Law Society says parents of mall shooter may be liable for civil damages

Weerasak Chotewanit, vice president and deputy spokesman of the professional group of Thai lawyers, was commenting on the case of a 14-year-old boy arrested for allegedly going on a shooting spree at Siam Paragon malll in Bangkok, killing two people and injuring five.

Weerasak said the Criminal Procedural Code stated that children from 12 to 15 can be convicted for a crime, but will not have to be punished.

As a result, Weerasak said, the court may not send the boy to a juvenile detention centre but may instead put the boy under care of his parents and assigned parole officials to monitor his behaviour.

Weerasak said there have been several cases of serious crimes committed by children under 15 and Thai law was designed to protect them and place them under other measures than penalties.

Instead of punishing the young criminals, the law would seek to punish their parents for ignoring their children’s behaviour.

The spokesman said if the gun used by the boy belonged to his parents, they must be held responsible for civil damage.

But if the boy bought it on his own via an online channel, police should be held responsible for allowing gun trading to be accessible to children, Weerasak added.

He called on police to track down and arrest all online gun traders soon.