I was standing in front of my teacher when she was shot, Thai pupil says

Shooting at Thai School Leaves Multiple Dead and Dozens Injured

Ninoda.com – On Friday morning, as students were finishing their last classes of the week, chaos erupted at Debsirin School, a well-known institution located just outside Bangkok. According to police, a fourteen-year-old boy began firing a weapon inside the building, causing panicked students to rush toward the exits.

One seventh-grade student, still wearing her school uniform with her mother nearby, recalled the terrifying moment.

“I was standing in front of the teacher when she was shot,” she told the BBC near the school gates. “She was talking to me when [the gunman] showed up.”

The young witness described how the shooter moved methodically from classroom to classroom. Officials confirmed that five educators lost their lives while twenty-three other individuals—including fellow students—sustained injuries before the boy took his own life. Prior to the school attack, he had also killed his grandparents.

Witnesses Describe the Chaos

The unnamed student explained that she managed to escape by climbing over the school fence alongside other friends. Her mother shared that her daughter believed she might not survive.

“[She said] ‘I thought I’d never see you again’,” her mother recounted.

Another student, an eighteen-year-old, told Reuters that he initially mistook the gunfire for firecrackers.

“I didn’t think it was a gun at first,” he explained. “There were many shots: bang bang bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again.”

Rescue worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith, age forty-seven, arrived at the scene after learning that children as young as twelve had been wounded.

“I saw students who had been shot, some in the arm, some in the back, some in the chest. So I rushed to help get them to the hospital first,” he told Reuters.

Paramedics transported the injured to nearby hospitals while crowds gathered, embracing and weeping. A grieving thirty-one-year-old teacher told the BBC that his friend was among those killed.

“She was my age. We went to this school together as students. Then we both became teachers at this school,” he said, declining to identify himself.

Investigation and Possible Motives

Police have reported more than thirty injuries and confirmed that the fourteen-year-old shot five teachers to death. Investigators have not yet announced a motive, though they believe the nine-millimeter handgun belonged to the shooter’s grandfather. Forensic experts noted that the gunman’s shots were “quite accurate,” with several striking vital areas on victims’ bodies.

Additional details are emerging about the boy’s background. A teacher at the school described him as a good student who was not aggressive and maintained strong grades. Education officials characterized him as an avid video game player. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul suggested that academic pressure might have contributed to the tragedy.

“We learned that his grandmother was a teacher and she might have been strict with him. From what the police gathered from his close friend, they knew he was quite stressed about it,” the Prime Minister stated.

Thailand’s Gun Control Debate

This incident marks Thailand’s deadliest mass shooting in recent years and represents the second school shooting in the country this year. In February, an eighteen-year-old gunman killed a head teacher and a female student during a siege in southern Thailand. Four years earlier, a thirty-four-year-old man killed thirty-seven people, mostly preschoolers, in a shooting and stabbing at a nursery in Nong Bua Lamphu province.

These tragedies have reignited discussions about gun ownership in Thailand. The boyfriend of one of the deceased teachers expressed his anguish to reporters:

“This shouldn’t have happened.”

Estimates suggest that more than seven million people in Thailand own firearms, making it one of the countries with the highest gun ownership rates globally. Of these, over one million are unlicensed owners. While Thailand maintains restrictions on gun licenses, acquiring weapons—whether legally or through the black market—remains relatively straightforward. The country’s porous borders with four neighboring nations facilitate illegal trade, and issues with corruption and loose regulation within the police and military have allowed weapons to reach unintended recipients.

Prime Minister Anutin noted that he had strengthened regulations during his tenure as interior minister three years ago by suspending new gun permits. Nevertheless, gun-related deaths remain among the highest in the region, prompting community members to demand stronger action.