A tragic incident occurred when a 17-year-old boy picked up a gun to play with it but accidentally fired a shot that struck his head, killing him in front of his friends inside a residence in the Permsin area of Bangkok.
At 04:30 on 20 Jan 2026 GMT+7, Police Lieutenant Colonel Kiri-ek Boonmongkol, Deputy Inspector (Investigation) of Bang Khen Police Station, received a report of a male teenager shot dead inside a house in Soi Permsin 16, Khlong Thanon Subdistrict, Sai Mai District, Bangkok. He rushed to the scene with Police Colonel Anan Warasat, Chief of Bang Khen Police Station.
Also present were Lieutenant Colonel Prateep Khammii, Patrol Supervisor, Lieutenant Colonel Pornchai Wongprasertkan, Criminal Investigation Supervisor of Bang Khen Police Station, forensic officers, medical examiners from Phumiphol Hospital, and volunteers from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation.
At the scene, a two-story townhouse, the victim’s body was found in a second-floor bedroom. The deceased, aged 17, was wearing a green short-sleeve T-shirt and camouflage shorts, with a gunshot wound to the head. He was slumped forward in a pool of blood. Nearby were a cannabis pipe and a container with kratom leaves.
Further inspection of the room revealed two homemade pistols placed in a drawer, several shotgun shells on a glass table, and a bulletproof vest belonging to the victim hanging nearby. Authorities documented and collected these as evidence.
An 18-year-old friend of the victim said that he and another friend usually came to play games at the victim’s house daily. Before the incident, the three friends were chatting when the victim picked up a gun and shot himself in the head. The friend said he was shocked and did not expect the victim to do that. He did not know where the victim got the gun. The bulletproof vest was purchased by the victim through an app to wear for photo shoots.
Officials initially believe the deceased was playing with the firearm with his friends when it accidentally discharged, fatally wounding him in the head. Authorities are continuing to question the friends present in the room. The victim’s family has expressed no objection to the death.