Relatives of victims of the shooting at a high school and a home outside Bangkok retrieved the bodies of their loved ones, a day after the gunman killed at least seven people.
A 14-year-old schoolboy opened fire at around 10am local time on Friday at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of Bangkok before taking his own life.
He also appeared to have killed his two grandparents at the family home earlier in the morning, officials said.
Sixteen people remained hospitalised, with seven of them in critical condition yesterday, according to the Health Ministry.
Most of those wounded were between 12 and 14 years old.
All eight bodies – five school staff members, the alleged shooter and his grandparents – were collected by early yesterday afternoon from Bangkok’s Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Emergency workers brought out a coffin and loaded it onto an ambulance, which will transport them to their hometown for funeral rites.
Wiroon Supasingsiripreecha, head of the institute, said most of the victims suffered a single fatal gunshot wound to a vital area, including the chest or head.
He said the gunshot wound found on the alleged shooter was consistent with the weapon he had used.
More detailed forensic findings, including toxicology results, are expected later, he said.
Officials said the gun, described as small and compact, was legally registered to the boy’s grandfather.
There were reports that the boy, who lived with his grandparents, had shown signs of stress connected to school, although some of his relatives told Thai media that they were unaware of any troubles he might have been facing.
The school said all classes would be suspended next week. School staff were instructed to work from home during that time.
Yesterday morning, the school was quiet with only a minor police presence at the entrance. A few mourners came to lay flowers at the gate.
Charin Siriananchai brought his two sons, ages nine and six, to pay their respects.
He said while his sons do not study here, he lives in the neighbourhood and drives past this school almost every day, often stopping to allow students to cross the road.
“Everyone was saddened and shocked because it was unexpected that this would happen in Thailand, and also it’s quite a great loss,” he said.
Some parents also came with their children to collect their belongings left behind after the shooting.
A father, who declined to identify himself, said his son, who was at the school during the shooting, was still in shock and could not sleep alone.
Within hours of the shooting rampage on Friday, Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul vowed to introduce a new firearms control law in South-East Asia’s largest gun-owning nation.
Anutin, who previously tightened gun laws when he was interior minister, will now propose a law to restrict the carrying of firearms by the public.
“The new law will only allow government officials on duty to carry guns,” he told reporters, but did not provide any specifics for the envisaged legislation, including whether it will tighten gun ownership requirements.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Asia, second only to Pakistan.
Data collected in 2017 by the groups Small Arms Survey and GunPolicy.org in their last extensive international study found civilian gun ownership in Thailand was about 15.1 guns per 100 people, compared with less than one per 100 in neighbouring Malaysia.
Thailand had 3.49 deaths by firearms per 100,000 people, according to 2023 statistics published by World Population Review. That puts it well behind parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, but relatively high in Asia. Only the Philippines is higher in South-East Asia.
While shootings involving indiscriminate killings are not common, the country has seen an uptick in high-profile shooting deaths in recent years.
In February, a 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand, briefly taking people hostage in a two-hour attack that killed one person and wounded two others.
A 14-year-old boy was accused of a 2023 shooting at a major Bangkok shopping mall. — AP/Reuters
