BANGKOK – Thai police have arrested four men accused of selling a gun to a 14-year-old suspected of carrying out a shooting attack at a Bangkok mall that left two people dead.

The teenager has been charged with murder over Tuesday’s attack at the Siam Paragon mall.

Police say the suspect used a blank-firing pistol modified to shoot live rounds.

Officers in Yala province in Thailand’s deep south arrested two men – Suwananhong Phramkhanajarn, 45, and his 22-year-old son, Akkharawit Jaithong –  in the early hours of Thursday on suspicion of selling a gun and ammunition to the boy.

“Police raided their houses to find more evidence connected to the case,” a senior Yala policeman told AFP.

“They were sent to Bangkok for questioning.”

Seized from their house were 209 rounds of ammunition, nine magazines, 33 metal parts and two bank accounts, the Bangkok Post reported.

The other two men were arrested in Bangkok.

One of them, Piyabut Phianpitak, 31, who was arrested at his workplace while in possession of two blank guns, reportedly acted as a middleman and delivered the bullets to the teenager.

The other man, Wirayut Nateetharat, 41, who lives in Phuket, was arrested at his Bangkok address, which police found was being used as a production and modification facility for BB guns and blank firearms.

The four men are suspected of modifying the blank gun, selling and delivering the weapon, as well as withdrawing the money earned from their sale from an ATM, according to Thai media reports.

The police said the firearm used by the boy was purchased online for 16,000 baht (S$590).

The boy had contacted an online gun seller, expressing his interest in firearms, police investigations revealed. Apart from the gun he bought, he also ordered rounds of bullets that cost him 1,000 baht.

“There was also live-streaming equipment,” police official Samran Nuanma told reporters outside the home of one suspect.

The men also had illegal firearms, tools to modify pistols, and narcotics in their possession, he added.

The firearm used at Siam Paragon on Tuesday was sent to the boy’s condominium after he made payment via an online transfer.

He had to borrow money via an online moneylending app as he did not have enough funds to buy the gun, investigations revealed.

The two men arrested in Yala have denied all charges, Thai media reported.

One of them, Akkharawit, was found to have been selling firearms on a Facebook page, which had been operational for five months but was deactivated at around 10.20pm on Tuesday, the day of the shooting.

The police on Thursday said they would also be questioning an instructor at a shooting range where the boy went to practise.

The range was on grounds belonging to the Royal Thai Army, a police division commander said, adding that questioning would seek to uncover a motive and revolve around whether the boy was accompanied by others at the range and the gun he used there.

After the incident on Tuesday, videos were circulated on social media of the suspect shooting at a range. In one undated video, a man wearing military camouflage colours could be seen next to the teenager.

Hundreds of shoppers fled the packed upmarket mall in fear as shots rang out on Tuesday afternoon. Seven people were shot in total, and a woman from China and another from Myanmar were killed.

The 14-year-old suspect has been charged with attempted murder, carrying and firing a gun in a public place, and owning an unlicensed firearm.

He is undergoing psychiatric testing to see if he is fit to stand trial.

The teenager had previously been receiving treatment for a mental illness but stopped taking medication, according to police.

The shooting has sparked fresh calls for tighter gun control in a country awash with both legal and illegal weapons.

It came days before the first anniversary of the deadliest massacre in modern Thai history.

A former policeman armed with a gun and knife attacked a nursery in the country’s north in October 2022, killing 24 children and 12 adults.

According to an international database, Thailand has an estimated 10 million guns in circulation – one for every seven citizens, and one of the highest rates of ownership in the region.

In 2020, a soldier gunned down 29 people in a mall rampage in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday vowed to bring in “preventative measures” to prevent further tragedies.

The government is closing legal loopholes regarding online sales in a bid to control the spread of weapons.

“The Digital Ministry will be shutting down websites selling blank guns,” Deputy Foreign Minister Jakkapong Sangmanee told a separate briefing.

The government plans to ban imports of blank guns, BB guns and imitation firearms, its deputy spokesperson Karom Phonphonklang said in a statement. REUTERS, AFP