A female teacher died on Thursday in southern Thailand’s Hat Yai district after a gunman opened fire at a school where she worked, the provincial administration said on social media.

A 17-year-old used a firearm stolen from a police officer to shoot the teacher, identified as Sasiphat Sinsamosorn, at the Patongprathankiriwat School in Songkhla Province’s Hat Yai district on Wednesday before being detained by police.

A female student was also shot. Information about her condition has not yet been released.

Sasiphat, who also served as the school’s director, was taken to an intensive care unit for surgery but died at around 2 am due to internal organ injuries and significant blood loss, the health ministry said.

The school posted a message of condolence on its Facebook page, saying “although we have lost you, the memories and the goodness you left behind will remain in our heart forever.”

Officials said the detained suspect, who has a sister at the school, has a history of substance abuse and was discharged from a psychiatric hospital in December.

Gun violence and ownership are not uncommon in Thailand. In 2002, a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, in a gun-and-knife attack at a nursery in the east of the country.

Politicians worldwide are facing a surge in violence, threats and harassment, a survey published on Wednesday by the global Inter-Parliamentary Union found, warning that the trend, fueled by new technologies, could have major repercussions for democracy.

The IPU survey, opens new tab, mostly conducted in 2025, was based on questions submitted to lawmakers in more than 80 countries, with detailed questionnaires to 519 elected officials in five — Argentina, Benin, Italy, Malaysia and the Netherlands — to provide a representative global picture.

The IPU, which groups 183 national parliaments, said 71% of all respondents reported experiencing violence from the public, particularly online. Women were more often the targets — disproportionately so when it came to sexualized forms of abuse.

“Lawmakers and parliamentarians around the world are facing a surge in intimidation,” IPU Secretary-General Martin Chungong told a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “If the phenomenon … is allowed to go uncontrolled, this will have major repercussions for democracy worldwide.”

Chungong, a Cameroonian, said the situation in the United States was “very acute” and highlighted attacks against Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

The United States has also seen assassination attempts against now-President Donald Trump, including a shot that hit his ear during his 2024 campaign for reelection.

Chungong said many lawmakers reported being more careful about what they say or write in the face of online abuse, given concerns for their personal safety.

The abuse had affected the willingness of some to engage publicly. “Over time, intimidation risks narrowing representation,” Chungong said.

He said attacks on politicians were being fueled by new technologies, including artificial intelligence, and much online abuse and incitement was done anonymously and could involve state actors.

• BNP seeks return to power under Tarique Rahman.
• 300 lawmakers to be elected directly.
• Additional 50 women to be chosen from party lists.

DHAKA: Bangladesh began voting on Thursday in its first national election since the deadly 2024 uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina, with people queued at polling stations across the country amid expectations of tight electoral race.  

Leading prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman, 60, is confident his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) can regain power – but he faces a stiff challenge from the Muslim-majority country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.

Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, has mounted a disciplined grassroots campaign, and, if victorious, the former political prisoner could lead the first Islamist-led government in constitutionally secular Bangladesh.

Opinion polls vary widely, though most give the BNP the lead – with some suggesting a knife-edge race.

“The significance of this day is far-reaching,” interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who will step down after the polls, said ahead of the vote in the country of 170 million people.

“It will determine the future direction of the country, the character of its democracy, its durability, and the fate of the next generation.”

The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has led the South Asian nation since Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule ended with her ouster in August 2024. His administration has barred her Awami League from contesting the polls.

Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity for the bloody crackdown on protesters during her final months in power, and remains in hiding in neighbouring India.

‘Crucial test’

Yunus has also championed a sweeping democratic reform charter to overhaul what he called a “completely broken” system of government and to prevent a return to one-party rule.

On Thursday, the 127 million voters will also decide in a referendum whether to endorse proposals for prime-ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.

Voters will elect 300 lawmakers directly, with a further 50 women chosen from party lists.

More than 300,000 security personnel have been deployed for the polls, which open at 7:30 am (0130 GMT), with counting by hand to begin after they close at 4:30 pm.

Results in past elections trickled in hours later – though counting this time also includes referendum ballots.

“The crucial test for Bangladesh now will be to ensure the election is conducted fairly and impartially, and for all parties to then accept the result,” said Thomas Kean, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.

“If that happens, it will be the strongest evidence yet that Bangladesh has indeed embarked on a period of democratic renewal.”

‘Just and inclusive’

The next government will inherit a battered economy in the world’s second-largest garment exporter, alongside delicate relations with neighbouring India.

The BNP’s Rahman – whose late parents both led the country – told AFP that his first priority, if elected, would be restoring security and stability. But he warned the challenges ahead were immense.

“The economy has been destroyed,” he said. “There are a huge number of unemployed. We need to create businesses for these young people to have jobs.”

But his Islamist political rivals, who have campaigned on a platform of justice and ending corruption, sense their biggest opportunity in decades.

“We want to build a country of unity with everyone on board,” Jamaat leader Rahman said in his closing campaign speech. “It will be a country where nobody gets the driving seat because of their family background.”

Around 10 percent of Bangladesh’s population are non-Muslim, most of them Hindu.

In his final address to the nation before voting, Yunus urged citizens to honour the “sacrifice” of the 2024 uprising and to put the “national interest above personal and party” agendas.

“Victory is part of democracy; defeat is also an inevitable part,” he said. “Please dedicate yourselves to building a new, just, and inclusive Bangladesh.”