Thailand

Police say the gunman is a former police officer and that he shot himself, his wife and child following the incident in northern Thailand.

[holding out for hours](https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-thailand-shooting-idUKKBN2020T7) before he was eventually shot and killed by law enforcement. [in a statement](https://www.facebook.com/prayutofficial/posts/pfbid0H9WC5eXQqAUiAEoC793MrHyYiJMgJSvh9PBeNTLNnKb525n2nxTuxGP2hHaiZJTyl). “The images are heartbreaking and our deepest condolences go out to the families who lost loved ones,” he said in a national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States “was horrified” by the shooting and stands ready to assist Thailand in whatever it needs. Thailand, with a population of nearly 70 million, has more than 10 million privately owned guns, of which over 4 million are illegal, according to a My thoughts are with all those affected and the first responders,” British Prime Minister Liz Truss She said she was able to escape because the shooter ran out of bullets. They added that most of the children were asleep when the attack happened because it was nap time. Videos of the aftermath shared on social media showed scenes of carnage and grief. Others show scenes of carnage inside. Padnya then made his way into a locked room where kids were sleeping and attacked them with a knife, Jidapa said. During his escape, he killed nine more people, running some over with his vehicle, according to police.

The gunman, a former policeman, killed his wife and child before shooting himself dead.

Gun laws are strict in Thailand, where possession of an illegal firearm carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. The attacker forced his way into a locked room where the children were sleeping, Jidapa said. So many children got killed, I've never seen anything like it." Illegal weapons, many brought in from strife-torn neighbouring countries, are common. "It's really shocking. Advertisement

Gunman, a former police officer, killed his wife and child after the attack. Read more at straitstimes.com.

But he pulled it out again to load bullets and pointed it at me, and I ran,” she said. He was also known to have abused drugs. At least 10 people were wounded, some severely. “This might have led to hallucination from stress, and he eventually committed the crime, starting from the childcare centre, and later at his house,” said the police chief. In a statement on Facebook, the Royal Thai police said that Panya was a police corporal at the Na Wang Police Station in Nong Bua Lamphu. Police said Panya shot and stabbed teachers and children at the centre in the town of Uthai Sawan, 500km north-east of Bangkok in the province of Nong Bua Lamphu.

More than 30 people, primarily children, were killed Thursday when a gunman opened fire in a childcare center in northeastern Thailand, authorities said.

The rate of firearms related deaths in 2019 was about 4 per 100,000, compared with about 11 per 100,000 in the U.S. "I feel deep sadness toward the victims and their relatives." It was allegedly carried out by human traffickers in retaliation for a crackdown on their network. Police identified the suspect as 34-year-old former police officer Panya Kamrap. "The teacher who died, she had a child in her arms," the witness, whose name wasn't given, told Thailand's Kom Chad Luek television. and nearly 23 per 100,000 in Brazil. Paisal said he also had a shotgun and a knife. A teacher told ThaiPBS public broadcaster that the assailant got out of a car and immediately shot a man eating lunch outside, then fired more shots. "The children were two or three years old." One image showed the floor smeared with blood where sleeping mats were scattered around the room. A former police officer facing a drug charge burst into a day care center Thursday in Thailand, killing dozens of preschoolers and teachers and then shooting more people as he fled. Photos taken by first responders showed the school's floor littered with the tiny bodies of children still on their blankets, where they had been taking an afternoon nap.

Thailand's tourism industry is bouncing back in 2022, but international arrivals will take a long time to recover to pre-pandemic levels, which is unlikely ...

