This is the dramatic moment separatists ambushed a police patrol, injuring an officer in Thailand's restive deep south.

The suspected insurgents opened fire on Police Sergeant Major Watcharapong Chaiyapan, leader of the local police patrol unit Sing Thong, while he was making routine rounds near a 7-11 store in Yala province on April 19.

CCTV footage shows gunshots being fired out on the street shortly before Watcharapong was seen lying on the ground. The other officers moved their pickup truck to shield him as another pickup fled the area.

Watcharapong suffered a gunshot to the waist and was rushed to the Bannangsata Hospital, where he is now in a stable condition.

Authorities have cordoned off the area for investigation. Investigations found that the attackers had fired from an orchard on the opposite side of the convenience store.

The motive of the attack is being investigated.

A spokesman for the intelligence unit in the southern border said: 'We have detected the continuous movement of insurgents at the border with Malaysia. They were taking orders from their leaders and transporting weapons. 

'We believe they wanted to cause chaos after Ramadan.'

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.