Students described initially mistaking the gunfire for firecrackers before barricading themselves inside classrooms. Teachers helped treat injured students and hid until police secured the building, according to The Guardian.

Police are investigating the motive. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said preliminary information suggested the teenager had been under stress related to school and may have planned the attack. He also said the teenager’s actions suggested the attack had been planned. The Prime Minister added that he would discuss gun control with the country’s police chief.

What police believe happened

Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong said both teachers and students were among the casualties and that authorities were investigating the motive behind the shooting.

A 17-year-old student, Purin Khumchoo, told AFP that friends who knew the suspect had said he was interested in guns and the FBI and had been bullied by other students.

Emergency worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith said his team arrived while the shooting was still underway and treated students with injuries to their backs, chests and arms.

His team found a male teacher dead on an upper floor and a female teacher with injuries to her chest and arm. After hearing a final gunshot, they found the teenage shooter with a gunshot wound to the head and attempted to resuscitate him.

Art teacher Pichanan Thiengtham told The Guardian that she was preparing for her next class when she heard sustained gunfire. She said she helped an injured student receive first aid before hiding for her own safety.

Seven mental health crisis assessment and treatment teams were deployed to provide psychological support to people affected by the shooting, according to Thailand’s health ministry.

The school had around 3,100 students and 147 teachers during the 2025 academic year, according to district authorities.

Prime Minister Anutin expressed grief over the attack, saying he was saddened by the deaths and that such an incident had occurred in the country.

Friday’s attack was the second school shooting reported in Thailand this year. A teacher was killed and a student injured in a shooting in southern Thailand in February.

A country with a history of mass shootings

Thailand has witnessed several deadly shootings in recent years. In 2022, a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, in a gun-and-knife attack in northeastern Thailand.

Two years earlier, a soldier killed 29 people during a shooting rampage in Nakhon Ratchasima. In 2023, another 14-year-old killed two people and wounded five at a Bangkok shopping centre.

Following the 2023 shooting, Anutin, who was then interior minister, introduced several gun-control measures, including a temporary ban on new licences, restrictions on imports and a ban on people under 20 using shooting ranges.

Thailand had an estimated 10.3 million civilian-held firearms, or about 15 guns for every 100 people, according to estimates from the Small Arms Survey cited by Reuters.