Thai Police Vow Community Partnership to Prevent School Shootings
Thai police are calling for stronger community partnerships to prevent school shootings, shifting security responsibility from police alone to trained citizens who can identify threats and coordinate responses in their neighborhoods.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Napdol Kannika, a national police policy committee member and lecturer in peace innovation at Siam Technology College, responded to the shooting at Thepsirin School in Nonthaburi, describing it as a deeply shocking event for Thai society. He stressed that schools should be the safest spaces for children and youth, yet when places meant for learning and hope become sources of fear, the question extends beyond "How will police respond?" to the larger question of "How do we prevent this from happening again?" Napdol argued that a fundamental shift in thinking is required—moving from viewing security as solely a police responsibility to seeing "police and citizens as safety partners." He noted that police cannot be everywhere, but community members already are present in their neighborhoods and know their areas best; with proper knowledge, coordination systems, and connections to police, they become critical forces for prevention. Since 2567 (2024), Napdol has been involved in risk management initiatives that include public participation in training programs for Soft Target protection—such as shopping centers, schools, hospitals, and entertainment venues—developed when Police Deputy Commander Kittiphad Phandthet held his position. The key concept was not to turn citizens into police officers, but to make them "threat-aware, able to report incidents, able to survive, and able to coordinate with police." Napdol emphasized that today public participation must be elevated to national policy level through the concept of "modern-era volunteer community police" and gun-control policies under Prime Minister Anuthim and driven forward by Deputy Commander Kittiphad, reflecting alignment between policy leaders and operational leaders in centering the public within the security system. The significance of this policy lies not merely in the term "volunteer community police," but in transforming the public's status from security service recipients to security partners.
