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Just after noon in Thailand on Thursday, October 6, 2022, a former police officer attacked the children’s daycare that his own child attended, killing at least 36 people before taking his own life. The victims included 23 young children out of 24 who had been attending that day, according to a news article by the BBC. The 34-year-old had legally obtained the pistol he used in the attack, while police stated that he also used a knife against many of the children in the daycare center, according to a similar article by the Associated Press.
Thailand is no stranger to firearms. Multiple news sources claim that Thailand has one of the highest rates of civilian gun ownership in Asia, which is backed up by the University of Sydney’s website gunpolicy.org, which publishes worldwide data on firearms. It is estimated that for every 100 people in the population, there are roughly 15.1 privately owned firearms, both legal and illegal. While this rate is high compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, it is dwarfed by the United States’ rate of 120.5 firearms for every 100 people.
This attack in Thailand highlights some issues about gun violence, but it also leaves some topics unaddressed. The perpetrator in this case used a gun he had acquired legally, but illegal firearms are still an issue for Thailand, and indeed other places in the world. The rate of deaths caused by gun violence is also not as high in Thailand as it is in other nations. Gun violence, with all of its nuances and complexities, can’t be captured in a singular, terrible event of violence, but its awful impact on the victims can be remembered.
PHOTO CREDIT : Reuters, Athit Perawongmetha ; direct image link
[ https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/south-east-asia;
https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/thailand ]
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