This is Thailand’s deadliest mass shooting in years – and the second at a school this year.
In February, a head teacher and a female student were shot by an 18-year-old gunman during a school siege in southern Thailand.
Four years ago, a 34-year-old resident in the eastern Nong Bua Lamphu province killed 37 people, most of them preschoolers, in a shooting and stabbing at a nursery.
These crimes have resurfaced questions about gun control in the country.
While there are restrictions on gun ownership in Thailand, people can still acquire guns – legally or illegally – with relative ease.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in South East Asia – and it’s not clear if authorities have taken any significant action to curb gun crime amid rising concerns.
“This shouldn’t have happened,” the boyfriend of one of the killed teachers told reporters, clearly distressed and trying to hold back tears.
It is early days in the investigation and police haven’t said anything about a motive.
They have said they believe the 9mm handgun the shooter used belongs to his grandfather, who was a teacher, but little else.
Others are filling some of the gaps. A teacher at the school has said the shooter was a good student – not aggressive and with good grades – and education authorities have described him as an avid gamer.
But it is clear authorities will have many questions to answer in the coming days – many of them about what change this crime must trigger.
An opposition leader has called for Thai authorities to review the country’s gun control measures.
“An act of violence in an educational institution, which should be one of the safest places in our society, serves as a stark reminder for Thai society to seriously and systematically review gun control measures,” Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the People’s Party wrote in a Facebook post following the shooting.
