A party candidate and his canvasser were shot and wounded in the Thailand's violence-plagued deep South in the run-up to the Feb. 6 general election, local press of Bangkok reported Saturday.

In Narathiwat's Joh-I-Rong district, Chat Thai party candidate Kuheng Yaworhasan and his canvasser Sukree Dendara were ambushed by an unknown number of gunmen in a pick-up truck.

Kuheng suffered a gunshot wound in the right arm, while Sukree suffered multiple gunshots in his left side, Thanongsak Patarapanu,Narathiwat deputy commander of police, was quoted by The Nation newspaper as saying.

Kuheng saw the attack on him as politically motivated. He said he don't believe it was part of the sectarian violence in the South.

"I have reason to suspect that I was personally targeted because of my political campaign," he said.

In the province's Rangae district, the secretary of a Democrat candidate received a death threat several days after two of his canvassers were attacked. One was killed in the attack and the other was seriously injured.

Police in the central Saraburi province have stepped up raids on hideouts of suspected gunmen and blacklisted 50 in a bid to preempt poll-related vendettas and political violence.

Source: Xinhua