NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Authorities will stop receiving public donations for the families of victims of the weekend shooting rampage this Sunday, with donations already topping 68 million baht.
Provincial governor Wichian Chantharanothai on Friday handed over another 700,000 baht to each of the families of 27 of the dead victims. Total donations were at 68.27 million baht as of 8am on Friday, he said.
Earlier, a provincial panel distributed 300,000 baht to each of 26 families, a total of 7.8 million baht, and 2.2 million baht to the families of 22 of the injured, or 100,000 baht each, leaving about 58.27 million baht.
The panel agreed to increase financial aid for the families of the dead to one million baht each, from 300,000 baht, as donations exceeded the target of 50 million baht. The additional 700,000 baht was distributed on Friday.
On Thursday, the governor said no assistance would be given to the families of the gunman or the colonel and woman he killed at a house during a dispute on Feb 8, before he began his bloody rampage downtown.
Mr Wichian said donations would be closed on Feb 16, starting from 4pm.
In the afternoon of Feb 8, Sgt Maj 1st Class Jakrapanth Thomma, 32, shot dead his commander, Col Anantharot Krasae, 48, real estate developer Anong Mitchan, 65, and wounded a man identified as Witthaya Kaewprom, 40, over a real estate deal, at Anong’s home in tambon Nong Jabok of Muang district, Nakhon Ratchasima.
Jakrapanth then went to Surathampithak military camp, where he killed a guard and stole automatic firearms and ammunition from the armoury, then fled in a stolen military vehicle to Wat Pa Sattharuam monastery.
There, he loaded the weapons and began his rampage, killing nine people before driving to Terminal 21 shopping mall in downtown Nakhon Ratchasima, where he continued his random killing.
Volleys of gunfire rang out before dawn on Sunday, hours after police commandoes moved into the ground floor of Terminal 21, where the gunman had holed up, and terminated him.
Jakkrapanth took 29 lives and wounded 58 others in total before police commandos shot him dead around 9am on Feb 9, ending the rampage that lasted more than 17 hours.
