Thailand shooting: children among dozens killed in day care centre attack

Police say gunman was discharged from the force last year

Toys, flowers and notes are left as offerings for the children who died in a mass shooting at a child care center in Uthai Sawan subdistrict, Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand. Getty Images

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun and Thai Queen Suthida visit the injured survivors. EPA

Sujittra Pornikhom, mother of three-year-old Nannaphat "Stamp" Songserm, shows a photograph of him on her mobile phone in their home in Na Klang in Thailand's northeastern Nong Bua Lam Phu province. AFP

A woman mourns victims of the mass shooting. EPA

Relatives gather in front of the coffin of their loved one killed in the mass shooting. AFP

A woman holds a picture of a victim as people pray at Wat Rat Samakee temple. Reuters

Buddhist monks sit before giving blessings to the families of the victims in Uthai Sawan subdistrict, Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand. Getty Images

Mental health counsellors speak to relatives of survivors, injured in a mass shooting by a former police officer at a nursery, at a hospital in Thailand's Nong Bua Lam Phu. AFP

A Thai officer lays a wreath of flowers from the royal family at the children care center. EPA

A bullet holes is seen on a window at the child care center. Getty Images

Sittipong Taothawong, left, comforts his wife Kanjana Buakumchan as she holds their child's milk bottle and blanket while standing outside the nursery. AFP

A relative of the deceased lays a flower. EPA

Thailand's national flag flies at half mast outside the Nong Bua Lamphu hospital. Getty Images

Rescue workers arrange coffins containing the body of victims at Song Serm Tham Foundation after transfer from Udon Thani hospital in Udon Thani province. Reuters

Rescue workers inspect coffins containing the bodies of victims at a hospital in Udon Thani, Thailand. Getty Images

In this image taken from video, a distraught woman is comforted outside the site of an attack at a daycare centre in the town of Nongbua Lamphu, north-eastern Thailand. AP

The nursery in the northern Thai province of Nong Bua Lam Phu, where a former policeman shot dead at least 30 people. AFP

People gathering at the scene of the mass shooting in Thailand. AFP

Medical staff carry a stretcher out of an ambulance. AFP

A former police officer stormed a nursery in Thailand on Thursday, shooting dead at least 30 people, most of them children, before killing himself and his family. Reuters

Panya Khamrab, the man believed to have killed at least 30 people. AFP

Police are briefed after the mass shooting. AFP

A former police officer killed at least 24 children and 11 adults in a mass shooting and stabbing attack that began at a day care centre in northern Thailand on Thursday, police said.

Police Maj Gen Achayon Kraithong said the shooting took place early in the afternoon in the province of Nong Bua Lam Phu. Twenty-two children and two adults were killed in the building before the assailant fled, a police statement said, but he continued to shoot people from his car, killing a further eight adults and one child.

The attacker, whom police named as Panya Khamrab, then drove home, killed his wife and child then turned the gun on himself. Twelve others were wounded in the attack.

Chakkraphat Wichitvaidya, superintendent of Na Klang police station, told Thai Rath TV that Panya was discharged from the police force last year.

Witness Paweena Purichan, 31, was riding her motorcycle to her shop when she encountered the fleeing Panya driving erratically.

“He intended to crash into others on the road,” she told AFP.

“The attacker rammed a motorbike and two people were injured. I sped off to get away from him.

“There was blood everywhere.”

Paweena said the attacker was well known in the area as a drug addict.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha described it as a “shocking incident” and sent condolences to the families of the victims.

On his Facebook page, Mr Prayuth ordered all agencies to help treat the wounded.

Nations around the world condemned the attack.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation expressed its “permanent rejection of all forms of violence that aim to destabilise security and stability in contravention of human values and principles” and added its “sincere condolences” to the Thai government, the country's people and the families of the victims.

“It’s impossible to comprehend the heartbreak of this horrific news from Thailand. All Australians send their love and condolences,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted.

The rate of gun ownership in Thailand is high compared with other countries in South-East Asia, but official figures do not include huge numbers of illegal weapons, many of which have been brought in across the country's porous borders.

The rate of firearms-related deaths in 2019 was about four per 100,000, compared with about 11 per 100,000 in the US and nearly 23 per 100,000 in Brazil.

Mass shootings are rare, but in 2020, a soldier, angered over a failed property deal, killed at least 29 and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations.