Thailand’s school shooting drill sparks controversy, scholars urge to avoid overly realistic simulations

(Central News Agency reporter Li Zongxian, Bangkok, 18th) School shootings occurred in Thailand recently, and many schools have strengthened campus security drills to simulate realistic scenarios such as gun attacks. Scholars pointed out that current research supports basic contingency training that is calm, informed in advance and repeated, and pointed out that realistic drills may cause fear to students.

After a school shooting occurred in Thailand on the 7th, school safety has attracted attention. Thailand's Ministry of Education has drawn up a school safety plan, and schools across the country continue to hold shooting drills. For example, Rattanakosin Somphot Bang Khen School in northern Bangkok held a school shooting drill yesterday. The drill scene was so realistic that some students even shed tears and the atmosphere was tense.

Pakorn Akkakanjanasupar, a Ph.D. in education at the School of Education at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, pointed out that "no research has yet confirmed that adding fake gunshots, actors, simulated injuries, or deliberately deceiving students into believing that an attack is taking place can bring additional effects."

Phagon believes that tabletop exercises and field exercises should be mainly conducted by school staff and emergency response personnel; students should practice a small number of age-appropriate response actions, and said, "Students' crisis response preparedness should be based on clear communication, repeated practice, coordination and review, rather than recreating the fear caused by real attacks."

A 2025 study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommended that students should not participate in high-intensity, high-sensory stimulation and deceptive simulation exercises, including fake gunshots, simulated injuries, arranging actors to play attackers, and making students mistakenly believe that an attack is actually happening.

Phakong added to Central News Agency that for younger students, highly realistic drills may make it difficult for them to distinguish between simulated situations and real emergencies, and even affect students' ability to resume normal learning.

He added that research shows that there is still limited evidence on whether relevant drills can improve behavior in real shooting incidents or reduce the number of fatalities, but emphasized that "drills and repeated training may enhance participants' understanding of response procedures to take correct actions in emergency situations."

Pagong pointed out to Central News Agency that each campus attack incident is different in terms of location, warning time, attacker behavior, architectural design and emergency response, so it is difficult to directly infer the effect in a real incident from the drill results.

Phakong emphasized that in addition to holding drills, campus security cannot rely on a single measure. He mentioned the "Safe Zone" study that he and other scholars will publish in 2024, which explores student safety from different levels such as individuals, interpersonal relationships, schools, communities, and the broader social environment. He also recommended that schools establish trusting relationships between students and adults, continue anti-bullying programs, establish confidential reporting channels, and provide mental health support.