Bangkok Gunman Kills Five at Fresh Market, Blames Grudge Over Scratched Car
Bangkok. A gunman fatally shot five people at a popular fresh food market in Bangkok on Monday before turning the weapon on himself, police said, attributing the attack to a long-standing personal grudge.
Among the victims were four security guards at the Or Tor Kor market in northern Bangkok and one vendor, according to a police statement. Two others were injured.
Located next to the sprawling Chatuchak weekend market, a major attraction for both locals and tourists, Or Tor Kor is a well-known destination for high-quality produce and food.
Bangkok Metropolitan Police Commissioner said in a statement issued hours after the shooting that the suspect’s wife told authorities he held a grudge against the market’s security guards over a dispute dating back to 2019 or 2020, when his car was scratched. The wife runs a food stall at the market.
“Mr. Noi is someone who deeply loved his car and was known to be violent,” the statement said, identifying the suspect only by his nickname.
The shooter, dressed in a black T-shirt, camouflage shorts, a baseball cap, and a backpack, fled the scene after the attack and shot himself with a handgun while sitting on a bench.
Police said the incident stemmed from a personal conflict and was not related to recent border tensions with Cambodia, countering rumors circulating on social media.
Gun violence is not uncommon in Thailand, where laws regulating firearms are relatively strict but gun ownership remains widespread.
The last mass shooting in Bangkok occurred in October 2023, when a teenage boy opened fire with a modified blank pistol at the Siam Paragon shopping mall, killing three people and injuring several others.
One of Thailand’s deadliest massacres took place in October 2022 in Nong Bua Lamphu province, where a former police officer killed 36 people, including two dozen toddlers, using guns and knives at a daycare center.
In February 2020, a disgruntled army soldier killed 29 people, most of them at a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima, before being shot dead by police after an 18-hour standoff.
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