A bomb hidden under a bench in front of a food shop killed one person and wounded 10 others in Thailand's restive Muslim south.

The remote-controlled device exploded Saturday, while Buddhist Thais were waiting to give food to monks in the town of Pattani in one of three southernmost provinces where more than 2,500 people have been killed in violence since 2004 police said.

Two civilians were seriously wounded while the shop owner was killed.

The other wounded included monks and soldiers escorting them.

Nobody claims responsibility for the daily gun or bomb attacks in the far south, annexed by predominately Buddhist Thailand a century ago.

Eighty percent of the local population are Muslim, ethnic Malay and do not speak Thai as a first language.

ME/HAR