Thai Buddhist shot dead inside public phone booth

A company employee was shot dead by suspected insurgents inside a public telephone booth in Thailand's southern province Pattani Sunday night, Thai media reported Monday.

According to news network The Nation, Apinan Ning, 40, a Thai Buddhist, was attacked inside a public telephone booth at an intersection in Pattani's Muang district (provincial seat) at 9:30 p.m. (1430GMT) Sunday.

Police was quoted as saying that Apinan drove his pick-up truck to the intersection along with his wife and son before he parked the vehicle to use the public phone.

The two insurgents arrived on a motorcycle and fired at Apinan in front of his wife and son before fleeing the scene.

The attack came hours after Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi arrived Sunday afternoon in Thailand for a three-day official visit, who is expected to hold talks with his Thai counterpart Surayud Chulanont on ways to end militant violence in Thailand's restive southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia -- Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.

The region has been troubled with unabated insurgent violence, which in slightly over three years has killed more than 1,900 people. The violence has escalated in the past few months, with bombings and drive-by shootings occurring on daily basis.

Source: Xinhua