The revival in tourist arrivals will continue to strengthen in the coming years, which will support jobs and incomes in the tourism and related sectors. We expect businesses in the tourism industry to invest more in their IT infrastructure to cater to the demands of tech-savvy young travellers, as well as digital nomads and remote workers. Ongoing and future investment to expand the infrastructure and supporting facilities will also support GDP growth. In 2023 tourism is expected to be among the main sectors that will contribute to GDP growth when the merchandise export sector will see slower growth. The tourism industry will change according to tourists’ shifting demand, whether or not Thailand will see the same level of tourist arrivals as in the pre-covid period. Responses from businesses in the tourism industry have been positive, owing not least to the attempts to economise after the recent surge of energy prices have driven up their operational costs. The move toward greater diversification of the source markets and customer segments is clear in the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s marketing plan for 2023. The prolonged zero-covid policy in China, which looks set to extend well into much of 2023, means that the mass tourist arrivals from China will not return soon. Notably, in January-August tourists from the US made up 4% (3% in 2019) and Russian visitors accounted for 2% of the total (4% in 2019); not much has changed from before the pandemic in terms of percentage share. In response to an anticipated period of weak leisure travel demand, Thailand aims to make it easier to have high-spending visitors stay longer in the country. The expansion of tourism infrastructure will continue despite a smaller number of tourists in 2023‑24 compared with the pre-covid period. In July and August monthly arrivals exceeded 1m people, raising hopes that the government’s annual target of 10m arrivals can be met.

BANGKOK (Reuters) -- At least 31 people were killed on Thursday in a mass shooting at a children's day-care center in a northeastern province of Thail.

The attacker forced his way into a locked room where the children were sleeping, Jidapa said. The massacre is among the worst involving children killed by one person. Gun laws are strict in Thailand, where possession of an illegal firearm carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. "He started shooting, slashing, killing children at the Utai Sawan daycare center," Paisal said. We were very scared and running to hide once we knew it was shooting. So many children got killed, I've never seen anything like it."

At least 20 people are dead including children after a man armed with a gun and knife stormed a nursery in northeast Thailand on Thursday, police said.

A mass shooting that began with a daycare center in northeastern Thailand left 38 people dead, the majority of them children, according to officials.

A former policeman including 22 children in a gun rampage at a daycare centre in eastern Thailand on Thursday, later shooting dead his wife and child at ...

- Gun laws are quite strict in Thailand. - In June 2021, a former soldier fired gunshots in a coronavirus field hospital near Bangkok, killing a 54-year-old patient after earlier shooting dead a convenience store employee. The applicant must be aged at least 20 and first undergo background checks which consider personal conduct, living condition, income and any criminal records. Of those, about 4 million were illegal. - Thais often complain online about a perceived decrease in personal safety and say guns are idolised by some as symbols of power and privilege because they are expensive and not easy to obtain legally. - In February 2020, a soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations in and around the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima.

At least 34 people—including 22 children—were killed on Thursday after a former police officer opened fire inside a daycare center in northeastern Thailand, in ...

[resulted](https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-thailand-shooting-idUKKBN2020T7) in 29 deaths over two days and ended with the soldier being shot dead. [according to](https://www.gunpolicy.org/about) GunPolicy.org run by the University of Sydney. The shooting At the time Reuters [reported](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-shooting-guns-idUSKBN20D25W) that the incident had triggered calls for a re-examining of the country’s gun laws. [Mass murder at child care centre, 34 confirmed slain](https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2408603/mass-murder-at-child-care-centre-34-confirmed-slain) (Bangkok Post) [Thai police: More than 30 killed in childcare center attack](https://apnews.com/article/shootings-thailand-84efe7ba76707f4b3d47ee8394c4f24f) (Associated Press) [reported](https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2408603/mass-murder-at-child-care-centre-34-confirmed-slain).

A former policeman killed 38 people, including 22 children, in a knife and gun rampage at a daycare centre in Thailand on Thursday, later shooting dead his ...

Gun laws are strict in Thailand, where possession of an illegal firearm carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha was expected to visit the region on Friday. The massacre is among the worst involving children killed by one person. We surrounded his house and then found that he committed suicide in his home," Damrongsak Kittiprapas told reporters. "He started shooting, slashing, killing children at the Uthai Sawan daycare centre," Paisal said. "It's a scene that nobody wants to see.

At least 38 people, including 24 children, were killed in a gun and knife attack Thursday at a childcare center in northern Thailand. It was the country's ...

