Three cops were injured after a police station was bombed in the terrorism-ravaged south of Thailand.

Motorcycle-riding gunmen, believed to be six males, reportedly threw homemade pipe bombs and opened fire at a checkpoint outside Tak Bai Police Station in Narathiwat province on May 25 at 9:30 pm.

The cops fired back in a shootout that lasted for almost five minutes before another explosion was heard on a nearby convenience store.

Footage shows the chaotic scene as the gunmen and police exchanged fire. Terrified locals fled and took cover behind parked vehicles as structures inside the police station caught fire from the explosion.

Royal Thai police deputy spokesperson Police Colonel Krishna Pattanacharoen said: ‘The officers were manning a check point in front of the station when the unknown assailants fired shots on them.

‘The officers fired back and later took control of the situation. Forensic officers have now investigating the area to find the identities of these men, and prosecute them according to the law.’

The injured officers were taken to Tak Bai Hospital to treat gunshot wounds in the leg and abdomen area.

Officers from the nearby Nam Kwai Police Station helped catch the men but without success after also being caught in a gunfire.

After the shootout, three bombs, and an exploded gas tank were found in the scene. The area had now been put under 24-hour surveillance and strict checkpoint of passing cars during the investigation.

Terrorism in the deep south of Thaialnd is an ongoing problem. It dates back to when the southernmost provinces of Thailand - Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - were incorporated into the country following a deal between then Siam and the British Empire in 1909.

However, the region is made up primarily of Malay Muslims with a culture dramatically different to Buddhist Thais and in the 1960s armed separatist groups emerged fighting for independence.

The struggle has continued ever since with more than 7,290 people killed between January 2004 and October 2021.

There were an average of 38.8 incidents and 36.7 casualties a month in 2021, according to data from Deep South Watch.

The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office warns against all but essential travel to the region while Canada's government warns its nationals to 'avoid all travel' to the three provinces.