Thailand Vows Safety for Tourists After Mall Shooting Kills Two

[buksida]

Thailand will take steps to enhance the safety of foreign tourists, official said on Wednesday, a day after a teenager shot dead two people, including a Chinese visitor, inside a popular shopping mall in downtown Bangkok.

Tourism Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol stressed the shooting at Siam Paragon mall in the capital city was “an isolated incident.” However, law enforcement agencies will tighten weapons screening at shopping malls and other tourist spots, she said.

The Chinese national, a 34-year-old woman, and a Myanmar citizen working at the mall, were shot dead by the 14-year old boy. The shooter, who was nabbed by the police, was previously treated for mental illness and had skipped taking medication, according to police chief Torsak Sukvimol. Five people were injured, including another Chinese citizen.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... f=323RPL5z

[Big Boy]

We've all seen how effective these weapons screening measures are in the likes of MV after the Hua Hin bombings. Most people just walk around it, and even if they walk through, nobody blinks an eye when the alarm sounds.

[2/cb]

We've all seen how effective these weapons screening measures are in the likes of MV after the Hua Hin bombings. Most people just walk around it, and even if they walk through, nobody blinks an eye when the alarm sounds.

Thanks for reassuring me

[wenshidi]

Its seems strange that TAT is trying to reassure tourists of their safety, while the film industry is set on scaring the pants off them.

Based on previous performance, I know where I would put my money.

[Big Boy]

Thanks for reassuring me

Only saying it as it is. I don't think anybody's experience of either M/V or Bluport will be any different.

[buksida]

Shooting highlights regulatory flaw
The shooting at Siam Paragon on Tuesday revealed a regulatory loophole in assistance for tourists affected by incidents in Thailand.

The Foreign Tourists Assistance Fund was dissolved by the previous government and another permanent funding source was not established to compensate tourists in the event of injury or death.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry reported on Wednesday it plans to compensate tourists killed or injured during the shooting, using either the ministry's fiscal budget or the central budget.

In the past, the families of all foreign tourists were eligible for compensation of around 1 million baht in the event of death from the Foreign Tourists Assistance Fund.

That fund was dissolved last year as it was considered unfit for a performance evaluation, with the ministry planning to switch to insurance for tourists using a budget from a fund set up from the new 300-baht tourism fee.

The novel fee was put on ice during the new government's transition, leaving a gap in tourist insurance.

Tourism and Sports Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol said the government can continue with the tourism fee scheme, which was approved by the previous cabinet.

A portion of this fee is expected to fund insurance for tourists.

The ministry finalised the collection method, requiring tourists to pay the fee before arrival via a website, mobile app, or kiosk at airports and land border checkpoints.


https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/ge ... atory-flaw

Instead of offering a handout after someone gets shot in Gunland, how about cracking down on the source of all of these illegal firearms ... the country's largest organized crime syndicate, the BIB.

Edit ... nail on head:
Tightening gun control in Thailand requires dealing with entrenched interests
In a press conference on Wednesday, government officials vowed to tighten security measures and review gun laws. They stressed that this was an isolated incident.

But the facts are more uncomfortable. Tuesday’s shooting came almost one year after a former policeman went on a knife and gun rampage in north-eastern Nong Bua Lamphu province, killing 36 people, including 22 children.

In 2020, a soldier armed with an assault rifle in north-eastern Nakhon Ratchasima killed 29 people and wounded more than 50 others over a 17-hour period – much of it while being holed up inside a shopping mall.

Civilians in Thailand held more than 7.2 million guns in 2021, according to estimates by gunpolicy.org, a gun control portal hosted by the University of Sydney School of Public Health. Of these, 1.2 million were unregistered and illicit. In 2019, 1,292 people were killed by gun violence.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/tight ... -interests

[caller]

Location is the big issue for this shooting. Central Bkk, in a famous luxury Mall visited not only by HiSo's (and me!), but also by untold numbers of local residents and tourists - the area is a magnet for them. And conspiciously, just two to three hundred metres away from Police HQ.

The other shootings took place away from where the tourists go. They will care about this one.

There are reports claiming that many Chinese are cancelling hotel bookings.

[PeteC]

There is a news clip floating around that shows the boy's full face and expression on the day. He is crazy as a loon, or drugged up to the max, or both.

[Big Boy]

Do we know the motive for the shootings? I keep asking Mrs BB, but she says they are not saying yet.

I'm trying to determine whether it was just an unlucky coincidence that non-Thais were targeted.

[2/cb]

Thanks for reassuring me

Only saying it as it is. I don't think anybody's experience of either M/V or Bluport will be any different.

[caller]

I'm trying to determine whether it was just an unlucky coincidence that non-Thais were targeted.

I don't think they were. Thai's were injured.

[Big Boy]

OK, thanks. I've only heard about the dead. It's nice to hear that the attack wasn't racially motivated. It doesn't make the crime any better though.

[caller]

There is a news clip floating around that shows the boy's full face and expression on the day. He is crazy as a loon, or drugged up to the max, or both.

I agree he looked away with the fairies. But maybe the enormity of what he had done had just dawned on him? Everything prior to the act, seems very focussed. Practising shooting, buying and modify what was a harmless gun, acquiring ammunition, going to the loo and changing his apearance, then shooting.

But it's all very weird, wealthy parents, presumably that's where the 16k came from for the gun, attending a specialist education centre for the wealthy, little parental control, he didn't even live with them, gaming obsessed, even talking of where he was before shooting.