Thailand: Gunshots fired in government office, ex-MP arrested

Thai Police arrested a suspected gunman — a former lawmaker — after he allegedly fired shots at a local government office at the outskirts of Bangkok, on Monday morning.

The shooter fired shots at a senior provincial officer and his driver, Nonthaburi police chief Major Dejrapee Kongdee told Reuters news agency.

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Post reported that the provincial administration's president, Thongchai Yenprasert, had died in the shooting.

As per the report, the suspected shooter forced his way into the government office at about 11 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and fired several shots at Thongchai. The official was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the scene befoe being rushed to a local hospital where he was declared dead.

This comes just days after a 14-year-old's shooting rampage, first at his home and then at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School, left nine people dead and over 20 injured. That incident was Thailand's deadliest mass shooting in nearly four years.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had reiterated his intention to tighten gun control laws in the wake of the shooting. The southeast Asian country's current gun laws do not include mental health screenings and allows people as young as 20 to hold guns.

Thailand had around 15 guns per 100 ⁠residents, the highest rate in Southeast Asia ​by a wide margin, according to a 2017 estimate by the Small Arms Survey.

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