Teenager Seriously Injured in Shooting in Patong

A 17-year-old teenager was seriously injured in a shooting following a late-night confrontation in Patong, Phuket. The incident took place at around 1:35am on August 22 on Phra Baramee Road, in the northern part of the Patong Beach area.

Police identified the injured teenager as Tipakon James Thongtha, a student from Ratchaburi province. After being shot, he was taken to Patong Hospital, where his condition was reported to be serious.

According to the preliminary investigation, Tipakon was at the beach with a group of around 10 people when another group of approximately 20 people arrived on motorcycles.

The newcomers allegedly threatened the first group before leaving the area. They later returned, and one of the men approached Tipakon and spoke briefly with him. The man then shot the teenager with a firearm of an undetermined type and calibre.

The shooting occurred amid a wider campaign by Phuket police and administrative authorities to crack down on illegal firearms. The campaign was intensified following a high-profile school shooting in Nonthaburi on August 7.

In that case, a teenager allegedly used his grandfather’s legally owned handgun to shoot his grandparents at home before going to a school and opening fire on staff and students. Following the incident, authorities stepped up efforts to identify and seize illegal weapons while also increasing scrutiny of legally owned firearms, including inspections of shooting ranges and related facilities.

Between August 12 and 20, authorities seized 37 illegal firearms in Phuket as part of the ongoing campaign.

Patong Police had not publicly released a report about the overnight shooting as of the evening of August 22. No information about the incident was found on the station’s official Facebook page or among its other public updates.

However, just one day earlier, Patong Police reported their participation in the island-wide firearms crackdown. On the morning of August 21, investigators carried out a court-authorised search of a house on Phisit Korani Road and arrested a 27-year-old Thai man.

Officers allegedly found an EKOL Jackal Dual Compact blank-firing pistol that had been modified to fire .380 ACP ammunition, along with a magazine, one .380 ACP round and equipment used to store the weapon.

The man was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition before being handed over to investigators at Patong Police Station.