanted to oversee the situation himself after he warned last week of possible terrorist attacks to mark the anniversary of the Tak Bai incident eight years ago.
During the past five years, usually between Oct 25-28, violent incidents had taken place in the district, he said.
The Tak Bai incident occurred on Oct 25, 2004 in Tak Bai, which resulted in at least 85 deaths.
In this incident, hundreds of young men were arrested following a demonstration in front of the Tak Bai police station to demand the release of six local leaders.
They were thrown by soldiers into trucks to be driven to an army camp in Pattani. They were stacked five or six deep in the trucks, and many of them suffocated.
Gen Yutthasak said he had also received a preliminary report on fresh incidents in Bacho district which took place on Sunday morning.
Therefore he wanted to travel to the South this week to see the situation for himself, but did not mention the exact date.
On Saturday night, three bomb and two gun attacks were launched by militants in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat province, wounding four people - a police officer and three civilians - while one militant was killed in an exchange of fire with marine police.
The attacks were launched at almost the same time at about 8pm in five spots.
The first attack took place at Sod Sai karaoke shop at Moo 4 in tambon Che He. A motorcycle with a 5kg bomb planted in it was left in front of the shop shortly before the explosion.
The bomb was detonated but the explosion was not powerful enough to cause damage. A nine-year-old girl, Rungthip Kanchanathawil, playing in front of the shop was slightly wounded.
The second attack was a car bomb which went off near Coffee House restaurant in the Ta Ba Plaza Hotel in tambon Ta Ba of Tak Bai district. A 50kg bomb inside a gas cylinder was detonated remotely with a mobile phone.
The restaurant was badly damaged by the powerful explosion. Glass windows in hotel rooms from the first to third floors were shattered. A female house keeper, Praneet Jaengwicharn, 49, was injured.
Eyewitnesses told police that before the explosion they saw a man drive a Toyota car with a fake licence plate to the restaurant and leave on a motorcycle.
The third attack occurred at the marine police station at Ban Ta Ba in tambon Che He. A group of militants opened fire at the station with AK47 rifles and Uzi submachineguns. The marine police on duty returned fire.
During the battle, the militants threw two hand grenades into the station before fleeing. The grenades, however, did not explode.
One police officer, Pol Senior Sgt Maj Toranin Phonphasuk, was shot in the left leg.
One militant was killed in the firefight. He has not yet been identified. Police recovered from his body an AK47 rifle and a 9mm pistol.
In the fourth attack, a number of militants opened fire at Muang Mai karaoke shop at Moo 1 in tambon Che He, but did not inflict any casualties, leaving only bullet holes in the walls.
In the fifth attack, a home-made bomb made with a fish can and weighing about 0.5kg, went off at V Shop convenience store in the Tambon Che He Municipality. A woman customer, Arthit Phaengpho, 39, was injured.
Forensic police and bomb disposal teams were sent to the five spots on Sunday morning.
Also on Saturday night, acting on information received from villagers, police searched a pickup truck parked suspiciously on Sungai Kolok-Tak Bai road near Ban Saring in tambon Khosit inf Tak Bai district and found a 50kg home-made bomb. The bomb was defused in about 30 minutes.
Police discovered later that the vehicle had been stolen from Rueso district on Oct 8. Two men were robbed of the pickup while they were selling electrical appliances at Ban Pupo in tambon Rueso Ok.
On Sunday morning, one soldier was killed and eight others wounded in two bomb explosions in Narathiwat's Bacho district.
Pol Col Pakdi Preechachon, the Bacho police chief, said the incidents occurred at about 9am near Ban Chuwo in tambon Bare Tai in Bacho district.
The first explosion was from a home-made bomb which was detonated by a mobile phone while eight soldiers from Narathiwat Task Force 32 on four motorcycles were on patrol near Ban Chuwo.
Three soldiers were wounded in the explosion. They were Mst-Sgt Jirayu Samanthong, Pvt Somsak Keracha and Pvt Suthipong Oriang.
The incident prompted a team of six soldiers to rush to the scene in a V150 armoured car. About 1km from Ban Chuwo, a number of militants hiding on the side of the road detonated a gas cylinder bomb, weighing about 50kg, which was planted on the road.
The explosion killed the driver, Mst-Sgt Israwut Palasak, and wounded five other soldiers.
The wounded were rushed to Narathiwatratchanakarin Hospital.