Bandits, again?BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A police informant who survived two attacks by suspected Muslim insurgents was killed Saturday in a drive-by shooting in Thailand's restive south, police said.
Two gunmen on motorcycles shot the man three times as he was walking near his home in the Joh Airong district of Narathiwat province, said Lt. Chart Nopchamnan. The victim, identified as 37-year-old Bahareng Uma, died at the scene.
Bahareng had survived two previous attacks in October, when gunmen opened fire on his house and then attempted a drive-by shooting that injured him slightly in his right leg, Chart said.
Drive-by shootings and bombings occur almost daily in Thailand's three southernmost Muslim-majority provinces - Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - where an Islamic insurgency that flared in January 2004 has killed more than 1,900 people.
Suspected insurgents target people seen as collaborators with the government, including soldiers, police and informants. More than 50 teachers, viewed as symbols of government authority, have also been killed.
If you don't protect your assets, you can't protect your ass. Thailand slips another notch toward the abyss.