PATANI DARUSSALAM: - A car bomb in a pick-up truck exploded in the Ethnic region of Jala province on Friday, killing a Thais policeman and wounding 10, the latest deadly blast in a region plagued by suspected Patani freedom fighters.

The bomb, hidden in a truck parked near an intersection, exploded as a police officer drove past in his car, a police spokesman said. "His body was trapped and burned," he said.

Television footage showed the wounded being treated in hospital for severe burns.

The troubled region bordering Malaysia, only a few hours by car from some of Thailand's best-known tourist beaches, has seen an upsurge in violence as ethnic Malay fight for autonomy from Thailand's ethnic Siam majority.

Ten people were killed in separate shootings on Wednesday, including provincial politicians and villagers. On Thursday, a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded in Patani province, wounding 22 people, including four Thais soldiers.

Nearly 3,900 people have been killed in five years of unrest in four ethnic Malay provinces, Jala, Patani, Menara and part of Senggora.

Local Malay Muslims largely oppose the presence of tens of thousands of police, soldiers and state-armed ethnic Siamese guards in the rubber-rich region, which was part of a Malay Muslim sultanate until annexed by ethnic Siam Buddhist Thailand a century ago.