More than 4,300 people, both Muslims and Buddhists, have been killed in Thailand’s deep south bordering Malaysia in six years of unrest blamed on Muslim separatist insurgents.
The gunmen ambushed a van carrying the religious teacher and two Muslim politicians in Narathiwat province, said Police Major Col. Chaitat Intanoojit.
All three of the men, who had just left a regular meeting with military officials at a base, were killed, he said.
The police blamed the attack on Islamist insurgents although no group took responsibility.
The rubber-rich provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat were part of a Muslim sultanate annexed a century ago by predominantly Buddhist Thailand. About 80 percent of the people in the poor region are Muslim and speak a Malay dialect.
The violence has ranged from drive-by shootings to bombings and beheadings. The targets are often Buddhists and Muslims associated with the Thai state, such as police, soldiers, government officials and teachers.
The deployment of tens of thousands of police and soldiers empowered by tough security laws has done little to quell the violence, which no credible group has claimed responsibility for.
The attack came a day after the army said it would reduce the number of soldiers deployed in the region by 1,200 because the number of violent incidents had gone down.
