Violent crime targeted by disgruntled locals at family members and acquaintances has been claiming victim after victim in southern Thai provinces notorious for hair-trigger tempers and rampant gun violence.
In one recent incident in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, which has been dubbed “the murder capital of Thailand,” the assistant head of a village shot dead his two-year-old daughter on Nov. 16 during a heated, drunken quarrel with his 27-year-old wife.
The man, who took umbrage at his wife for berating him for getting visibly drunk at home, reached for his gun and took a shot at his wife but missed. He then shot his daughter, killing the toddler instantly.
The villager then tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head but survived with a severe head wound, according to police.
The day before, a 60-year-old man in the southern province of Songkhla, which borders Nakhon Si Thammarat, shot his 88-year-old father dead following a quarrel in an incident that was recorded on a home surveillance camera. The man tried to flee but was arrested by police.
Gun violence has long been a serious problem in Thailand, especially in the South, with a per capita murder rate that is higher than that in the United States, according to experts.
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, which has a population of some 1.5 million, scores of locals have been shot dead this year alone and many more are likely to die before the year is out.