Teen gang violence escalates into shootout in Bangkok
Violence erupted on the streets of Bangkok when two rival teen gangs clashed, resulting in a dramatic shootout and the hurling of grenades along the Vibhavadi Rangsit Road. An 18 year old man was shot five times and fled to a local police station for safety in the early hours at around 3.40am on April 1.
The intense confrontation was a scheduled attempt to resolve an ongoing dispute which tragically escalated beyond control.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Anirut Poolsawat, an investigation officer at Bang Khen Police Station, received a report of a teenage boy being shot near Bang Khen roundabout in the Anusawari area, Bang Khen district of Bangkok.
Rushing to the scene alongside Police Lieutenant Colonel Adul Potakarn, the Station Superintendent, Police Captain Yuranan Petcharmani, an investigative officer, and a team of detectives, they discovered a shotgun shell and two-bladed weapons left at the site of the incident.
The injured teenager, identified only as Ratiphol, sought help at the front of Bang Khen Police Station with multiple gunshot wounds to his left arm and a broken arm, suffering from significant blood loss. Emergency services provided first aid before transporting him to Mongkutwattana Hospital for further treatment.
Upon investigation, a 15 year old friend of the injured, referred to as A for privacy, recounted the events leading up to the attack. He and a group of friends and older acquaintances, totalling six individuals, had left their residence in the Chaengwattana housing estate on two motorcycles.
The plan was to drop off an older friend at Soi Chaengwattana 1. As they approached the Bang Khen roundabout, a group of teenagers on multiple motorcycles, armed with guns, pursued and opened fire, causing A’s motorcycle to crash. He and his older friend then ran to Bang Khen Police Station for assistance.
The investigation revealed that before the incident, two groups of teenagers had arranged through Facebook to meet and settle a previous dispute. The confrontation occurred near the Laksi IT Square, where both sides exchanged gunfire and threw ping-pong bombs.
Following the chaos, the groups split up on their motorcycles with one group chasing and attacking each other around the Toshin U-turn bridge on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, under the jurisdiction of Phaholyothin Police Station, while the other group’s pursuit culminated in the shooting near Bang Khen roundabout, under the jurisdiction of Bang Khen Police Station.
The Thai authorities are currently waiting to take a statement from the injured party and are reviewing CCTV footage to identify and apprehend the teenagers responsible for the violence. The incident has underscored the ongoing issues of youth gang violence in the city and the urgent need for community and law enforcement intervention to prevent such dangerous situations from escalating further.
