BANGKOK — A former lawmaker allegedly shot dead an official at a local government office on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital Bnagkok on Monday and then dialed into a YouTube livestream to inform the host of what he had done.
Former Nonthaburi MP Chalong Reawraeng told the shocked host, Anchalee Paireerak, that he had shot Thongchai Yenprasert outside his office.
The suspected shooter, a former lawmaker, fired at a senior provincial official and his driver, said Major General Dejrapee Kongdee, the police commander of Nonthaburi, which borders Bangkok.
“There were two people wounded, who have been sent to hospital for treatment,” Dejrapee said.
Thongchai, who was hit in the neck, died in hospital. His driver was shot in the arm and hand.
The incident comes just days after a teenager’s killing rampage at a school in the same province reignited debate over gun control.
Chalong was arrested but then allowed to hold a press conference at a police station where he attempted to explain what had happened.
He told the reporters there that Thongchai was “angry” at him, but did not explain why. He also said he did not intend to shoot Thongchai, whom he described as a “good friend”.
Chalong said he told Thongchai that he wanted to talk to him. According to local media reports, the two were involved in a personal dispute.
“He [Thongchai] then pushed me, saying ‘I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to talk.’”
Chalong said he then followed Thongchai toward his car.
“When I pulled the gun out, I didn’t intend to shoot him. But then [Thongchai’s driver] pulled his gun out and pointed it at me, so I fired.”
Thongchai, a retired police colonel, was president of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organization or PAO, a local government body.
Earlier, Chalong had called political commentator Anchalee Paireerak, who was livestreaming on YouTube at the time, to confess to the incident.
Anchalee was filmed picking up a call midway through her program. “I’ll call you back… Oh, something big [happened]? Go ahead, what’s that?” she said.
Viewers could not hear what the caller said next, but Anchalee was seen reacting in shock.
“Did he die? Did he die? You shot him in the head? You need to wait there for the cops,” she said on the video. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Monday’s shooting came three days after a 14-year-old boy shot dead eight people at his home and school, then killed himself, in Thailand’s worst mass shooting since 2022.
The latest shooting will further spur debate about gun control in Thailand, which has the highest rate of gun ownership in South East Asia by a wide margin.
After Friday’s school shooting, Thai Premier Anutin also ordered tougher enforcement against people carrying guns in public and said police would set up checkpoints as part of a crackdown, which would include tightening controls on the possession, carrying and use of firearms.
“No one has the right to carry a firearm, especially in a public place,” Anutin told reporters, adding that claiming a weapon was for self-defence was no justification.
Thailand had an estimated 10.3 million firearms in civilian possession, equating to around 15 guns per 100 residents, the highest rate in Southeast Asia by a wide margin, according to a 2017 estimate by the Small Arms Survey.
Source: Saudi Gazette