The latest violence has included a bomb attack

The new Defence Minister, Chettha Thanajaro, has told the BBC the government needs to regain the confidence of people in the south.

He said the militant group Jemaah Islamiah could be involved in the violence, but he had no firm evidence.

On Tuesday, a bomb exploded as ministers met officials in Narathiwat.

One woman was wounded in the blast, which went off in a toilet in the nearby offices of a telephone company.

The government imposed martial law in the area in January and has blamed Islamic militants for violence that has killed over 50 people.

"We consider the blast to be a direct challenge to state authority. The government wants to denounce the perpetrators of the bomb attack who are trying to worsen the situation," said government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair.

Development

The government said that military helicopters and armoured personnel carriers would be pulled out of the region.

However, martial law will not be lifted.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Thanajaro and the interior minister, Bhokin Balakula, were meeting senior local officials to discuss the wave of violence in the south when the bomb went off.

The bomb squad defused another device which was planted in a branch of the Government Savings Bank next to the town hall where talks were taking place.

Mr Chettha speculated in a BBC interview that groups with a "radical Islamic agenda" may have stirred up lingering resentment in the Muslim region.

He said that his strategy in the future would be working with rather than against ordinary people.

Killings on an almost daily basis have continued despite a government pledge to spend $304m on development projects in the region over two years.

Thailand's minority Muslims have long complained of discrimination in jobs, education and culture by the predominantly Buddhist central government.