A bomb exploded in southern Thailand killing two police officers and wounding three other people, just hours after the country's queen appealed to the nation to condemn such attacks.

The device, believed to have been triggered by a mobile phone, exploded in a small storehouse used by a village chief near a border police station in the Sungai Kolok district of Narathiwat province and caused damage across a 30m (98ft) radius, said police Lieutenant Sittidej Ruansong.

The three wounded included one police officer and two villagers. The blast on Sunday occurred near a market along the Malaysian frontier, he said.

Sunday's attack coincided with a trip to the region by members of the National Reconciliation Commission, a government-appointed panel led by former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun that has been tasked with finding ways of lessening the violence.

The commission is scheduled to release reports later on Sunday on an incident in which dozens of Muslims died at the hands of security forces in the Krue Se mosque, a centuries-old site, and on the deaths of at least 85 protesters who died at Tak Bai after being tied and stacked in lorries.

About 800 people have been slain in an upsurge of violence in Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani provinces since January last year.

Southern Thai Muslims have long complained of unfair treatment by the central government, particularly in employment and education.

Narathiwat, the province where much of the violence - mostly drive-by shootings and bombings - has occurred, is about 1140km south of the capital, Bangkok.

Thailand faces international criticism for its heavy handed approach in dealing with activists and for its human rights record.

PHOTO CAPTION

Thai soldiers inspect a bomb explosion site near a border check point in Narathiwat province, Thailand, April 24, 2005. (REUTERS)