Uthai Sawan, Thailand Oct. 8 (BNA): Struggling families prayed on Saturday at a Buddhist temple filled with baby memorabilia, flowers and pictures of smiling young children who were killed sleeping on blankets at a daycare center in northeastern Thailand. , the Associated Press reported.
Coffins containing 36 dead people, 24 of them children and most of them preschoolers, were released Friday and placed inside Wat Rat Samki and two other temples in the town nestled among rice fields in one of Thailand’s poorest regions.
Many mourners stayed at Wat Rat Samakee through the night in the tradition of keeping company for those who died young.
“All relatives are here to offer merit on behalf of those who died,” said Bensiri Tana, the aunt of one of the victims, referring to an important Buddhist practice. She was among those who spend the night in the temple. “It is a tradition to keep our little ones company. We think we should be with them so that they don’t feel lonely.”
The massacre left no one behind in the small town, but community officials found that helping others helped calm their grief, at least for a moment.
“At first, we were all so horrified and couldn’t accept it. All the officials are sad for the people here. But we have to take care of everyone, all those 30 victims. We run and take care of the people, and give them moral support,” said Somnyuk Tongthalay, a local official.
A three-day mourning ceremony will take place before funerals sponsored by the king, which will culminate in cremation according to Buddhist tradition.
No clear motive may ever be known for Thailand’s deadliest mass murder after the perpetrator left a day care center on Thursday and killed his wife and son at home before taking his own life.
Late on Friday, King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida visited hospitals where seven wounded in the attack were being treated. The king met with family members of the victims in what he described as an attempt to raise morale.
“It is a tragedy that this evil thing has happened,” the king told reporters in a rare public appearance. “But for now, we have to think about what we can do to improve things as best we can.”
Outside the Uthai Sawan Toddler Development Center, bouquets of white roses and carnations line an outside wall, along with five small juice boxes, bags of cornflakes and a stuffed animal.
At Wat Rat Samki, mourners and those trying to give them support thronged the grounds.
“He was overwhelmed with it. Friday nights on a bamboo mat in the sweltering heat while relatives poured water on her and gently scrubbed her forehead,” said Uwe Yudkhao, 51.
Her 4-year-old grandson Tawachai Srivo was murdered, and she said she was worried about the child’s siblings. A family of rice farmers is nearby, with three generations living under one roof.
Police identified the attacker as Banya Kamrap, 34, a former police sergeant who was fired earlier this year on a methamphetamine-related drug charge. A nursery employee told Thai media that Banya’s son had attended but had not been there for about a month. Police said they believed Banya was under great pressure from tensions between him and his wife, and financial problems.
Thai media reported that Banya was cremated on Saturday in neighboring Udon Thani province after Buddhist temples in Uthai Thani refused to host his funeral. The website of the director’s newspaper said that the head of the temple monastery, which is hosting the ceremony and attended by about 10 relatives, requested anonymity so as not to disturb its members and neighbors.
The director mentioned that his mother, who was performing the traditional bathing ritual next to his coffin, pleaded with Banya’s spirit: “When you are born in the next life, don’t kill anyone. I love you son. If you had any problems, why didn’t you talk to me? Don’t do this again I have made you an advantage. Go to heaven, my son.”
Mass shootings are rare in Thailand, which has one of the highest civilian firearm ownership rates in Asia, at 15.1 guns per 100 people. That’s still well below the US rate of 120.5 per 100 people, according to a 2017 survey by the Australian nonprofit GunPolicy.org.
The previous worst mass killing in Thailand involved a disgruntled soldier who opened fire in and around a mall in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima in 2020, killing 29 people and stopping security forces for 16 hours before they were killed by them.
The worst previous attack on civilians was the 2015 bombing of a shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people. It was allegedly carried out by human traffickers in retaliation for a crackdown on their network.
AOQ