Crime & Public Safety
Thailand school shooting mourners pray for 12-year-old girl
Dozens of students, parents and teachers gathered at a Buddhist temple in Thailand on Sunday to pray over the body of 12-year-old Naphat Chaima, one of eight people killed in a home and school shooting north of Bangkok.
Police said the girl died in hospital on Saturday after suffering gunshot wounds at the school. Mourners dressed in black gathered at Wat Lat Pla Duk in Nonthaburi province, where they took turns pouring water over one of her hands during a ceremonial bath.
Authorities said a 14-year-old boy shot dead the grandparents who had raised him at their home on Friday before killing six others at his school with his grandfather's handgun and then turning the gun on himself. Five teachers and school staff were killed at the school.
Police said on Sunday that investigators were still seeking a motive. Atthapol Anusit, a deputy police commander for the region around Bangkok, said investigators had interviewed 17 witnesses and were examining the boy's computer and phone.
“We looked into his PC and found history that he watched violent videos on social media,” Atthapol said. He said children questioned by police reported that the boy brought a BB gun to school last year before a teacher seized it.
Witnesses told police the boy had been interested in guns for one or two years, Atthapol said. He said the boy had learned how to use a gun by watching content on social media.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has said the boy experienced school-related stress and that his grandmother, a former teacher, had been strict about his studies. A classmate said the boy had been bullied.
The boy had lived with his grandparents since he was two years old after his parents separated, Atthapol said. Local media reported that the boy's father apologised “to society for what my son did” on Friday.
One woman whose 12-year-old daughter was a classmate of Naphat said she wanted the school to tighten security, questioning how the teenage shooter could have brought a gun and bullets into the school. She said her daughter left a school building through a back door and was physically unharmed.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with around 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation, or roughly one for every seven inhabitants. Officials have promised stricter gun laws since Friday's shooting.
Update
Dozens of students, parents and teachers gathered at Wat Lat Pla Duk in Nonthaburi province on Sunday to pray over the body of 12-year-old Naphat Chaima.
Naphat Chaima died in hospital on Saturday after suffering gunshot wounds at the school, police said.
Mourners held a ceremonial bath for the girl and psychologists were available for grieving children.
A mother of one of the girl's classmates questioned how the shooter could have brought a gun and bullets into the school and said she wanted tighter security.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 August 2026 at 12:23:06 UTC.
Update
Police said investigators found the boy had watched violent videos on social media.
Police said witnesses reported the boy had brought a BB gun to school last year, which a teacher seized.
Police said investigators interviewed 17 witnesses and were examining the boy's computer and phone.
Police said witnesses described the boy as having been interested in guns for one or two years and learning about gun use through social media.
Police said the boy had lived with his grandparents since age two after his parents separated.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 August 2026 at 08:53:37 UTC.
Update
A 12-year-old girl wounded in the shooting has died, according to Thailand's health ministry.
The death toll has risen to eight.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said more than 30 people were injured.
Fourteen people remained in hospital on Saturday evening, seven of them in critical condition.
Police are questioning more witnesses, including the suspect's parents.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 15:14:36 UTC.
Update
Students described fleeing, hiding in classrooms and hearing shots during the school attack.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the boy's grandmother had been strict with him about studying.
One student said friends who knew the suspect described him as interested in the FBI and guns and said he had been bullied.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 13:37:16 UTC.
Update
Thai officials revised the death toll to seven victims after earlier giving eight.
Officials said the school victims were two teachers and three other staff, not students as first stated.
A police official told AFP the suspect killed himself.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 10:57:20 UTC.
Update
Thai officials revised the death toll to seven victims, excluding the suspect who also died.
Officials said the school victims were five staff members, not students as earlier stated.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said more than 30 people were injured, around nine of them critically.
A police official told AFP the 14-year-old suspect killed himself.
A classmate said the suspect was troubled, interested in guns and had been bullied.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 10:59:21 UTC.
Update
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the Thailand school shooter was under stress.
Anutin said the shooter had planned the attack.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 09:33:36 UTC.
Update
Police later said 23 people were injured.
Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong pledged mental health support for students and stronger security at educational institutions.
A student told AFP the suspect had been described by classmates as interested in guns and as having been bullied.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 08:39:59 UTC.
Update
National police said the suspect first shot his grandparents dead using his grandfather's handgun.
Police said the suspect then went to his school north of Bangkok and killed three teachers and three students.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 06:30:29 UTC.
Update
Police said the Thailand school shooter killed eight people in total.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 06:22:56 UTC.
Update
Police said a man and a woman were found dead at the home of the Thailand school shooter.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 06:10:13 UTC.
Update
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul called the shooting a terrible incident and questioned how it could happen in Thailand.
Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said the suspect used a handgun and the Interior Ministry was investigating how the student obtained it.
An AFP journalist saw traffic near Debsirin Nonthaburi School nearly at a standstill, while local media reported parents were collecting children after the incident.
The item adds context on Thailand's estimated gun ownership and previous school or nursery shootings.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 05:30:03 UTC.
Update
Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said the four people killed were two students and two teachers.
Polapee said the 15 injured students were hurt while trying to flee and were not hit by gunfire.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 05:26:29 UTC.
Update
A deputy minister said four people were dead and 15 injured in the Thailand school shooting.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 05:19:35 UTC.
Update
A Nonthaburi provincial official told AFP that at least two people were killed and several others wounded.
Local media reports differed on whether police shot and killed the reported suspect or whether he died by suicide.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 04:45:41 UTC.
Update
Local media cited by AFP reported that the school shooter had been identified as a teenager.
Local media cited by AFP reported that the shooter was dead.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 04:25:12 UTC.
Update
Local media reported that two people were dead and 15 were wounded in the school shooting.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 04:12:09 UTC.
Update
Thai PBS identified the reported location as a high school in Bang Kruai district, Nonthaburi province.
Thai PBS said initial reports indicated 10 to 15 people had been injured.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 03:45:07 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Investigators have not established a motive for the shooting.
Several possible factors have been reported or stated, including violent online videos, school-related stress and bullying, but authorities have not identified a confirmed cause.
Source
AFP news report published on .