If we are honest with ourselves, Thai society is one where trending news topics, based on my observation as a journalist over the years, have an average lifespan of about 3 days, or at most about 7 days, and rarely exceed a week. Then the news cycle moves on.
The role of mainstream mass media as gatekeepers—the sole entities deciding what is or is not news and which angle to take on an issue—has significantly declined over the past decade. This is due to the fact that every ordinary person can now express various opinions on social media, and a considerable number of social media influencers now hold power in sparking social debate.
In this state of extreme chaos, expecting the public to simply shut up, remain passive, and wait for the police or the courts to explain the factors that led to last Friday’s tragedy is inadequate. The 14-year-old gunman first shot his two grandparents to death, went to school, killed six more people—mostly teachers at Debsirin Nonthaburi School—and then shot himself. Waiting is too slow for a society with such a short attention span.
After a week passes, the number of people still interested in the issue will drop drastically, to the point where almost no one not directly involved will still care or talk about it. Do you still remember the beer house fire in Lat Phrao? Yesterday, another person died from injuries sustained in the fire, bringing the death toll to 38. Is anyone still trying to debate and learn so society can prevent similar incidents? What about the train collision with a bus at Makkasan intersection, which now seems a distant memory despite having occurred just a few months ago?
In a society with a very short attention span, the first 3–7 days are crucial for collective social learning.
Please keep an open mind and avoid rushing to a single, simplistic conclusion. Some want the tragedy to have a touching ending and are fixated on the father of a 12-year-old victim, who forgave the perpetrator—despite the fact that the partner of another victim, a mathematics teacher, sobbed and said he “could not come to terms with it”. Meanwhile, a male student from the school released a video clip defending his school and teachers while condemning the shooter, even as some expressed sympathy for the adolescent gunman and blamed certain teachers for allegedly treating him unfairly. But how do we explain the fact that the young gunman killed his own grandparents who had effectively acted as the de facto parents when his biological parents reportedly saw him only on weekends?
Some saw the 14-year-old gunman as a monster; others saw him as a victim. I think I see both, but I will continue to keep my mind open beyond the seven-day mark, which falls tomorrow.
Keep an open mind, because a flawed society with a limited attention span usually only has 3 to 7 days to learn and debate before moving on.
Within that short window of public attention, the government also wants to appear resolute, sometimes making knee-jerk reactions.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul controversially said a few days ago that using a gun for self-defence at home is wrong.
The controversy comes days after the PM said authorities would tighten gun control. Also, the government prohibits state officials from carrying firearms in public or outside their homes when they are not on duty.
On Wednesday, a police spokesman had to explain that an intruder entering a home does not necessarily mean the homeowner can just shoot them in every circumstance, as the force used must be proportionate to the threat.
Pol Lt Gen Trairong Piwpan explained that there is no blanket rule, and that shooting an intruder does not automatically make the homeowner criminally liable, as each case must be assessed based on the circumstances.
To Anutin’s embarrassment, records show that seven Bhumjaithai MPs own guns—including Nakhon Phanom MP Anucha Sasomsab, who declared in his asset disclosure, that he possesses as many as 40 guns. Anutin himself has said he once owned a gun but lost it, while his wife has also declared firearms among her assets.
Yes, Thailand should try to close all the loopholes. More than 10 million guns among a population of about 70 million is one too many. Gun control, as well as reducing the number of firearms, is the way forward. One hopes the government will see to it eventually, but who will keep monitoring it?
Bullying and academic pressure are also factors that must be addressed, although we cannot conclude with certainty at this stage what exact roles they played in the Debsirin Nonthaburi School shooting case. It is amply clear that there have been reports of bullying in other cases, and effective measures are needed.
School security standards should be raised, and young people’s mental well-being should also be addressed.
Following last week’s school shooting, Paul Handley—author of the well-known banned book The King Never Smiles and a prominent foreign observer of Thailand—exchanged views with me on X.
Handley said he sees Thai society as very violent:
“Honestly, most Thais also don’t see their society as violent. But it is very violent, and one reason for that is the corrupt police and justice system. The gun problem has been around for a long time, and it is a very serious one.”
After reading Handley’s post, I replied that I concur in the sense that superficial conflict avoidance and the myth of Thai smiles deter or suppress overt conflicts up to a point, but things can eventually explode violently if people fail to address the thinly concealed anger boiling beneath the surface.
Later, I reflected further about this. Thai society is a repressed society that places great importance on saving face, conflict avoidance, and maintaining peace and order on the surface level. At the same time, it is an authoritarian society where, once repression reaches a certain point and people can no longer endure it, they may attempt to ‘solve problems’ through an explosion of brutal violence.
Buriram man, 71, beats neighbour to death after years of insults
While I do not yet know for certain whether this applies to this specific case, I think the issue of underlying violence in Thai society is worth serious attention.
By the way, a military coup is also a way of ‘solving’ political ‘problems’ through violence. They have more than enough guns to overthrow any elected government.