Six killed in Bangkok market after gunman opens fire

(Reuters): At least six people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a market in Thailand’s capital Bangkok on Monday, Thai police said in a statement.

The fatalities include the gunman who took his own life, Charin Gopatta, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, told Reuters.

“Police are investigating the identity of the person and the motive for the incident,” Thai police said in a statement. The five people killed by the gunman were security guards at the market, it said.

No tourists were killed or injured in the shooting incident, said Sanong Saengmani, a police official in Bangkok’s Bang Sue district, where the market that mainly sells agricultural produce is located.

Tourism is a key economic driver in Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, where growth has been sluggish and such incidents can potentially dampen sentiment.

In video footage shared by police, a suspect in a white hat and a backpack slung on his chest is seen walking through a parking lot at the market.

Gun violence and gun ownership are not uncommon in Thailand. In October 2023, a 14-year-old suspect used a modified handgun to kill two people and injure five others at a luxury mall in central Bangkok.

In 2022, a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, in a gun-and-knife attack at a nursery in eastern Thailand.