A reporter was critically injured in a brazen daylight shooting in Pattaya, Thailand, on Wednesday.

Natapat Boonchalee, 28, was going home after seeing his friends when a motorcycle rider drove next to his two-wheeler and shot him in the head.

Shocking CCTV footage shows the assailant driving beside Natapat before discharging his firearm, causing Natapat to topple over unconscious.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Dokrak Sairoj of the Pattaya City Police Station said cops received a report about the shooting at 7 am on December 13.

Officers arrived to investigate the scene, where Natapat lay bloodied next to his Honda PCX motorcycle.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital with critical injuries. Doctors said x-ray scans revealed 'more than 40 bullet fragments embedded in his eyes and brain'.

Natapat's friend, 29, who was not named by local media, said that they had been eating at a barbecue restaurant not far from the crime scene.

He said Natapat left first to take his child to school, but he was shocked upon finding him lying in a pool of blood on the road.

Residents said they did not witness the shooting, but reported hearing a loud explosion.

Police were investigating the incident.

Thailand has one of the highest gun ownership and gun homicide rates in Asia.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to tighten gun control following a shocking shooting attack in a Bangkok mall that killed three people in October.