This is the chilling moment four armed men broke into a mayor's factory to shoot him dead in Thailand's restive south.

Wichet Thaithongnum, 55, was having a meeting when the gunmen barged into the Hand-in-Hand factory in separatist-ravaged Narathiwat province at 11:30 am on November 7.

CCTV footage shows how the robed and masked attackers invading the factory conference room before a barrage of loud gunshots echoed through the building. They reportedly left on the two Honda Wave motorcycles they rode to the scene.

Police said Wichet, mayor of the Rueso subdistrict municipality, was found dead with gunshot wounds at the factory, adding they were gathering evidence to track down the suspects.

Officers are now investigating the assassination.

Wichet, locally known as ‘Mayor Arm', was a two-time mayor of the municipality. 

He also served as chairman of the Narathiwat Sports Association twice and owned the Hand-in-Hand factory, which generated jobs and income for the local community.

Islamic separatist terror attacks target the three southernmost provinces of Thailand - Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - next to the border with Mulsim neighbors Malaysia. Thai state employees and infrastructure are often hit while attacks on civilians are rare.

Officials believe the conflict dates to a deal in 1909 that the British Empire struck to incorporate the Muslim region into the Siamese mainland.

The region's culture is more similar to Malaysia and dramatically different to Buddhist Thais causing decades of tension that lead to the emergence of separatist groups fighting for independence in the 1960s.

The struggle has continued ever since with more than 7,344 people killed and 13,641 injured between January 2004 and March 2022.

The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office warns against all but essential travel to the region while Canada's government warns its nationals to 'avoid all travel' to the three provinces.