In posts about the incident shared by Facebook fan page YouLike Clipded (https://www.facebook.com/ceclip/) the six brave soldiers were saluted and many Thai members expressed condolences to their families and friends.

Silver Rainart said that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha must solve the problem and end the violence and deaths, while Yingkhid Gunkel expressed condolences to the deceased men’s families and said she could not believe that the rangers had to patrol on normal pick-up trucks in such a dangerous area.

Suaming Arm-ik-kiew praised the men for sacrificing their lives to protect the country and other officers who stay apart from their families to serve in difficult conditions.

Many others commented that the government should have spent money buying safer armoured trucks for those serving in the deep South rather than buying submarines.

In the latest suspected rebel attack that will undermine stagnant peace talks, the patrol team was gunned down in Narathiwat province after their pick-up truck was struck by a roadside explosive.

“After the car tipped over on the road four (rangers) were shot dead at the scene,” provincial police commander Manas Suksamas said. Two other rangers died at hospital, he added.

Thursday’s attack came a day before the anniversary of the 2004 army raid on a mosque in neighbouring Pattani that left 32 insurgents dead and stoked the bloody insurgency. Militants often time their attacks to strike around anniversaries and other symbolic events.

Earlier this month the most active insurgent group rejected peace talks organised by the ruling junta in a rare press statement. The shadowy Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) is believed to be behind most of the violence in the region, although it never claims responsibility for attacks and shuns publicity.

Experts have long said the faction is not loyal to a group of rebel negotiators who have been meeting with the Thai junta, which seized power in 2014.

The BRN called for international involvement in the army-led talks, which have so far borne little fruit. The Prayut government has refused to talk to the group.