2023’s top stories: Thailand anguishes over mass shootings, as boy goes berserk in Bangkok mall

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The trend of fatal shooting sprees in Thailand continued in 2023, with the country’s top luxury shopping mall becoming the latest killing field. Adding to the shock was the young age of the perpetrator, a 14-year-old schoolboy.

 

The bespectacled teenager’s October 3 rampage through Siam Paragon mall in central Bangkok’s busy shopping area killed three people and injured four others. The victims were tourists and locals going about their normal lives when tragedy struck without warning.

 

The boy’s crime recalled the carnage caused by an enraged gun-toting soldier at Terminal 21 Korat three years ago – not only because both shootings were at shopping complexes but also because of the grim reality that people who had never made enemies could die in a hail of bullets all the same.

 

Deadly trend

 

The cold-blooded murder of strangers perpetrated by the 14-year-old boy continued an appalling series of fatal shooting sprees that started at Terminal 21 Korat Nakhon Ratchasima in 2020. Thailand had never seen such lone-shooter massacres before that date.

 

Psychiatrists warned the 2020 incident could spawn copycat shootings, and sure enough more followed, with innocent victims targeted every year since 2020. Last year, a former police officer and drug addict went on a rampage in the Northeast province of Nong Bua Lamphu that ended in unthinkable horror when he killed 19 toddlers at a nursery, murdered 16 other people and finally shot himself dead.

 

This year’s shooting resonated with many people because they realized that they too could fall victim to such a random crime. It was almost unimaginable that Siam Paragon, crowded with well-to-do shoppers and tourists, including royals of other countries, could become a killing field, especially since it sits in the heart of Bangkok just a short walk from Royal Thai Police headquarters.

 

The Crown Prince of Johor, Malaysia, said he and his family were in the lobby of the adjacent luxury hotel when they heard the gunshots from Siam Paragon.

 

“This is the worst experience I’ve ever gone through,” he said of the incident.

 

By Thai PBS World’s General Desk

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2023-12-20

 

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[brianthainess]

And still no change in the gun laws. 

[happydreamer]

6 hours ago, brianthainess said:

And still no change in the gun laws. 

Ya because criminals and those prone to criminal activity obey laws