Malaysian tourists were among four killed and 110 wounded in multiple blasts in the insurgency-plagued Thai south, authorities said today, amid concerns that foreigners were targeted.

Three Malaysians, including a three-year-old boy, and one Thai national died in explosions near two hotels and a Chinese-Thai cultural centre in a coordinated attack in Sungai Golok town, Narathiwat province last night.

According to Bernama , the dead Malaysians were identified as Wong Heng Yep, 65, his grandson Wong Kai Sen, three, and Fong Too Keh, 45.

Wong and his grandson were from Kota Bharu while Fong was from Kuantan, Pahang.

Wong and his grandson are understood to have been in Sungai Golok together with other family members while Fong had come with an elder brother and friends.

The Thai authorities said the other person killed was a local volunteer worker aged 38. 

Police said militants may have deliberately aimed to hurt tourists in the triple bombing, one of the largest in recent months in the Muslim-majority deep south where a seven-year rebellion has left thousands dead.

"The insurgents intended to raise the violence to the level of international terrorism by targeting foreigners," said Phaithoon Choochaiya, commander of Southern Border Province police, during a visit to see the injured at the town hospital this morning.

Shadowy rebels regularly target security forces, government workers and Buddhist and Muslim civilians in attacks, but the violence rarely affects foreigners.

NONE The director of Sungai Golok hospital said 19 Malaysian tourists were among the wounded in Friday's blasts.

He said 40 people were still being treated for their injuries and the rest had been discharged.

Two devices - outside the Parkson hotel and the Chinese centre - were believed to have been planted on motorcycles. Another explosion outside the Merlin hotel and near a police station was thought to be from a car bomb.

Other police and army figures gave another explanation for the violence, saying drug dealers, who provide money for local militants, instigated the blasts in revenge for a recent narcotics crackdown.

"The blasts last night were definitely retaliation from drug dealers who fund the insurgents. Every time we focus on drugs, there is more violence," Sungai Golok police colonel Jakkarporn Tantong told AFP .

Escalating violence in the deep south

Lieutenant General Udomchai Thamsarorat, of the Fourth Army Area Command, concurred, saying illegal activity "is the cause of all the trouble" in the area.

Malaysia 's Foreign Ministry, in a statement, noted that violence in the deep south had "escalated" recently.

It said that according to a report from the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok today, the first explosion happened at 6.40pm by the roadside near the Teo Chew Association building, and the others outside Merlin Hotel and a junction near Telecom Thailand's office in Sungai Golok.

NONE The bomb near Merlin Hotel was a car bomb while at the other two sites, they were placed in motorcycles and it was believed that all were detonated electronically, the statmen said.

“The general conclusion of the security authorities in Narathiwat were that the incidences were the actions of the Southern Thai insurgent group.

"But, police have not discounted retaliatory attacks by drug dealers who have been affected by the recent raids by police on drug dealers leading to the discovery of 14,000 amphetamine tablets," it said.

Around 4,800 people have been killed in near-daily attacks since early 2004, according to Deep South Watch, an independent research group that monitors the conflict in three southern provinces near the Malaysian border.

The group has said it has seen a higher frequency of attacks with a greater intensity of violence in recent months.

On Thursday, five soldiers were killed after suspected insurgents opened fire on those wounded in a roadside bombing, police said.