14-Year-Old Shoots Grandparents, Government Orders Strict Sweeps
The Thai government has ordered all schools to tighten supervision following the 7 August shooting tragedy near Bangkok, in which a 14-year-old killed his grandparents, five school staff and a pupil before turning the gun on himself.
“An incident like this should never happen at a school,” Sawasdee Witthaya headmaster Suparong Sawangngamwong told AFP. He said he hoped the strict checks would help “parents feel at ease” and reassure them that school is a safe place where they entrust their children to spend their daily lives.
As a modest state school located in the middle of an upmarket residential area, Sawasdee Witthaya has more than 500 pupils aged 6 to 12 and 30 teachers.
On Friday morning, six teachers carefully inspected pupils’ backpacks as they arrived for lessons, checking every pocket of each bag.
As the bags were returned, the children one by one pressed their palms together and bowed to the teachers—the traditional Thai wai greeting taught as part of school etiquette.
Previously, “we only checked students’ bags randomly in the upper grades or for children with behavioural problems,” said Suparong, who has more than two decades of teaching experience. “But now we do it for all students.”
According to police, the shooter in Thailand was known to frequently watch violent content online. The tragedy has left deep sorrow among students and teachers who lost a female pupil in the bloody incident.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) this week ordered schools under its authority to carry out weapons checks, maintain 24-hour security and implement strict protocols for every visitor.
The firm measures have been welcomed by parents.
“School should be a safe zone for children,” said Araya Chanu as she dropped off her daughter, who is in fifth grade (aged 10–11).
The 37-year-old admitted that the shooting last Friday in Nonthaburi, an area adjacent to the outskirts of the Thai capital, had made her anxious. However, she said the new measures implemented by the school were very helpful. In her view, prevention would be far more effective if parents worked together with the school.
Suparong added that the school has been working with local police to hold emergency response drills once every semester. In addition, two security guards and six teachers are on duty in rotation every day to ensure that every child is picked up safely by their parents.
However, Suparong warned that his school needs additional funding to carry out the necessary improvements. Although there are CCTV cameras on all four floors of the school, some units are damaged and the school still needs more surveillance cameras.
In the shooting incident, the perpetrator used his grandfather’s pistol to kill his grandfather and grandmother before leaving for school. There, he shot dead five teachers and staff, and wounded a 12-year-old girl who later died in hospital the following day.
The bloody incident has reignited debate over gun control in Thailand, a country with one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in Southeast Asia.
Following the attack, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered the Interior Ministry and the police to temporarily suspend the issuance of permits for owning, purchasing and carrying firearms, and called for “stricter supervision and firm punishment”.
Nevertheless, the public continues to highlight the government’s previous promises regarding tighter firearms regulations, which are seen as having failed to prevent repeated shooting tragedies.