The Thai king has urged the government to use more restraint in the troubled southern provinces, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej's remarks are in response to the deaths of nearly 80 Muslims in police custody last Monday.
"His majesty has urged both sides to refrain from violence - both the government and militants who keep hurting people," Mr Thaksin said.
The king is highly revered in Thailand and his views are taken very seriously.
King Bhumibol first expressed his concern over increasing unrest in the south in February, when he urged all sides to work together.
On Sunday he again made his views known, in a private audience with Mr Thaksin.
Mr Thaksin faces intense pressure in the wake of last week's deaths, not least because a general election is due to take place early next year.
Officials said 78 Muslims died in police custody on Monday, most of them from suffocation after being arrested and crammed into army trucks when a demonstration in Takbai in southern Narathiwat province turned violent.
At least seven other people were shot dead by security personnel during the protest, officials said.
Mr Thaksin has promised an independent inquiry into the protesters' deaths, but has stopped short of apologising personally for the tragedy.
Islamic leaders warn that Muslim outrage at the incident could trigger reprisal attacks in Thailand's south, where more than 400 people have already died this year in a wave of violence.
Most of the deaths have been blamed on the security forces and Muslim separatists, though correspondents say local rivalries and drug disputes may also be to blame.
Strained relations
In Narathiwat province, the unrest continued on Monday.
A Buddhist man was killed by a gunman on a motorbike, and three other people were injured in a separate incident, while they were selling fruit in a market.
According to the French news agency AFP, the gunmen in the market attack left messages saying their actions were in retaliation for last Monday's deaths.
But life continued as normal, with many schools in the region reopening for their second term as scheduled - albeit amid tightened security measures.
According to the Thai news agency TNA, more than 300 schools in Narathiwat province were open on Monday.
The unrest in southern Thailand has also strained relations with its neighbour Malaysia, where there is considerable sympathy for the Muslims in the region, most of whom speak a Malay dialect.
In an interview with a Malaysian newspaper on Friday, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said autonomy for Thailand's southern Muslims could help stem the violence.
But on Monday Thailand hit back, saying in a Foreign Ministry statement that Mr Mahathir's view was "not helpful whatsoever to the determined efforts being undertaken by the Thai government to address and resolve the current situation".
Mr Thaksin also said Mr Mahathir's comments were "unconstructive", according to Reuters news agency.