‘They can hardly walk, hardly breathe’: Parents of child victims of Thailand’s pre-school attack face the unfaceable
No one wants to outlive their child. But in Nong Bua Lamphu, an entire community is living with that very burden.
The victims, killed at the hands of an angry ex-policeman who rampaged through their pre-school, included 24 children – some as young as two years old – as well as adults, authorities said.
At Wat Rat Samakkhi everywhere you look, there’s pain.
As we arrive, we can hear screams from inside.
This is where the families have come to receive the bodies of their little ones.
It is incredibly raw – there are people in so much distress they can hardly walk, hardly breathe.
At the door to the side of the temple, a father rocks as he weeps. This is where they’re meant to fill out paperwork – a formal recognition of an unbearable loss. But everyone is struggling.
Rasamee Srinamburi has just lost her son.
She is trying to stand while sobbing uncontrollably – her family propping her up. Her son, four-year-old Prapankorn was killed.
Rassami Srinamburi
She shares utterly gut-wrenching details of his death. Her son was stabbed in the face.
Tragically, Rasamee saw the photos of his lifeless body. She tells me “he was lively, caring and always told her how much he loved her”.
Rescue workers stand next to coffins at Udon Thani hospital
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Distressingly, it turns out she also knew the attacker – they had gone to school together, she says, and he performed well. But that same boy became a man who entered the place where Rasamee’s son should have felt safe, a haven, and made it a hell.
At the nursery, what appears to be a bullet hole in the window hints at the horror inside.
It’s the small details that hit you here, like the half-empty milk bottles by the gates.
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Thai mother: ‘I knew son’s killer’
Families have been gathering all day. I see one woman, heavily pregnant. She looks absolutely exhausted. Her name is Marisa – and she tells us she hasn’t slept all night.
As she carries one child, she is mourning another – her four-year-old son was among those killed.
Just a few yards away, I meet Seksan Sriraj who is sitting staring ahead with utter bewilderment in his eyes. He tells me he has lost his wife.
Seksan Sriraj
She was a teacher and she, too, was pregnant. That day, he says, she was in charge of the room where the children slept.
As they grieve, just a ten-minute drive away, we find the home of the attacker, a 34-year-old who police say was fired from the force and was facing a drug charge.
Childhood frozen in time
Outside his home, only the burnt shell of his truck remains. Neighbours tell me he set it alight before entering his home and killing his own wife and stepson. The toys outside signify another trace of a childhood now frozen in time.
Across the road, I meet Prantumporn. She says her 63-year-old father, Udorn was also killed.
He had tried, she said, to warn others. He’d asked the attacker if he was OK. But he just replied, “I’m going to shoot you.”
What this community has seen, up close, is the kind of trauma that changes the fabric of a society.
Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.
Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.
“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.
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March: ‘We are going to lose children’: Fears over USAID cuts in Kenya
USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.
The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.
Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.
USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.
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Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.
But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
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What is USAID?
In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.
The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.
Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.
The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.
Thailand’s prime minister has been suspended after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian politician caused outrage.
An ethics investigation into Paetongtarn Shinawatra is under way and she could end up being dismissed.
The country’s constitutional court took up a petition from 36 senators, who claimed dishonesty and a breach of ethical standards, and voted 7 to 2 to suspend her.
Protesters gathered in Bangkok at the weekend. Pic: Reuters
The prime minister’s call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, sparked public protests after she tried to appease him and criticised a Thai army commander – a taboo move in a country where the military is extremely influential.
Ms Shinawatra was trying to defuse mounting tensions at the border – which in May resulted in the death of one Cambodian soldier.
Thousands of conservative, nationalist protesters held a demo in Bangkok on Saturday to urge her to step down.
Her party is clinging on to power after another group withdrew from their alliance a few weeks ago over the phone call. Calls for a no-confidence vote are likely.
Deputy prime minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will take over temporarily while the court looks into the case.
The 38-year-old prime minister – Thailand‘s youngest ever leader – has 15 days to respond to the probe. She has apologised and said her approach in the call was a negotiating tactic.
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The popularity of her government has slumped recently, with an opinion poll showing an approval rating of 9.2%, down from 30.9% in March.
Ms Shinawatra comes from a wealthy dynasty synonymous with Thai politics.
Her father Thaksin Shinawatra – a former Manchester City owner – and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister before her – in the early to mid 2000s – and their time in office also ended ignominiously amid corruption charges and military coups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
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The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
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