Three murdered on road to Bangkok airport

BANGKOK, Oct 17 (AFP): Thai police have launched a major investigation into the murder of three men from Hong Kong early Saturday morning. Chen Jian-jun, 40, Chan Kam-yin, 41, and Hong Leong, 41, were killed shortly after midnight as they travelled on a main highway heading to the Bangkok airport, police said. They said the men had taken a taxi from central Bangkok before being forced to pull over by an unidentified gunman and his accomplice driver. “The gunman’s car cut across traffic lanes and stopped the taxi; then they got out and shot the three men, who were all sitting in the back seat,” said police lieutenant general Wannarat Kotchrag. The taxi driver escaped unharmed but could not provide a detailed description of the gunmen or his accomplice. After meeting a team of local investigators, Wannarat said police believed the killings were linked to personal disputes. “The dead men came into Thailand this month and stayed at the Palaso hotel,” said Wannarat. “And one of them was a croupier at a casino in Cambodia.” But police say little else is known so far about the three victims. The wife of one of the dead men is being questioned to gain more information about possible motives behind the killings. Thirty officers and undercover detectives are working on the case, and police told AFP they were likely to ask their counterparts in Hong Kong for cooperation.