Mass shootings are rare in Thailand, but this is the second incident in less than three years that has resulted deaths. Images have since emerged online that show children and adults lying in pools of blood on the floor following the deadly attack. It's time for Thailand to wake up and realize that protecting its people means getting this situation under control rather than treating this as a 'one-off' incident that can be ignored," Robertson told VOA via email. rate of 120.5 per 100 people, according to a 2017 survey by Australia's GunPolicy.org nonprofit organization. We stand with the people of Thailand and extend our deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones today. According to district official Jidapa Boonsom, the gunman had entered the nursery in Uthai Sawan town around lunchtime before shooting four or five staff, including a teacher who was eight months pregnant, before forcing his way into a locked room where children were sleeping and killing them, she told Reuters. But the number of those killed could have been more. "I feel deep sadness toward the victims and their relatives." In 2020, a solider of the Royal Thai army shot and killed 29 people and injured 58 more at a military camp and a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima before being shot and killed by authorities. Thai people seek mental health help much more than before," he told VOA. The motive for the killings is unknown. “We are deeply saddened by the tragedy in Nong Bua Lam Phu province,” he said.

The gunman, identified by the police as Panya Kamrab, 34, shot and stabbed children at the child-care center, some as young as 2, Police Col. Jakkapat ...

“We stand with the people of Thailand and offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” the embassy said in a statement. The Estonian Foreign Ministry [offered](https://twitter.com/MFAestonia/status/1577959172490018816?s=20&t=pkprztaEv4u5TVJopqm57A) its “deepest sympathies” to the families of the victims. He then stole a Humvee and drove to a seven-story shopping mall, where he engaged the police in an hourslong standoff that ended the next morning. At the time, the United Nations reported that the number of methamphetamine tablets seized in East and Southeast Asia had exceeded a billion in 2021. As in other areas of the northeast, life there is governed by the harsh annual fluctuation between drought and floods. The gunman had been scheduled to appear in court on Friday in connection with the drug charge, he added. It “is a close second to the army in terms of manpower and budget,” More recently, besides the production of opium, the “Thai stick” strain of marijuana became a staple of American drug culture in the 1970s, and methamphetamines have bedeviled Thailand for decades. Like more recent antidrug efforts [in the Philippines](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/world/asia/philippines-manila-duterte-market-three.html), the effort to clear the streets of illicit drugs devolved into a campaign of widespread extrajudicial killings. Panya likely to be “one of the people on the ground,” he said. Panya was set to go on trial on Friday, and the 9-milimeter pistol he used in the attack was legally owned, the police said. Earlier Thursday by the national police chief, General Damrongsak Kittipraphat, had said 37 people were killed, in addition to the gunman.

A horrific attack on a childcare centre in northern Thailand that has left dozens dead, prompted strong international condemnation on Thursday.

“No-one should be a target.” No child should be a target or witness of violence anywhere, anytime. “UNICEF condemns all forms of violence against children.

The attacker then shot and killed his wife and their 4-year-old child before killing himself, according to officials. The toll in Thursday's massacre surpassed ...

[You can find all our puzzles here](https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords). [ racing to contain](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/world/africa/uganda-ebola-outbreak.html) an Ebola outbreak driven by a strain of the virus that is resistant to existing immunization shots. It also has some of the continent’s highest rates of gun homicide, [but mass shootings are rare](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/world/asia/thailand-worldwide-shooting-statistics.html). Still, the virus has spread to five districts. The death toll could be as high as 30, with 20 probable cases who succumbed to the virus before it could be identified. Two vaccine candidates could offer protection against the Sudanese strain, but they have yet to reach the clinical-trial phase, Dr. human rights agency over abuses targeting the Uyghur people and other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region. The economic distress in poor countries is palpable, given the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with high food and energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His statement appeared to open the floodgates, especially after the Kremlin did nothing in public to punish the Chechen leader. A common thread in the rising criticism has been that Russia’s military was unprepared for a real war. The official said Shoigu should consider killing himself because of the Russian Army’s failures in Ukraine. The attacker then shot and killed his wife and their 4-year-old child before killing himself, according to officials.

A former policemen went on a gun and knife rampage, killing 36 people including 22 children. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Three boys and a girl who survived the attack were being treated in hospital, police said. Abandoned juice boxes were scattered across the floor. Illegal weapons, many brought in from strife-torn neighbouring countries, are common. Gun laws are strict in Thailand, but ownership is high compared with some other countries in South-east Asia. will feel so depressed and saddened," Mr Anutin said. From the first step when I went in, it felt harrowing,” Mr Piyalak Kingkaew, an emergency worker heading the first responder team, told Reuters.

