Uthai Sawan, Thailand
DailyExpertNews
—
Stains of dried blood remained on the wooden floor of a classroom in northeastern Thailand on Friday, a day after the country’s worst massacre took place in perhaps one of the most unlikely places.
At the Child Development Center Uthai Sawan, uncollected school bags stood on colored shelves, and pictures of children smiling off the wall, snapped into place with pins near cardboard cutouts of ladybugs.
Outside, sobbing parents sat on blue plastic chairs in a makeshift shed, nurturing their grief and clinging to each other and to their children’s blankets and bottles, a reminder of life, while officials finalized plans for a visit from the country’s top leaders.
More than 20 young children, ages 2-5, lost their lives in this classroom on Thursday while taking a nap when a former police officer armed with a knife and gun broke in and cut them in their sleep.
In a strange mixture of sadness and grandeur, a red carpet had been rolled out at the center’s front door for the delivery of a garland, a gift from Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya, the king’s youngest daughter.
Later Friday, the king and queen visited the injured survivors and their families at Nong Bua Lam Phu hospital in a rare appearance, a source with direct knowledge of the king’s schedule told DailyExpertNews.
Their visit followed that of the country’s prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, who previously met families at the government-established shelter, visited hospitalized victims and laid flowers outside the nursery.
Thailand is used to the underlying tensions arising in a country ruled by military coup leaders, but violence of the type perpetrated on Thursday is rare. The last mass killing in the Southeast Asian country was two years ago, when a former soldier rioted at a military compound before targeting shoppers at a shopping center in Nakhon Ratchasima province, better known as Korat, further south.
In that case, the gunman would have erupted after arguing with another soldier over a commission fee for the sale of land. In this case, the motive is unclear, but after terrorizing the nursery, Panya Kamrab, a 34-year-old former police officer, drove home and shot his wife and child before committing suicide.
The total death toll was 36, including Panya’s wife and two-year-old stepson, who normally went to that nursery but were not there when the officer came looking for him. The death of the toddler brings the number of murdered children to 24.
Drugs do not appear to have played a direct role – a forensic investigation conducted by Udon Hospital found no evidence that Panya was using drugs in the 72 hours before the massacre.
National Police Chief Pol. Gene. Damrongsak Kittiprapas said authorities believe Panya thought his wife was leaving him, and she reported arguing with him and calling his mother for help.
Nopparat Phewdam sat outside the nursery with other parents on Friday, although she lost her brother in the attack. Unlike others there, Nopparat knew the killer. She said he was a frequent customer of her grocery store and often came in with his stepson. “He seemed polite and spoke softly,” she said.
Details of the massacre were slowly emerging, but the accounts given so far describe a man armed to kill, who did not hesitate to attack innocent children, and even shot and killed a pregnant employee a month away. of childbirth.
An employee said Panya entered the center around noon while two other employees were having lunch. They heard sounds “like fireworks” and saw two colleagues collapse on the ground. “Then he pulled another gun from his waist… I didn’t expect him to kill the kids too,” they said.
Pol. Gene. Damrongsak said the suspect went to the nursery when he couldn’t find his wife and stepson at home. He crashed his vehicle en route and shot three teachers before entering the building.
Most of the deaths were the result of “stab wounds,” local police Major General Paisan Luesomboon told DailyExpertNews. First responders told DailyExpertNews of the grim scene that awaited them — most of the injuries were to the head, they said.
In any community, the loss of 36 people in one atrocity would be deeply felt, but the death of so many young children in a small rural area has shaken the village of about 6,300.
Confused families sat side by side outside the center, united in grief, as they waited Friday for details of government support.
Among them was the heavily pregnant mother of four-year-old Thawatchai Siphu, also known as Dan, who was too distraught to talk. Dan’s grandmother, Oy Yodkhao, told DailyExpertNews the family was delighted to welcome a new baby brother.
Now their joy has drowned in loss and disbelief that someone could murder innocent children.
“I couldn’t imagine there would be people like this,” Oy said. “I couldn’t imagine him being so cruel to children.”
Pimpa Thana and Chalermsilp Kraosai also sat in numb grief, the parents of talkative twin boys Weerapat and Worapon, who had yet to celebrate their fourth birthday – with two children their family was complete.
Pimpa said her mother had called her to tell her that there had been a shooting at the nursery. “At that time I didn’t know that my children were dead, my husband withheld the news from me. I’ll know after I get home.”
Rows of small coffins the size of toddlers in white and pale pink were placed on the floor as police recovered the bodies from the classroom on Thursday.
On Friday, people across the country wore black clothes and waved flags at half-mast at government buildings, as thoughts revolved around what lessons could be learned from a massacre within the walls of a classroom.
Gregory Raymond of the Australian National University says he sees parallels between the mass shooting in 2020 and what happened at the nursery on Thursday. Both perpetrators had served as officers in a country with a strong police and military presence.
“These are young men. They seem to have somehow become estranged. And they had access to weapons,” he said.
It is not known what mental problems Panya suffered, although he was thought to have a long-standing drug problem – a persistent problem in the country, especially near its northern borders and the Golden Triangle, a global hub for illicit drugs.
Last year, officials seized a record amount of methamphetamine — nearly 172 tons — in East and Southeast Asia in 2021, including the first seizure of more than 1 billion methamphetamine tablets.
“There is a lot of manufacturing in the Mekong sub-region and a lot of smuggling through Thailand as well,” Raymond said. “So that all means there are more people who are having problems with methamphetamine, and I think that should be seen as a pretty major cause of what happened here.”
The mix of drugs and mental health problems among the armed forces is an issue Thailand needs to address, he added.
“Thailand may need to start thinking more about how it handles the mental health of professionals, especially those who have access to weapons, or who have become accustomed to using violence as some sort of tool for their profession.”