Canadian shot in Thailand hit by hunter's stray bullet: report

A police official in Thailand says a Canadian tourist shot in a northern Thai city may have been hit by a hunter's stray bullet, a news report said on Thursday.

Police Lt.-Col Thwatchai Punpigu said Erik Griffioen may have been hit by the bullet of a bird hunter, Reuters news agency reported.

Griffioen, a physicist from Dundas, Ont., was shot in the back while riding in an open-sided taxi with his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Ling, Wednesday in the popular tourist city of Chiang Mai.

He is recovering in stable condition at a Thai hospital after spending much of Wednesday in surgery.

Punpigu said the taxi the pair were riding in — a pickup truck with bench seating in the back — passed by a wooded area about the time Griffioen was shot, the Reuters report said.

He's the fourth Canadian to be shot in Thailand in recent weeks. Oil worker Dale Henry was shot in his home in the southern province of Ranong last week. His wife, her boyfriend and another man have been arrested in his killing.

Leo Del Pinto of Calgary was shot to death in January by an off-duty police officer in northern Thailand. His friend Carly Reisig was shot and injured in the incident.

Shooting appeared random: Thai ambassador

Thailand's ambassador to Canada, Snanchart Devahastin, said Canadian consular officials will meet with Thai police officials Friday for an update on the investigation into Del Pinto's death.

"I heard that Canada's ambassador in Thailand will see our police commissioner to learn the results of the investigation and the court proceedings," he said.

Devahastin said the police officer charged in the oil worker's death has had his duties reassigned. He has been freed on bail until his trial.

Devahastin said Griffioen's shooting appeared random, adding he was surprised it happened in such an upscale neighbourhood of Chiang Mai near the five-star Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi hotel.

Thailand is an increasingly popular destination for Canadian tourists, with roughly 186,000 Canadians travelling to Thailand in 2007, he said. Tourists can travel freely in the country, which has a special tourist police force to offer help and protection, said Devahastin.

"We don't want any impact [on tourism]. We try very much to protect our foreign visitors," he said.