Assailants gunned down Khomphet Janyalert, 39, and his wife Yinjai, 38, at 7 am as they were driving their motorcycle to work at a plantation in Raman district of Yala province, 750 kilometres south of Bangkok, police said. The
It was the second brutal beheading reported this month in Yala, part of the restive majority-Muslim region that also includes Narathiwat and Pattani provinces. On Friday, suspected separatists shot and decapitated two Thai soldiers who were on a motorcycle patrol in Yala's Sata district, leaving their heads 100 metres from their bodies.
Thai authorities blame the beheadings on the increasing desperation of the insurgents, who they claim are losing the support of the people. 'They are resorting to terrorist acts because they know they are losing support in the area, and the media has been ignoring them,' said Parinya Chaideelok, head of the Peacekeeping Force in the three provinces.
Of the 300,000 Thai Buddhists who used to inhabit the region, about 70,000 have left in the last five years.
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In a separate incident in Yala late Saturday, a 38-year-old man was shot dead as he and his wife drove home from a mosque after evening prayers.