A kamnan of tambon Khao Tum was shot dead in a spate of violent attacks that hit Pattani early Tuesday.
Uma Kute was gunned down in a drive-by killing in Yarang district early yesterday, hours after a policeman was ambushed in Nong Chik district, police said.
Attackers followed Uma's car before opening fire at him while the 48-year-old man was driving past a Muslim cemetery in Ban Ko Bato.
Officers are hunting the attackers and investigating whether their motivations are related to insurgency.
Earlier, just after midnight on the same day, a police officer was wounded in an ambush on Highway 42 in Nong Chik district, police said.
The attack occurred when a team of police were returning in a pickup truck to Napradu police station after being relieved from security duty at the Red Cross fair in front of city hall.
While they were passing Ban Thadan village in tambon Don Rak on Highway 42, gunmen opened fire on the vehicle from the roadside.
Pol Lt Cpl Ekachai Suwannanan, who was sitting on the back seat, was hit in the right arm and leg. He was admitted to Pattani Hospital. Police suspected insurgents were responsible for the attack.
It was possible a militant group might have launched the attack as an act of revenge against security officers whose recent missions had led to the arrest of many insurgent suspects, police said.
Anti-insurgency operations are among key state responses to the unrest in Muslim-dominated provinces, especially Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
Violence broke out on Jan 4, 2004 when four soldiers were killed and a large cache of weapons were stolen by separatists from the 4th Development Battalion in Narathiwat's Cho Airong district.
The government has also tried to work on local development projects and started peace dialogues with key insurgent groups since 2013. However, talks were suspended in late 2013 when Bangkok was besieged by anti-government protests.
