Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has pledged to enact a new law to control firearms. He made the promise after eight people were killed and 22 injured in a shooting by a teenager at a school on the outskirts of Bangkok on Friday.
The 14-year-old boy first killed his grandparents at his home. He then went to Debsirin School in the Nonthaburi area, where he killed five teachers before killing himself. He was a student at that school. Thai media reports later said a student injured in the shooting had also died.
After the attack, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he wanted to enact a new law imposing restrictions on carrying firearms in public. Under the proposed law, only government officials on duty would be able to carry guns.
Police officer Thadsakorn Konthong said the gun and bullets used in the attack belonged to the boy’s grandfather. A preliminary investigation found evidence that the gun had been in the grandfather’s bedroom.
International and local media reports said the gun was legally registered and had a valid licence.
Thailand is among the Southeast Asian countries with a high rate of gun ownership among ordinary people. The country has about 13 million firearms in civilian hands, of which about 4 million are thought to be held illegally.
Thailand currently has strict laws on gun possession, under which illegally possessing a firearm can carry up to 10 years in prison. But problems have remained in enforcing these laws.
As home minister, Anutin had enacted several gun-control laws, including a temporary ban on issuing new gun licences and restrictions on gun imports. On Friday, Anutin said: “Such an incident should never have happened.”
Anutin added: “I am not only sorry for those killed, I am also sorry that this happened. How can such an incident happen in our country?”
The boy is believed to have shot dead his 73-year-old grandfather and 74-year-old grandmother at around 5am local time on Friday. The two lived in a two-storey flat.
A Thai police officer said the two were each shot once in the head and died on the spot. Reuters reported that after killing his grandparents the boy boarded a school bus, carrying the gun and several bullets.
He then attended his first class at 8:30am and his second class at 9:20am. About 30 minutes into the second class, he began firing the gun.
Thailand’s national police chief Kittirat Phanphet told reporters that forensic officers had found the attacker’s aim was quite accurate; several of the bullets he fired hit vital parts of the body.
Prime Minister Anutin said the attack was “well planned”. Local media reports said police searched the boy’s electronic devices and found several videos made about school shootings in the United States.
Speaking to local media, family members described the boy as calm and well-behaved.
The boy’s uncle told Thai media that he mostly played violent video games inside the house and rarely went out, but that there had been no sign he was planning such an attack. The boy lived with his grandparents; his parents had divorced.
Debsirin School, established in Bangkok in 1885, is one of Thailand’s most renowned secondary schools. It has branches across the country, and many well-known Thai figures — diplomats, athletes and several prime ministers — are its former students.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report