 Lights were smashed in the Lim Ko Nhieo shrine |
A Buddhist shrine has been ransacked in the latest violence to hit southern Thailand, following the beheading of a Buddhist farmer at the weekend.
Talks on the ongoing attacks - due to have involved a separatist Muslim leader and the government - were indefinitely called off on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said he was worried the talks would jeopardise security.
As many as 200 people have died in the violence since the start of the year.
About 20 people broke into the Lim Ko Nhieo shrine in Pattani before dawn on Tuesday and broke lamps and threw furniture around, Pote Sauysuwan, the chief of Pattani police, told the Associated Press.
The shrine is next to Krue Se mosque, where security forces in April killed 32 militants who were hiding inside after an earlier shootout.
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SOUTHERN THAILAND
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They were among 108 people who died on that day, after bands of young men launched co-ordinated attacks on security posts.
Mr Chavalit said Tuesday's shrine attack was clearly an attempt to incite conflict between Muslims and Buddhists - the predominant religion in Thailand.
"Thy have been trying to create a sectarian conflict for a long time," he said.
Talks to discuss the violence were planned for later this week between the Thai administration and Wan Abdul Kadir Che Man, the leader of Bersatu, an umbrella group for separatists.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the government was not recognising the group, but talking to it would be instructive.
Bersatu groups together a number of separatist organisations, such as the Pattani United Liberation Front (Pulo), Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) and Gerakan Mujahideen Islam Pattani. The world Bersatu means "united" in Malay
But The Bangkok Post said Mr Chavalit was strongly opposed to the idea.
The three southern Muslim dominated provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala have been the scene of drive-by shootings, weapons raids and arson attacks on Buddhist monks, schools and security officials since January.