April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Sondhi Limthongkul, the Thai media owner whose protest group helped oust three prime ministers, was shot and wounded in an assassination attempt that threatens the governmentÂ’s efforts to restore political stability.Gunmen firing M-16 automatic rifles from a pick-up truck sprayed SondhiÂ’s car with more than 50 bullets at about 5:45 a.m. Bangkok time, King Kwangvisetchaisri, the police officer in charge of the district where the attack occurred, said today. Sondhi and a bodyguard were wounded and his driver is in serious condition, he said.
The attack may jeopardize attempts by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to ease political tension after he was forced to impose emergency rule in Bangkok last weekend to disperse a rival set of demonstrators who are seeking his ouster. Sondhi, an Abhisit supporter whose PeopleÂ’s Alliance for Democracy seized BangkokÂ’s two airports last year, leads opposition to former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, now living in exile.
“What happened may be linked to politics,” Parnthep Pourpongpan, a spokesman for the People’s Alliance said in an interview with TNN television. “Some groups may want to get rid of him.” Sondhi has been taken to hospital and is not seriously wounded, Parnthep said.