The marine police have stepped up security along the east coast and around the island of Langkawi following attacks in southern Thailand which left six people dead this week.

Reinforcements including 122 men and 15 patrol boats have been despatched to the coastal areas near Langkawi and northeast Kelantan state to prevent armed bandits crossing the border, marine police commander Muhammad Muda was quoted as saying today.

The men would pay particular attention to the Golok River which runs between Kelantan and Tak Bai in Thailand.

"The move was made following requests by our counterparts in Thailand to assist them in curbing transborder crimes and piracy along the waters and smuggling activities at exit points near the borders," he told the New Straits Times .

"Police will also continue to conduct thorough inspection on all foreign boats, especially from Thailand."

Surveillance

Aircraft will also be used for surveillance, he said.

An attack on a military camp in Thailand's Narathiwat province Sunday left four soldiers dead while some 18 schools and two police checkpoints were torched. A day later two policemen were killed in Pattani as they tried to defuse a bomb.

Thailand's five Muslim-majority provinces in the far south, which border Malaysia, had been plagued by a low-level separatist insurgency for decades before it faded in the 1990s.

Violence has surged again in recent months, with government offices, schools, police and administration officials frequently the target. Authorities have been divided over who has been responsible, with few arrests made. - AFP