Narathiwat _ A bomb exploded yesterday morning at a site where teachers and students normally wait for a security patrol to escort them to school in Sukhirin district.

Fortunately, no one was there when the bomb went off about 7.50am.

Fearing militant attacks, security authorities earlier decided to shift the rendezvous point about 30 metres away.

Police investigators said the home-made bomb was hidden near a roadside earth mound next to the former meeting point. The explosion gouged a hole in the ground about 15cm deep and the area was littered with pieces of shrapnel.

A teacher was shot and seriously wounded by two men on a motorcycle in Muang district yesterday.

Mareepeng Mawaeding, 50, of Ban Khok Ti Te school, was hit twice in the stomach. He was said to be in critical condition at Narathiwat Ratchanakharin hospital.

Deputy Education Minister Aree Wongaraya visited Samphan Wittaya, a leading private Islamic school in Cho Airong district, yesterday for the opening of a 400-room dormitory built with government aid to replace an old building burnt down in August last year.

In his speech, Mr Aree said the government realised that not all Islamic schools had been exploited by people instigating unrest.

In Yala province, former defence volunteer Abdulkordey Yeepaloh, 56, who was shot at a weekend market in Raman district, was pronounced dead in hospital on Tuesday night.

The Police Special Branch yesterday called on people in the deep South to help curb the unrest by reporting any suspicious activities to PO Box 9, Por Nor For Praditpat Bangkok 10404, or via email to div4sdl@hotmail.com.