Sawt Falasteen - Thai schools step up security after deadly shooting

Thailand's government has ordered schools nationwide to step up controls following the August 7 attack near Bangkok, when a 14-year-old killed his grandparents, five school staff and a pupil before turning the gun on himself.

"An incident like this should not have happened in a school," headteacher Suparong Sawangngamwong told AFP after overseeing the new checks at Bangkok's Sawasdee Wittaya School.

He said he hoped the inspections will ensure "parents can be at ease", assuring them school is a safe place "where parents trust their children can spend their days".

A modest public school nestled among the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Sawasdee Wittaya has more than 500 pupils aged six to 12, and 30 teachers.

Six teachers on Friday morning meticulously searched pupils' backpacks as they arrived for class, going through every pocket.

As they returned the bags, the children, one by one, pressed their palms together and bowed to the teachers in the Thai greeting taught as part of school etiquette.

Previously, "we would only randomly check the bags of students in the higher grades, or kids with problematic behaviour", said Suparong, who has more than two decades of teaching experience.

"But now we do it for everyone."

- 'Safe zone' -

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) this week ordered schools under its authority to screen for weapons, maintain around-the-clock security and enforce strict protocols for visitors.

The measures have been welcomed by some parents.

"The school should be a safe zone for kids," said Araya Chanu as she dropped off her daughter in the fifth grade (aged 10 or 11).

The 37-year-old said last Friday's shooting in Nonthaburi, not far away on the outskirts of the Thai capital, had left her worried.

But she told AFP the new measures would help, adding: "If parents work together with the school, I think it will become more efficient."

The school already works with local police to conduct emergency drills once every term, Suparong added.

Two security guards and six teachers are also on duty each day, rotating shifts to ensure that every child is safely collected by their parents.

But Suparong warned his school needed more funding to make the changes required.

There are CCTV cameras across the school's four floors, but some are out of order and more are needed, he said.

In last Friday's shooting, the assailant used his grandfather's gun to kill his grandparents before heading to his school.

There, he shot dead five teachers and staff and wounded a 12-year-old girl, who died in hospital the following day.

The incident revived debate over firearms control in Thailand, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region.

In the wake of the attack, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered the interior ministry and police to stop issuing licenses to possess, purchase and carry firearms, and called for "tighter controls and decisive penalties".

However, past promises of tightening gun laws have not prevented repeated shootings.

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST