This is the moment a bomb exploded injuring six police officers and a schoolboy at a checkpoint in Thailand.

CCTV footage shows the explosive detonating near a pedestrian overpass in front of the Ban Kala Pho School in southern Pattani province on January 3.

Six cops were injured, two of them seriously. They were named in reports as Police Sergeant Major Pattaphong Seammai and Police Sergeant Khamin Sriprasert.

The other officers, named as Police Corporal Phanuwat Chanthamart, Police Corporal Itsamaan Alamad, Police Corporal Jenwit Dittha, and Police Lance Corporal Kittisak Duangrueng, were treated for minor wounds.

Shrapnel also struck schoolboy Buhakim Jehni, 3, who was riding a motorcycle to school. He suffered a small cut on his eyebrow.

A police spokesman said: 'We have closed off the area for safety to allow the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team and relevant officers to inspect the scene. We believe the culprit aimed to cause unrest in the area.'

School officials have cancelled classes following the incident.

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.