A gunman killed five people at a fresh food market in Bangkok, Thailand, before taking his own life, police reported. Authorities believe a personal grudge motivated the shooting.
The victims included four security guards at the Or Tor Kor market in northern Bangkok, according to a police statement.
A vendor at the market was also among the deceased, and two others sustained injuries.
The Or Tor Kor market is adjacent to the popular Chatuchak weekend market, a well-known destination for both Thai and international tourists.
According to a statement released by Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner, the gunman’s wife revealed that her husband harbored resentment towards the security guards after his car was scratched in 2019 or 2020.
The wife operates a food stall at the market, the statement added.
“Mr Noi is a person who loves and is very protective of his car, and is also a violent person,” the statement said, identifying the suspect only by a nickname.
The statement indicated that the gunman left the scene after the shooting and fatally shot himself on a bench.
He was wearing a black T-shirt, military-pattern shorts, a baseball cap, and a backpack.
The statement emphasized that the incident stemmed from a personal dispute and was unrelated to the border conflict with Cambodia, which had been circulating as a rumor on social media.
Gun violence is relatively common in Thailand, despite the country having restrictive gun laws and a high rate of gun ownership.
The most recent mass shooting in Bangkok occurred in October 2023, when a teenage boy used a modified blank pistol to shoot more than six people at the Paragon shopping center, resulting in three fatalities.
One of the nation’s deadliest massacres took place in October 2022 in Nong Bua Lamphua province, where a former police sergeant used firearms and knives to kill 36 individuals, including 24 children at a daycare center.
In February 2020, a disgruntled Thai army soldier fatally shot 29 people, primarily at a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima, before being killed by police after an 18-hour standoff.
