The memory of relentless childhood torment still weighs heavily on Surasit Nok-Ouam, a 20-year-old gig worker in Bangkok. Beginning in kindergarten and persisting through his early primary years, the harassment ranged beyond verbal insults to encompass outright physical violence. As a naturally introverted child, Surasit became an easy mark for his classmates, yet his experience represents far more than an isolated case of adolescent cruelty in Thai schools. Bullying has evolved into a systemic challenge threatening student welfare across the country, a reality laid bare by the tragic August 7 shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School on Bangkok's outskirts, in which a 14-year-old student opened fire and killed nine people including himself.
Investigations into the shooting remain ongoing, but preliminary reports suggest the teenage gunman, described as a quiet boy raised by attentive grandparents, may have endured bullying at school. While authorities have identified other potential contributing factors—including exposure to violent gaming content and academic stress—the incident has thrust the bullying crisis into the national spotlight. The tragedy prompted social media users to surface videos documenting past bullying incidents, including footage from July 21 at St Gabriel's College, one of Thailand's most respected private institutions, showing two students repeatedly assaulting a younger peer while one wielded what police identified as an airsoft weapon.
The visibility of these incidents, according to Aranee Vivatthanaporn, a criminology lecturer at Rangsit University, reflects not necessarily an increase in bullying cases but rather the amplified documentation and circulation enabled by digital platforms. "Rather, it may reflect both the continued prevalence of the problem and the greater public visibility and disclosure of bullying incidents in the digital era," she explained to regional media. This distinction matters significantly for policymakers attempting to calibrate responses to an issue that has proven consistently troublesome in Thai educational settings.
Government data underscores the magnitude of the problem. A September 2025 survey examining 42,000 young people aged six to 25 revealed that 65 percent had experienced bullying in some form. The most frequent variant involved teasing related to personal characteristics, names, or family backgrounds. Nearly three in ten respondents reported experiencing physical abuse including kicks and punches, with approximately 83 percent identifying schools as the primary environment where bullying occurred. These statistics have prompted counsellors observing increased demand for their services. Prieo To-uam, a freelance counsellor with four years of experience, noted a marked uptick in adolescents seeking assistance over the past year, remarking that bullying appears in nearly every case she handles regardless of whether students attend Thai or international institutions.
The psychological toll on victims extends beyond immediate trauma. Survey data indicates that at least one quarter of those bullied have contemplated self-harm, a statistic that alarms mental health professionals. Chinun Boonroungrut, a psychology lecturer at Silpakorn University, emphasizes that chronic bullying can precipitate depression, festering anger, and cumulative grievance. He cautions, however, that not all adolescent bullying escalates to violent extremes, distinguishing between common school harassment and the rare instances that result in tragedy. Bullying manifests across a spectrum—from verbal abuse including insults and rumour-spreading to physical assault encompassing shoving, striking, or imprisoning victims in bathrooms.
Surasit's account illustrates how seemingly routine harassment creates pervasive psychological damage. Groups of classmates would pursue him into toilet facilities, splashing water while hurling insults, transforming ordinary bathroom visits into anxiety-inducing ordeals. In another incident, a bully publicly yanked down his sweatpants during physical education class. These humiliations generated a vicious cycle: when Surasit attempted to respond, his reactions became the source of further entertainment, rewarding his tormentors and deepening his isolation. Such experiences demonstrate how bullying operates not as discrete incidents but as sustained psychological warfare that reshapes victims' daily experiences and emotional landscapes.
However, the institutional and cultural barriers to addressing this crisis run deeper than policy frameworks alone can penetrate. Prieo observes that bullying victims frequently lack familial support or safe channels for disclosure, conditions that intensify their vulnerability. Critically, many Thai families and communities embrace kreng jai—a cultural concept emphasizing extreme politeness, deference, and consideration for social harmony—which actively discourages victims from reporting mistreatment. This cultural norm creates a silencing mechanism particularly potent in Thai society. "Societal expectations prioritising politeness, deference, and social harmony frequently pressure youth to internalise negative emotions," Prieo explained. This emotional suppression prevents early intervention, allowing unresolved psychological crises to accumulate beneath a veneer of social order until they potentially explode into sudden, catastrophic violence.
The challenge for Thai policymakers lies in reforming institutions while simultaneously shifting cultural attitudes that have historically valorized emotional restraint and social conformity. Following the Debsirin shooting, Thailand's Education Ministry announced several immediate interventions scheduled for implementation by early November, including a zero-tolerance bullying policy, enhanced weapon detection systems at schools, and referral mechanisms targeting at-risk students. The ministry simultaneously pursues passage of a new "Student and School Safety Act" designed to mandate mental health monitoring and screening for post-traumatic stress disorder among affected populations.
Yet these structural responses, while necessary, may prove insufficient without parallel cultural transformation. The tension between institutional reform and entrenched social values mirrors broader challenges across Southeast Asia, where rapid modernization collides with traditional expectations around hierarchy, deference, and group harmony. Thailand's experience demonstrates how deeply school violence and bullying are rooted not merely in individual pathology or institutional inadequacy but in societal frameworks that inadvertently enable psychological harm by discouraging disclosure and help-seeking behaviour. Addressing the crisis effectively requires not only metal detectors and counselling programmes but a fundamental recalibration of cultural attitudes toward emotional expression, victimhood, and the legitimacy of speaking against institutional harm. Until Thai society creates space for victims to voice their experiences without shame or social penalty, policy interventions alone risk treating symptoms while leaving the underlying disease untouched.
