Responding to the Thursday bombings across three deep South provinces, Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the government must step up "parallel measures" to gain the understanding of local communities and crack down on insurgent rings to directly address the unrest.

"The authorities must adjust their tactics as ill-intentioned groups undertake their operations as networks," he was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying.

At least two persons were killed early Thursday and 17 others wounded in co-ordinated explosions at government offices and police stations in Thailand's three southernmost border provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala.

Thaksin said the insurgents are now targeting government offices, in response to more aggressive measures undertaken by the authorities.

The state must accordingly respond with parallel tactics of building good relations and understanding with local residents and suppressing the insurgent network.

The prime minister, now in his northern hometown of Chiang Mai, said he will visit the South in the near future.

In Yala, Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya met with Governor Boonyasit Suwannarat and provincial officials and ordered tighter security at government offices and in communities.

He said the insurgents opted to place bombs on the day of the establishment of the independent Pattani state.

Local intelligence authorities said the bombings were the work of Pattani Muslim insurgents joining with militants of the Runda Kumpalan Kecil (RKK) who aimed to demonstrate their potential to their present allies and to expand their influence to a wider range of potential supporters.

Bersatu is an umbrella organization incorporating a number of insurgent groups, including the Pattani United Liberation Front ( Pulo), Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) and Gerakan Mujahideen Islam Pattani, the official news agency said. Bersatu means " united" in Malay.

According to intelligence sources, the group plotted for a week to transport arms and explosives across the Ko-Lok river into Narathiwat's Takbai district, and the authorities are now concerned that they will attack important government installations and communities again.

Source: Xinhua