At least six people died when an armed man opened fire at a market in Bangkok on Monday. Thai police revealed in a statement that among the fatalities are four security officers, a woman, and the gunman, who reportedly took his own life after the mass shooting.
The attack took place at Or Tor Kor, a busy fresh produce market mainly frequented by local shoppers and located near the famous Chatuchak market, a popular spot for tourists visiting the capital of Thailand.
"The police are investigating the identity of the individual and the motive behind the incident," authorities stated.
In recent years, Thailand has experienced an increase in gun violence. Last May, a 33-year-old man killed two women and a man in another mass shooting in a sub-district of Bangkok.
In 2023, three days before the first anniversary of one of the bloodiest days in recent Thai history, when a former police officer armed with a knife and a gun attacked a daycare center and killed 24 children and 12 adults, a 14-year-old teenager carried out a mass shooting at a shopping mall in the capital. He killed two women, a Chinese citizen, and a Burmese citizen, and left five injured.
The attacker, who surrendered when cornered by officers, used a modified blank-firing gun to shoot real ammunition. The incident occurred at Siam Paragon, a luxurious complex with over 250 shops, beauty salons, high-end car dealerships, the city's largest bookstore, Michelin-starred restaurants, and a 16-screen cinema. Present during the shooting was Tunku Ismail Idris, the crown prince of the peculiar state of Johor in Malaysia, ruled by a billionaire sultan.
In 2020, at another shopping mall in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima in the northeast, a soldier killed 29 people with an assault rifle after barricading himself for 18 hours on a Saturday afternoon in the shopping complex. He was not neutralized until early Sunday morning. The killer, named Jakrapanth Thomma, was a sniper specialist in the army and worked at a military base near the attack site.
Thailand ranks second in Southeast Asia, behind the Philippines, in terms of gun-related homicides. Gun ownership was first legalized in 1947 for personal defense, property protection, or sports hunting. Authorities reported that three years ago, there were over six million registered gun owners. In other words, one in every 10 Thais owned a gun.
These figures do not include all illegal and unlicensed firearms, many of which are smuggled in from neighboring countries. According to estimates by researchers, there are over four million unregistered firearms circulating in the country. Possession of unregistered firearms is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, although the law does not specify the maximum number of firearms per person.