Gunman kills five in ‘mass shooting’ in Thai capital: Police

BANGKOK: A gunman killed five security guards and wounded one other person in a mass shooting at a popular fresh food market in Thailand’s capital on Monday (Jul 28), police said.

The suspect opened fire with a “gun-type weapon” at the Or Tor Kor Market in Bangkok’s Bang Sue district at 12.31pm (5.31am GMT), the Royal Thai Police said, before taking his own life.

“Police are investigating the motive. So far it’s a mass shooting,” Bang Sue deputy police chief Worapat Sukthai told AFP.

He said police were working to identify the dead perpetrator, as well as probing “for any possible link” to the current border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia.

National police chief Kitrat Phanphet said an urgent investigation had been ordered, with officers combing CCTV footage of the attack.

In video footage shared by police, a suspect in a white hat and a backpack slung on his chest is seen walking through a parking lot at the market.

No tourists were killed or injured in the shooting incident, said Sanong Saengmani, a police official in Bangkok’s Bang Sue district, where the market that mainly sells agricultural produce is located.

Or Tor Kor market, a short distance from Chatuchak market, is a major tourist destination in Bangkok and throngs with visitors every weekend.

Tourism is a key economic driver in Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, where growth has been sluggish and such incidents can potentially dampen sentiment.

Mass shootings are not uncommon in Thailand, where firearms can be obtained relatively easily due to lax gun control enforcement.

In October 2023, a 14-year-old suspect used a modified handgun to kill two people and injure five others at a luxury mall in central Bangkok.

A year earlier, a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, in a gun-and-knife attack at a nursery in eastern Thailand.