Nation in shock after 37 people, most of them children, were killed, while Thai media question why red flags weren't raised earlier.

In the afternoon, coffins bearing the bodies of the victims were taken to local families, to be handed over to relatives. Teachers had tried to lock the front door to keep him out, but he shot and kicked his way into the building. He had appeared in court earlier on Thursday on a drug charge and was due to appear again on Friday. According to local reports, a tablet costs 10 baht (£0.24) for wholesale, about the same as a bottle of water. Crowds gathered outside a local hospital to see the motorcade pass by. Afterwards, he met families of the victims and handed out compensation cheques.

Thai government buildings flew flags at half mast on Friday to mourn the death of more than 30 people, including 23 children, after an ex-policeman burst ...

In the late afternoon, relatives wailed in pain as funerals were set to be held at Wat Rat Sammakhi. He had just got a new haircut and was proudly showing it off, said his aunt, Naliwan Duangket, 27. Abandoned juice boxes were scattered across the floor. Most of the children, aged between two and five, were slashed to death, while adults were shot, police said in the aftermath of one of the world's worst It was not clear if Panya still used drugs. One witness, Kittisak Polprakan, said he saw the attacker calmly walking out of the daycare centre - a pink, one-storey building surrounded by a lawn and small palm trees - after the massacre "as if he was just taking a normal stroll".

This violence is both senseless and heartbreaking. We stand with the people of Thailand and extend our deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones ...

We are deeply saddened by the tragedy in Nong Bua Lam Phu Province, where a gunman took the lives of at least 38 people, including 24 children. We stand with the people of Thailand and extend our deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones today. This violence is both senseless and heartbreaking.

The country's law enforcement operations have done little to shrink the narcotics trade amid a pandemic-related supply glut and instability in Myanmar.

While the bill has been pulled for [additional parliamentary revisions](https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2393686/democrats-defend-ganja-bill-pull-out), at the center of decriminalization is the hope that economic benefits will boost national income. [maritime domain awareness](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3039768/expanding-maritime-partnership-thailand-us-2022-carat-exercise/) or [bilateral law enforcement training](https://bangkok.ilea.state.gov/) provide a geospatial edge in combating illicit financial flows and continue to be a large component of the U.S.-Thailand strategic alliance and partnership. [introduced a decriminalization law](https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2323330/kingdom-decriminalises-ganja) to combat the illegal cannabis market – and make a profit out of it. State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Office donated around [$370,000 worth of equipment](https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2313530/us-helps-isan-fight-gangs-with-b12-7m) to police in the northeastern border region. UNODC’s [Global Maritime Crime Programme](https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/piracy/index.html) has also helped bolster the Royal Thai Navy and Royal Thai Marine Police’s efforts to crack down on maritime meth routes in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand by providing them with monitoring and identification systems to track the activities of illegal vessels. [Money laundering activities](https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_thai-police-make-rare-arrest-politician-accused-trafficking-migrants-fishing/6199613.html) are pervasive, a consequence of the country’s [highly centralized](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/ar/132321468308958485/pdf/674860v20WP0P10overnment01201102012.pdf) governance and fiscal system and a non-existent tax system. Meanwhile, unprecedented levels of production of meth pills have led to wholesale and street prices plummeting to [as low as 10-20 baht ($0.28-$0.56) per tablet,](https://www.thaienquirer.com/42351/thailands-methamphetamine-drug-supply-pushes-prices-to-as-low-as-10-baht-tablet/) posing great social consequences for a region that has limited health and harm reduction services. The Asia-Pacific drug trade is estimated to be worth as much as [$61.4 billion](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southeastasia-crime/asia-pacific-meth-drug-trade-worth-up-to-61-billion-u-n-says-idUSKCN1UD0BO) annually, with more than [90 percent of tablets seized](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/asias-synthetic-drug-trade-booms-with-record-meth-seizures-2022-05-30/) in Asia originating from four countries: Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. [tightened border patrols](https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2120935/govt-steps-up-border-patrols), adopting new tactics to capitalize on the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. [Wa Self-Administered Division](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wa_Self-Administered_Division). Pandemic-related government lockdowns and travel restrictions have contributed to [long-term unemployment](https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1551686/covid-19-crisis-drives-rise-in-long-term-unemployment-in-thailand) and reduced purchasing power, increasing the trade and consumption of illegal drugs. Drug traffickers have grown more creative in exploiting loopholes in Thai customs laws, either by buying meth powder from large networks and pressing tablets themselves or by acquiring “pre-precursors.” Pre-precursors are legal in normal commercial use and allow crime syndicates to [bypass stringent chemical controls](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-drugs/asian-drug-lords-likely-producing-precursor-chemicals-in-golden-triangle-idUSKBN2AC0KF), allowing them to diversify their manufacturing base and circumvent high surveillance regions, including the borders of eastern Myanmar, northern Thailand, and western Laos, also known as the “Golden Triangle.”

