Mourners lay flowers at Terminal 21

Mourners lay flowers at Terminal 21

Bouquets of flowers are seen in front of Terminal 21 shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima's Muang district, placed to mourn victims of the weekend violence. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)
Bouquets of flowers are seen in front of Terminal 21 shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima's Muang district, placed to mourn victims of the weekend violence. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)

Bouquets of flowers adorn the front of Terminal 21 shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima city, placed to mourn the victims of the shooting rampage.

They are accompanied by written notes of condolence.

Relatives of one victim, named only as 25-year-old "Nong Ice", killed while driving past the shopping mall in a black Mitsubishi Pajero, invited a monk to perform a Buddhist rite at the spot, to send home the victim's soul.

On Sunday night, thousands of people gathered at an open ground in front of the statue of Thao Suranaree in Nakhon Ratchasima's Muang district and offered prayers for those killed.

"You have this rage, it fills you," said local resident Chirathip Kurapakorn at the vigil.

"It just happened right here in our hometown behind us, like right in our heart of everything. It's just tragic."

Many of those killed in the weekend attack were at the shopping centre, the last stop for the soldier, who held out against an overnight siege with weapons stolen from his army base before being shot dead by security forces on Sunday.

The soldier, angry over a real estate deal gone awry, began his rampage by killing his commanding officer at a private home on Saturday afternoon.

He then moved on to his military base, where he killed a guard and stole high-powered weapons and ammunition from the armoury, and then fled in a stolen Humvee to a Buddhist temple, where he killed nine people before driving to the Terminal 21 mall.

At least 29 were killed and 57 wounded across all the locations. The rampage left 30 people dead -- including the gunman, Sgt Maj 1st Class Jakrapanth Thomma -- and 57 others wounded.

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