Two Thai teenagers held over schoolboy shooting

Two Thai teenagers aged 16 and 19 were arrested on suspicion of murder yesterday over the shooting of a nine-year-old boy on his way to school in Bangkok, police said.
The younger suspect, whose name has been withheld to protect his identity, appeared at a police press conference with his face hidden by a balaclava and confessed to firing the shots that killed Jatupon Ponpaka on Wednesday.
“I did not intended to hurt him. I apologise to his family,” he told reporters.
The male teenagers were both vocational students in the Thai capital, said Deputy Commander Colonel Somboon Phuthapong of Bangkok’s police force.
He said both the 16-year-old and the 19-year-old, who was named as Pariwat Lohphuwee, were charged with murder.
About 10 teenagers from a rival school launched the attack at a stop in eastern Bangkok and Jatupon, who was about to get off with his elder brother, was shot in the face and neck as the bus sped away.
Ungsu Khamwong, Jatupon’s mother, has called for an end to street fights between school gangs, which are a common menace in Thailand and often result in innocent people getting caught up in the violence.
Education Minister Chinaworn Boonyakiat called a meeting of 18 vocational schools in Bangkok to address the attacks, which have escalated in recent days, threatening them with eventual closure if the brawls persist.