A motorcycle bomb has exploded at a market in southern Thailand, killing three civilians and wounding dozens more.

Monday's attack in the southern province of Yala was the first of its kind for months in the region, where ethnic Malay Muslims have been fighting for autonomy.

No one has claimed responsibility.

Police said the attacker parked a motorcycle rigged with explosives near the market and bought goods there to blend in with the crowd.

Yala province, one of Thailand's three southernmost provinces, has been the scene of a years-long fight between the Thai army and Malay Muslims.

The three provinces are the only ones with Muslim majorities in the predominantly Buddhist country.

Thailand, which colonised the ethnically Malay south roughly a century ago, has for decades been confronted by ethnic fighters seeking more autonomy, but the conflict flared up into its bloodiest phase in 2004.



Rights groups have accused both the Malay armed groups and security forces of widespread human rights abuses.

The death toll in 2017 from the uprising was the lowest in 13 years of conflict as peace talks edged forwards and the Thai government boosted its lockdown on the region.

More than 6,500 people have been killed in the violence since 2004.