At least ten armed men shot to death the secretary of the Romsai tambon administration organisation in Narathiwat province during a hostage siege there, police said.
Pol Lt Wongduan Khamsri, the duty officer at Sukhirin district police station, said the incident occurred at about 11am.
According to eyewitnesses, about ten men in military-style fatigues walked into the TAO office. Workers there said they believed at first the intruders were military personnel.
Boonlert Jindathananant, the slain Romsai TAO secretary. (File photo provided by TAO)
One man then asked to see Boonlert Jindathananant, 57, the TAO secretary, while the others told all of the civil servants to stay together. They then separated the workers into groups of Buddhists and Muslims.
Boonlert, the TAO secretary, was then taken from his office with his hands tied behind him. The armed men then tied the hands of all TAO officials and forced them to lie face-down.
Seven to eight of the men walked to the back of the TAO office and opened fire at a car they believed belonged to Boonlert. Hearing the gunfire, the TAO officials scattered in panic, leaving Boonlert behind.
The armed men then took Boonlert to a tent temporarily set up for motorcycles parking. One fired a shot with a 9mm pistol to the back of Boonlert's, killing him instantly.
After that the armed men fled toward the mountain behind the TAO office.
Pol Lt Wongduan said after being informed of the incident, a team of police led by Pol Col Somchai Panom-upakarn, the Sukhirin police chief, rushed to the scene to investigate.
While the police were at Ban Ai Buena in tambon Romsai on the way to the TAO office, a number of assailants hiding in roadside bushes detonated a home-made bomb. Fortunately, the explosion did not hurt any of the officers.
Pol Col Somchai then radioed for an explosive-ordnance disposal and forensic police to the spot. He and an advance team of police went ahead to the TAO office.
While two teams of EOD and forensic police were arriving at the spot, they were fired upon by a number of attackers from the roadside. Nobody was hurt in the attack.
The two teams then proceeded to the TAO office and met with Pol Col Somchai's team there.
They were investigating to establish whether the incident was related to insurgency or whether the incident was motivated by an internal conflict in the TAO.