The woman driver of a trailer truck was killed when gunmen riddled the cab with bullets on a major highway in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Tuesday morning.
The attack occurred on south-bound Asian Highway 41 in tambon Na Bon and was reported to police around 6am.
Police, resciuers and medics sent to the scene found a 22-wheel trailer truck with a refrigerated container of pasteurized milk stopped on the road. The driver's door and window were riddled with bullet holes. Police said 17 shots were fired.
The woman driver, Lalinya Kosai, 50 of Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district, was dead at the wheel with multiple gunshot wounds to her head and body. Her husband Susawat Paholayuth, 41, of Sukhothai, was standing beside the vehicle in tears, waiting for police.
Mr Susawat told police that he and his wife took turns driving the truck. They were taking a refrigerated container of packs of pasteurized milk from Saraburi to Sadao district of Songkhla. The milk was destined for Malaysia.
When the attack occurred his wife was at the wheel and he was taking his turn sleeping in the back recess.
Around 5am he was woken by the sound of gun shots. He heard his wife crying out in pain. She managed to drive away from the scene for another 5 kilometres before she stopped, passed out and then died, he said. He immediately called police.
Witnesses told police that a pickup truck with two men had been parked alongside the road before the shooting. When the trailer truck drove past, the two men pulled out and chased after it.
They pulled up alongside and fired many shots into the driver's cab, Pol Col Chaiyaphat Sriruang, chief of Na Bon, said. The pickup then sped off.
Police were still looking for a motive for the attack and were examining security camera recordings along the route for clues.
