13 year old Thai student stabs classmate due to persistent bullying in Isaan

A 13 year old schoolboy stabbed his classmate claiming that the victim had subjected him to constant bullying at a high school in the Isaan province of Udon Thani.

The Sam Phrao Sub-district Administration Organisation (SAO) rescue team rushed to the school to aid the injured schoolboy, 13 year old Joe. He was found lying on the bed in the school first aid room with a stab wound to his chest and a cut on his left palm.

The attacker, 13 year old A, was later transferred to the Mueang Udon Thani Police Station for questioning. The knife used in the attack was seized as evidence.

A admitted to his violent act and claimed that he had been persistently bullied by the victim, Joe, for a long time. A said Joe always thought he was superior and sought the chance to bully him even though they studied in a different classroom.

Due to A’s status as a minor, police officers chose to temporarily release him into the custody of his parents. A youth specialist would later visit A at his house to question A deeper about the motives behind his actions.

A’s friend, 13 year old Nes, reported to the police that he did not know when and how the bullying and conflict between the two started. Nes made known that the victim started the fight and had been in conflict with A for a long time.

According to Nes, Joe punched A after he got stabbed and ran to the first aid room to seek help from the teacher.

The Deputy Director of the school gave an interview with Channel 7 reporting that the school is now investigating the case and urged the media not to disclose the school’s name.

Regrettably, this incident is not an isolated occurrence. A disconcerting trend of school-related violence stemming from bullying in Thailand has come to the forefront.

In June, a 15 year old boy chose to quit school and locked himself in a bedroom for years due to a school bully about his gender identity. He did not talk to anyone even his mother and only came out of the room a few times a year.

Similarly, a heartbreaking incident unfolded in the same month, where a teenage girl was hospitalised after she consumed over 20 pills of sleeping tablets and paracetamol in an attempt to end her life because she was bullied at school.

In May, a 14 year old schoolboy at a secondary school in the northeastern province of Sisaket stabbed fellow students because the victims always bullied him. One student was killed, while another two were injured.

Another knife incident was reported previously in February when a 16 year old boy stabbed his classmate outside the school in Pattaya.