Teenager Fatally Stabbed in Chiang Mai Market Brawl

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture captured by bystanders.

 

A brutal brawl between rival youth gangs at Chiang Mai Gate Market ended in tragedy early morning on 4 March, when an 18-year-old Thai teenager was fatally stabbed.

 

At around 04:00, a group of eight young men, all dressed in black and armed with knives and wooden sticks, stormed the market in Phra Singh subdistrict. Their target, a rival group, attempted to flee, with one teenager desperately seeking refuge on the second floor of a market office.

 

Eyewitness footage captured the chaotic scene, showing the two groups engaging in a violent altercation as vendors pleaded for them to stop and urged bystanders to call the police. The victim was ultimately caught on the second floor and stabbed in the right side of his torso, suffering critical injuries.

 

Following the attack, the assailants fled the market, reportedly threatening vendors and witnesses, warning them to delete any recordings of the incident.

 

A market trader, who saw the events unfold, recounted how the attackers chased the victim across the street before one, allegedly a member of a Shan youth gang, ordered his accomplices to “catch up with him.” The teenager’s attempt to escape upstairs proved futile as his attackers overwhelmed him.

 

Police from Mueang Chiang Mai Station arrived swiftly after being alerted and transported the severely injured teenager to Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, where he later succumbed to his wounds.

 

By the afternoon of 4 March, police had apprehended six suspects linked to the attack, all identified as members of the Shan youth gang known as 575. Two more suspects remain at large, with authorities actively tracking their whereabouts.

 

Speaking at a press conference, Pol. Col. Prachaya Thisala, superintendent of Mueang Chiang Mai Police Station, stated that the suspects, originating from various districts including San Sai and Saraphi, had no fixed meeting spot but would gather in different locations.

 

Preliminary investigations suggest that the attack stemmed from a dispute over a mere exchange of glances. The victim, who had no intention of fighting, attempted to evade the gang but was relentlessly pursued and attacked.

 

Police are currently analysing CCTV footage and checking the registration details of the motorcycles used in the escape. Some suspects were tracked down and arrested in San Sai and Saraphi districts.

 

Authorities have also launched a search operation to recover the murder weapon, which the suspects claim was discarded in the Ping River near Mengrai Bridge. Divers have been deployed to locate the knife.

 

The six arrested suspects have been charged with murder, while efforts to apprehend the remaining two fugitives continue.

 

Chiang Mai police have assured the public that the situation is under control, urging residents not to panic. “We have arrested most of the perpetrators, and we are confident the remaining two will be in custody soon,” said Pol. Col. Prachaya.

 

-- 2025-03-05

 

[fondue zoo]

Do they have old school hard labour in Thailand? 

Two years should do it for those complicit.  For the person holding the knife it's five.

No if or buts or running to temple.