At least 25 people have been killed, mainly Buddhists, since dozens of Muslims died after being piled in trucks by troops and police following the break up of a riot 13 days ago. Many were crushed or suffocated.
The deaths sparked fury in the Muslim-majority south and have been followed by a spate of shootings and the beheading of a Buddhist official. Some of the attackers have left notes blaming the killings on the October 25 deaths.
Monks, Buddhist scholars and Thai temples have all been targeted -- a Muslim guard at one was killed in a gun attack -- as fears grow of a wider sectarian battle in the insurgency-hit region.
Militants behind almost daily killings since January, that have left at least 537 people dead during a separatist-inspired uprising, have previously targeted monks and Buddhist temples.
But Thai officials say the militants have shifted from attacking mainly security forces and government officials to focusing on "softer" targets as the government builds up its forces in the region.
Since Friday, a teenage Buddhist student and an elderly Buddhist have been killed. Armed guards have accompanied monks collecting alms in the region for fear of further attacks.
"The situation here is not normal. It seems to have deteriorated every day and many Buddhists have fled ... since they were being killed every day," said temple abbot Pra Khru Sri Pariyatpipat from one of the worst hit provinces of Yala.
Militants have left leaflets there advising Buddhists to leave the area or they would be in danger, according to media reports.
About four percent of Thailand's 62.5 million population are Muslim, most of them living in the south, which used to be an independent sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand in 1902.
An insurgency has sparked sporadically for decades in the south where Muslims have long complained of unequal treatment from Thai officials.
About 1.8 million people live in the three most troubled provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani and Islamic officials estimated that about 70 percent of those were Muslims.
Buddhists interviewed by AFP said the situation between the two communities had worsened since the deaths of the 87 Muslims, including 78 in the backs of trucks in a scandal being probed by an independent commission.
One man at Sampaochei temple in Pattani, who declined to be named, accused rights groups of ignoring the daily death toll among Buddhists and demanded they and politicians travel to the region to see the problems for themselves.
"If I did not have the burden of taking care of my elderly parents, I would have moved out and settled elsewhere. My neighbours have already bought land in other provinces," he said.
Buddhists were hiding inside their homes at night, keeping children from going to school and refusing to ride cycles for fear of being easy targets, he said.
He added few people were turning up to religious events including the month-long Kathin ceremony that started Saturday, marking the end of Buddhist lent when new robes are presented to monks.
"The level of interfaith tension varied greatly from district to district and, in some locales, even from village to village," according to the US state department religious freedom report of 2004.
A businessman, 61, a Buddhist from Yala, blamed high ranking government officials for failing to grasp the extent of the problem and only associating with top provincial Muslim leaders.
"They have sent a lot of troops but who do they fight with? Why doesn't the government invite members of parliament in these provinces to take part in ending the unrest," he said.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was due to visit the region to meet security officials, admitted there was an atmosphere of fear in the region and that the problems would take time to solve.
