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A teenage suspect killed his grandparents before shooting dead at least six more people at a school near Bangkok on Friday, police said.
The suspect first shot his grandparents using his grandfather's handgun, then went to a secondary school north of Bangkok and killed three teachers and three students, the national police said in a statement.
Dozens of police and emergency responders gathered outside Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province, while parents rushed to pick up their children and tearful students and staff comforted each other outside.
"I was afraid that I would die, and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to pursue my dreams," said Pawarisa Maylissa, a grade 12 student who hopes to attend medical school.
"I heard many gunshots very loudly because it seemed the suspect was on the floor directly above us. I could even hear bullets hitting the floor," she said.
Fifteen injured students were not struck by gunfire but were hurt while trying to flee, Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee told local broadcaster Thai PBS.
The shooter was identified as a teenage student at the school and was also reported dead, according to local media reports citing authorities.
Some reports said police officers shot and killed the suspect, while others said he died by suicide.
"It's such a terrible incident. It should never have happened. How could this happen in our country?" Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at Bangkok's Government House.
Photos published by local media showed the suspect wearing a purple school uniform and carrying a black cross-body bag, with several bullet casings visible on the ground.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist saw a dozen mental health workers arrive at the school, where traffic was nearly at a standstill.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with about 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation, or one for every seven people.
Past promises to tighten gun laws have not prevented repeated shootings.
Thai police shot and arrested a teenager who opened fire at a school in southern Thailand in February, killing the principal and wounding two students.
The teen had used a police officer's weapon in the shooting.
A local police chief said at the time that the suspect had been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment in December and later discharged.
The teen stabbed a police officer with a knife and stole his 9mm pistol shortly before the attack, then used it to carry out the shooting.
In 2022, an ex-police officer armed with a gun and a knife stormed a nursery in northern Thailand and killed 24 children and 12 adults, one of the country's deadliest massacres.
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