Five soldiers were injured when a motorcycle bomb was allegedly detonated by insurgents in southern Thailand.

The officers were out on patrol when the explosive was set off at the Tanyong Dalo Bridge in Pattani province near Malaysia on November 14 afternoon.

Yaring District Police Station officers said they received a report at around 3 pm. They arrived at the scene and found debris scattered across the road, where alleged terrorists reportedly left the two-wheeler rigged with bombs. The suspects were said to have set off the explosion while the soldiers were driving by in their six-wheeler truck.

Five officers were injured and rushed to the Yaring Hospital, including Police Senior Sergeant Major Preecha Khotnen who suffered severe shrapnel wounds to his head and face.

Police Colonel Thiraphon Yindee, superintendent of the Yaring Police Station, said: 'We believe the bombing was carried out to create a situation of unrest in the area.'

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.