University student shot dead on a Bangkok footpath

Two unidentified gunmen shot dead a university student in a drive-by shooting while the victim was walking on a Phaya Thai Road footpath in Bangkok on Saturday. Police are still searching for the gunmen.

A security camera in front of the Faculty of Pharmacy of Chulalongkorn University captured the shooting incident on Saturday, January 14 at about 8.40pm.

Two men rode a motorcycle on Phaya Thai Road and the passenger pointed a gun at the victim and fired five times. After shooting the two men continued riding toward Samyan and Hua Lamphong area.

The gunmen wore white shirts and covered their faces with motorcycle helmets. The footage showed that they rode in the middle of the road and changed to the left lane when spotting the victim.

The victim was identified as 21 year old Kritsana Laemkaeo. He was a third-year civil engineering student at the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus (RMUTTO).

The Deputy Superintendent of Pathum Wan Police Station, Noppasin Poonsawat, reported to the media today that the officers tracked the security camera along the road that the two suspects escaped and found they disappeared in Nonthaburi province.

Noppasin noted that the suspects were skillful and planned very well before the shooting. They also rode to different routes to make it difficult for the police to track them.

The deputy superintendent believes that the suspects are students from a rival university that always had conflicts with students from the RMUTTO.

Noppasin added that police officers would monitor the inside and outside of the RMUTTO. The director of the university also announced temporary online study for students from Monday, January 16 until today, to avoid any similar incidents.

A similar shooting incident occurred last year at a wedding ceremony of a former student of the RMUTTO. One groomsman, who was also a former student, was killed and four other innocent guests were injured.

The groom, who was a former student at the university, stated that he had never had any conflicts with anyone while he was studying there. He suspected that the gathering of many former students at the wedding may have attracted the gunmen from a rival university.