Thai teacher killed and university student injured in shooting in Bangkok

A Thai teacher lost her life and a student was severely injured in a shooting between scholars from different universities in Bangkok.

Tung Maha Mek Police Station officers were notified of the shooting on the footpath along the Khlong Toey neighbourhood of Bangkok at about 10am yesterday, November 11.

Officers rushed to the scene and encountered the first victim, 19 year old Thanasorn Hongsawat, lying in a pool of his blood.

Thanasorn is a first year student at the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus. He bore two gunshot wounds to his chest and neck. A 30-centimetre-long knife was found nearby him. He was transferred to Chulalongkorn Hospital and remains in critical condition.

About 10 metres away from Thanasorn, officers found another victim, 45 year old woman named Sirada “Jeab” Sinprasert. Jeab is a teacher at Praharuthai Convent School, also known as Sacred Heart Convent School, which is located near the scene.

Jeab was shot in her forehead. Officers rushed her to MedPark Hospital but she died on the way.

Teacher caught in crossfire

A motorcycle taxi rider, 60 year old Sirachai Sittisornchai, who witnessed the shooting, recounted the incident to the police. Sirachai reported that he saw footage of four to five students from Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus, walking towards Khlong Toey Intersection.

Then, two men on a motorcycle stopped near the footpath. One of the men got off the motorcycle and aimed at the back of Thanasorn’s neck. Thanasorn managed to dodge the gunshot but the bullet hit his teacher, Jeab, who was walking nearby.

According to Sirachai, the other university students fled in different directions to save their own lives leaving Thanasorn at the scene. The gunman then shot Thanasorn a few times before returning to the motorcycle.

The gunman’s rider told the gunman to make sure Thanasorn was dead, directing him to shoot the victim in the head. The gunman pointed the gun at Thanasorn’s head but did not fire a bullet, instead, he pointed his pistol at his neck.

Sirachai urged the two suspects to stop shooting and they fled the scene towards Khlong Toey Intersection. Sirachai added that he remembered that the gunman wearing a dark blue jacket, jeans, and a black balaclava.

Senior students from the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus, visited the injured Thanasorn at the Chulalongkorn Hospital. The senior students were confident in their belief that the suspects were students from a rival university.

Officers reported to the Thai press that they were reviewing the security cameras at the shooting scene and nearby in a bid to identify and track down the suspects.