3 shot dead in Thai tourist town—police

BANGKOK—Three Thai men were shot dead when unknown gunmen sprayed bullets at worshippers at a mosque in a tourist town on the kingdom’s southern coast, police said Monday.

Nine Muslim men were sitting outside the building after evening prayers on Sunday when the attack happened, according to police in Ao Luek, Krabi, on Thailand’s Andaman coast.

Three men, including a newly elected village headman, were also injured in the shooting, which police said was likely to be motivated by politics, rather than religion.

Colonel Somdet Sukkarn, the local police chief, said they were hunting two gunmen who jumped out of a car near the mosque and randomly shot at the worshippers.

“We believe that it’s related to local politics; one of the victims was the father of the new village headman,” he said.

Police said the attack had no connection to unrest in Thailand’s southernmost provinces, where a more than eight-year Muslim insurgency has left more than 4,800 people dead.

Krabi province is a major tourist hub, known for its tropical islands, white sand beaches, diving sites and dramatic karst cliffs.