Hat Yai school moves classes online after former teacher posts gun threats

Hatyai Wittayalai School in Songkhla will switch to online learning on Monday and Tuesday as a precautionary measure after a former foreign contract teacher posted images and other content online showing him practising with firearms.

The school’s director, Thivichaya Meechuvorapong, filed a complaint with police yesterday, identifying a South African former contract teacher who allegedly posted messages and images through the LINE application suggesting that he would shoot the school’s administrators and teachers.

The man, who used the LINE ID “Kru Peter”, posted the messages in an open LINE chat group with approximately 5,000 members.

In addition, he posted photographs of the school’s administrative team, accompanied by messages that were allegedly threatening in nature.

In the complaint, the school’s director said she was concerned about the safety of her students and personnel, particularly following the school shooting in Nonthaburi on Friday, during which at least nine people died, including the 14-year-old gunman who killed himself.

According to the school’s announcement, the foreign teacher in question was teaching English until his contract was terminated on July 24, after an investigative panel found that he had violated the terms and conditions of his contract.

The school decided to switch classes online after determining that his posts following the termination were provocative, inflammatory and threatening, amounting to harassment of school personnel and students.

The posts had unsettled school administrators, staff, students and parents, it said, adding that appropriate measures to respond to any such threats were already in place.