PHUKET: Two people were injured when a male passenger fired two shots on a minibus on the Phuket-Phatthalung route on Friday morning before taking his own life.
The shooting happened at Khuan Din Daeng curve on Thepkasattri Road in tambon Koh Kaew of Muang district at 6.49am. The scene was about one kilometre from the Phuket bus terminal where the bus just departed.
Police received a report of the shooting by a Thai man, aged about 30, while he was still on the bus.
According to witnesses, two gunshots were heard on the bus. Survivors rushed off the bus soon after the driver stopped the vehicle.
The injured – a man and a woman – were among nine passengers on board. Rescue workers sent them to Mission Hospital Phuket.
Bus driver Somyos Buakaew, 42, told police that the gunman was sitting in the middle of the bus before he walked to the back and opened fire. The gunman then returned to his seat and appeared unfazed by the situation, the driver said.
The gunman remained on the bus, as some 30 policemen were deployed to handle the incident.
Police guard the shooting scene as the gunman remains on the minibus in Phuket on Friday. (Photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)
Roads within a kilometre radius of the scene were closed off, and police were negotiating with the shooter for about 4 hours.
After negotiations failed, officers fired tear gas into the vehicle to force the gunman out. However, he refused to surrender and shot himself dead around 11.10am, police said.
According to local media, the gunman was a former conscript identified as Nawin Chuaykiang, a native of Ao Luk district of Krabi province.
Police were investigating the cause of the attack.