Pink and white coffins bearing the bodies of the 22 children killed in a gun and knife rampage in Thailand were loaded onto a truck late on Thursday.

"Nobody wants this to happen. will feel so depressed and saddened," Anutin said. - Pink and white coffins adorned with gold and bearing the bodies of the 22 children killed in a gun and knife rampage in Thailand were loaded onto a truck late on Thursday and driven away in the darkness.

An ex-policeman killed 37 people, 23 of them children, at a nursery before killing himself and his family.

Police said the armed attacker broke into the building just after lunch time on Thursday, shooting his way past a teacher and parent outside. Thursday's attack comes less than a month after an army officer shot dead two of his colleagues at a base in Bangkok. He had been due to face a verdict on Friday. "I was at the factory [when] my friend asked me to check the news. On her phone are photos of Pattarawut, taken just hours before the shooting. His step-son used to attend the centre but hadn't been for the past month.

Uthai Sawan, Thailand (AP) -- Relatives grieving staggering loss Friday laid flowers at a day care center in rural northeastern Thailand where a fired ...

Relatives grieving staggering loss Friday laid flowers at a day care center in rural northeastern Thailand where a fired police officer killed dozens of ...

In an interview with Amarin TV, Satita Boonsom, who worked at the day care center, said staff locked the door to the building after seeing the assailant shoot a child and his father out front. Witnesses said the attacker shot a man and child in front of the center before walking toward it. The mother died from her wounds, and the boy and grandmother were being treated at hospitals, according to local media. She said one child who was covered by a blanket survived the attack, apparently because the assailant assumed he was dead. "He came to do what he had in his mind and was determined to do it. By the time she returned, the children were dead. Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida were expected later in the day to visit hospitals, where seven of the 10 people who were wounded remain. Teachers locked the glass front door, but the gunman shot and kicked his way through it. Prime Minster Prayuth Chan-ocha was expected to visit the day care center and the hospitals. When asked whether he thought the center was secure enough, Seksan noted the attacker had been a police officer. They are running through my heart," said Seksan Sriraj, 28, who lost his pregnant wife due to give birth this month in the attack at the Young Children's Development Center in Uthai Sawan. At least 24 of the 36 people killed in the assault, Thailand's deadliest mass shooting, were children.

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday (Oct 7) offered his condolences to bereaved families of victims in a mass shooting at a nursery in ...

Singapore stands in solidarity with Thailand during this difficult time." I also wish all the injured swift recoveries." Advertisement

Social media in Thailand was awash with grief and anger on Friday over the , including 23 children, at the hands of a former policeman who rampaged through ...

Authorities identified the attacker as a former policemen discharged from the force last year after being caught with methamphetamines. They were small kids, they did not deserve this. "It's so heart-breaking.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has written to Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha to convey his condolences over the mass shooting that took place in Nong Bua Lam Phu province, Thailand, on 6 October 2022. The text of the letter is ...

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has written to Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha to convey his condolences over the mass shooting that took place in Nong Bua Lam Phu province, Thailand, on 6 October 2022. I also wish all the injured swift recoveries. .