School Shooting a Warning Sign, Thailand Must Build Prevention Systems

Deputy Democratic Party leader Radchadao Intavangsuwankiri has posted on Facebook expressing condolences to families affected by the school shooting at Thepsirindr School in Nonthaburi, calling the incident a warning signal about escalating youth violence and mental health problems that Thai society must urgently confront.

Radchadao noted that Thai society has repeatedly witnessed cases of children and youth experiencing stress, self-harm, suicide, or violence toward others, with violence now spreading into educational institutions and affecting both teachers and students. "We must seriously ask what adults are doing, and how many more people must we lose before we act?" she said.

Radchadao emphasized that Thailand should prioritize building prevention systems rather than reacting after incidents occur. She advocated for mental health awareness, early warning sign recognition, violence prevention, bullying intervention strategies, and safe reporting channels to be embedded in educational systems. She stressed that most violence cases show warning signs beforehand, so teachers, students, and parents need to recognize these signals and have the courage to report them before it is too late.

Radchadao argued that this is not a problem of children or teachers alone but a systemic issue involving families, schools, communities, and government. She called for building a comprehensive "learning ecosystem" where children, teachers, and parents do not face these challenges in isolation. "We should not wait for more deaths to hold meetings, we should not wait for the next teacher to post they cannot take it anymore, and we should not wait for another child to pick up a weapon before asking why no one knew," she concluded, noting that warning signs have been present for years.