A police major was shot dead in Chiang Mai province late Wednesday night while trying to stop drug smugglers who had sped through a checkpoint.
The slain officer was Pol Maj Pibulpan Sukhumnont, 48, of Fang police station.
Police and soldiers had earlier set up checkpoints along a road near the border in Mae Ai district to prevent drug smuggling.
Some men travelling in a black Toyota pickup truck approached a checkpoint in Ban Pong Hai village of tambon Mae Sao. They refused to stop when signalled and sped off.
In the subsequent pursuit, Pol Maj Pibulpan's vehicle overtook the fleeing truck and stopped ahead of it to block the road.
A man in the pickup opened fire at the police vehicle. A bullet hit Pol Maj Pibulpan; he later died from the wound at Mae Ai Hospital.
The suspects' truck again sped off. Other pursuers briefly caught up with it again at Ban Ja To village in tambon Ban Luang, another 10 kilometres away.
This time, police shot at the pickup's tyres. The vehicle was found shortly afterwards abandoned on a road lined with thick forest.
There was no sign of the smugglers, but police found dumped in the forest 21 sacks containing approximately 4 million methamphetamine pills.
Security forces were searching for the smugglers.
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