What We Know So Far About the Daycare Mass Shooting in Thailand

More than 30 people were killed in a mass shooting at a daycare center in a northeastern Thailand town on Thursday, according to the police. Here’s what we know so far. What are the details? Police said the shooting occurred in Na Klang district of Nong Bua Lamphu, some 269 miles away from Bangkok, early in the afternoon. The Associated Press reports the victims include 23 children and two teachers, according to a spokesperson for a regional office. The suspect, a former police officer, was reportedly armed with guns and knives when he forced his way into the center and opened fire, according to the Bangkok Post. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] He then reportedly killed his family and himself after the shooting. How common are mass shootings in Thailand? Gun violence is a growing problem in Thailand. The country is second to the Philippines for the number of gun homicides in Southeast Asia. Mass shootings in Thailand are rare, however. In February 2020, a 31-year-old soldier in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima killed 29 people and wounded 57 before being shot dead. Most of the victims were at a shopping center. Among the slain were the shooter’s superior officer, as well as the officer’s mother-in-law, who was accused of cheating the soldier in a lucrative land deal. Read More: Why the Philippines Has Lots of Guns But Few Mass Shootings Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha described that massacre as “unprecedented in Thailand.” On Sept. 14, 2022, a soldier at a base in the Thai capital Bangkok killed two people and wounded one. Are guns easy to get in Thailand? An article published just a month ago on the English-language website of Thailand’s public broadcaster warned of the ready availability of firearms. Entitled “4 million reasons to believe Thailand has a problem with illegal guns,” the article said that there were 4 million unregistered weapons in the country and 6 million registered ones. Read More: These Countries Restricted Assault Weapons After Just One Mass Shooting “Online marketplaces make it cheap and easy for civilians to obtain guns without having to go through complicated background checks,” the article said. “Several Thai social media accounts offer guns for sale with a home delivery service.” This is a developing story