Two people were injured when their pickup truck was hit by an improvised explosive device in southern Thailand.

Farid Hohmasa-eh, 38, deputy chief of the Bangoy Sub-district Administrative Organisation, and Hazoure Mama, 44, were driving to a durian orchard when they were caught in the blast along a road in Narathiwat province on April 2.

They were rushed to the Srisakhon Hospital. Police are searching for the suspects.

Islamic separatist terror attacks target the three southernmost provinces of Thailand - Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - next to the border with Mulsim neighbors Malaysia.

Thai state employees and infrastructure are often hit while attacks on civilians are rare.

Officials believe the conflict dates to a deal in 1909 that the British Empire struck to incorporate the Muslim region into the Siamese mainland.

The region's culture is more similar to Malaysia and dramatically different to Buddhist Thais causing decades of tension that lead to the emergence of separatist groups fighting for independence in the 1960s.

The struggle has continued ever since with more than 7,344 people killed and 13,641 injured between January 2004 and March 2022.

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.