BANGKOK - A teacher was hit in the forehead by a stray bullet on Saturday when two unidentified students on a motorcycle opened fire at a university student nearby.
Ms Sirada Sinprasert, who taught at Sacred Heart Convent School, was withdrawing money at an ATM booth at the time. She died after being rushed to MedPark Hospital.
Mr Thanasorn Hongsawat, 19, a first-year student at Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus, was shot twice in his chest and once in his neck. He was taken to Chulalongkorn Hospital and as at press time, was in critical but stable condition.
No arrests have been made so far.
On Sunday, deputy government spokeswoman Kanika Aunjit said she represented the government in expressing condolences to Ms Sirada’s family.
She added that the government is not ignoring the incident, and will pull all relevant government agencies together to prevent such violence between vocational school students on Bangkok’s streets.
Street fights between students from rival schools, especially vocational schools, often break out in the Thai capital and have resulted in fatalities in several cases.
Uthenthawai students are known to be involved in these clashes.
Meanwhile, Ms Kanika said the Interior Ministry will join the Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Ministry as well as other agencies to look into urgent measures to prevent such clashes for the sake of public safety.
Separately, the Sacred Heart Convent School said prayers for Ms Sirada will be held from Sunday to Tuesday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Suphanburi’s Song Phi Nong district.
The school said it will shoulder all funeral rites expenses on behalf of the victim’s family. It is also collecting public donations to help the family.
Ms Sirada joined the school as an assistant computer teacher in 1996.
She came from Suphanburi, a town in central Thailand, and had been supporting her aged parents as well as the children of her late older brother and younger sister. THE NATION/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
