Two police officers narrowly escaped injury when a roadside bomb exploded shortly after their pickup truck drove past in Cho Airong district of Narathiwat on Saturday afternoon.
The bomb, packed into a 20-kilogramme gas cylinder, was hidden under an anti-drug campaign billboard in Ban Khok village of tambon Chuap. The bomb was detonated by radio when the pickup truck arrived.
The two officers on board the vehicle were unhurt, said Pol Lt Col Vitchapol Damsangvarn of the Cho Airong police station, who was alerted around 2.55pm
The blast left a crater about 30 centimetres wide and 90cm deep. Pieces of metal were scattered around the area.
Authorities believed the bomb was the work of insurgents seeking to target military patrols that use the road regularly to provide protection for teachers. As soldiers were engaged elsewhere, the insurgents shifted their target to the police, officials said.