The deputy chairman of a local administrative body and a driver were shot dead and the chairman seriously wounded when their vehicle was attacked in Muang district of Nakhon Nayok on Monday night.
The fatal shooting on Pak Thor-Toey Noi Road in tambon Sri Jula of Muang district was reported to police around 9pm.
At the scene, they found a black Hyundai van with Bangkok licence plates stopped in scrub, down an embankment, about 20 metres from the road. Two men were dead from gunshot wounds inside the vehicle. Another man with serious bullet wounds was rushed to a local hospital before police arrived, according to media reports.
The dead men were identified as Somchai Muang-kard, 63, deputy chairman of Bang Somboon tambon administration organisation (TAO), and driver Watchara Nutdaeng, 52. Mr Somchai was shot in his chest and left leg. Mr Watchara was shot three times, in the torso and legs.
The wounded man was Yannakorn Thorprayoon, 44, TAO chairman, who was shot in the left shoulder and left leg.
Charn Charoenrungruang, 65, adviser to the wounded TAO chairman, told police he was sitting behind the driver’s seat. They were returning from a party meeting when a white car drew alongside their van on a dark section of road.
People inside the car opened fire at them and bullets hit the van driver, who lost control and the vehicle ran off the road. The car carrying the assailants immediately fled, Mr Charn said.
He saw that the chairman was wounded but still breathing. People passing by saw where the van had left the road and called a rescue team for help.
After police questioned Mr Charn, they took him to a safehouse to avoid being targetted by the gunmen, Thai media reported.