More violence in Thailand....

Three provinces are now experienceing violence...

Five people were shot dead and one policeman was wounded in a string of drive-by shootings by suspected Islamic militants in Thailand's restive Muslim-majority south, police said.

A 60-year-old Buddhist cattle raiser was gunned down while walking, before suspected insurgents burned his body and left it on the roadside in Yala, one of three violence-torn southern provinces bordering Malaysia.

A 52-year-old Buddhist street ice cream seller was also shot dead on Friday by two suspected insurgents on a motorcycle in Yala where another Muslim villager, 27, was killed late on the same day while riding a motorcycle, police said.

In neighboring Pattani province on Friday, a Buddhist security guard, 35, was shot dead while riding a motorcycle after work. Another Buddhist villager, 33, was gunned down later in the day when he was shopping at a food market.

Early on Saturday, a border patrol policeman was seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting.

The insurgency in Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani provinces has killed more than 1600 people in separatist violence and other unrest since January 2004.