Three employees of a tambon administration organistion (TAO) were wounded, one of them seriously, in an attack on a garbage truck in Pattani's Khok Pho district on Thursday morning.
Pol Lt-Col Chamlong Suwarat, the Napradu police chief, said the incident occurred about 10am while the garbage truck operated by Makrut TAO was travelling along the Napradu-Naket road through Ban Yang Daeng in tambon Napradu, heading for a garbage dump.
Two men caught up on a motorcycle and opened fire at the truck with handguns. The driver lost control and tthe ruck rammed into a tree and a roadside ditch.
Somchok Madmalai, 48, the driver, was shot in the head and seriously wounded. Also wounded were garbage collectors Serm Poonkaew, 56, who was hit in the right shoulder, and Prapas Ounthong, 50, who was shot in the left leg. All were admitted to Khok Pho district hospital.
Police blamed Islamist militants. The three wounded were also members of the Ban Yang Daeng village defence unit.