The incident occurred at 11.20am on a road inside Kuyi village in tambon Talo while soldiers of Infantry Company 15124 were travelling in a patrol vehicle.
The militants hiding on the roadside detonated the bomb and opened fire. An exchange of gunfire followed.
Mst-Sgt Piyapong Impram, the driver, and Pvt Kritikorn Muenlin were killed. Three other soldiers were wounded.
Noppadon Pattama, legal adviser to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said on Sunday that Thaksin had travelled to meet religious leaders in Malaysia in an effort to help bring peace to southern Thailand.
"Pol Lt Col Thaksin hopes that the religious leaders in Malaysia will send a sign to the religious leaders in Thailand that the Thai government is sincere in solving the southern unrest," Mr