A former Thai lawmaker allegedly shot dead a local official on Monday, just days after Thailand was rocked by a deadly school shooting.

If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know:

• Chalong Reawraeng, a former lawmaker in Nonthaburi province, has been arrested after he allegedly shot dead a former police officer
• The victim, Thongchai Yenprasert, was a prominent figure in local politics and the long-serving president of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation
• Chalong dialled into a YouTube livestream to confess shortly after the shooting - causing visible shock to the YouTuber hosting the stream
• In another surreal development, Chalong gave a press conference from the police station after he was arrested, in which he said he had approached the victim for money, and also apologised for his actions
• The incident comes just days after another deadly shooting in the same province, when eight people were killed after a teenage boy opened fire at his home and school, before taking his own life
• Today's shooting will likely spur further debate about Thailand's gun laws, which authorities have vowed to tighten after the recent school shooting

We're closing our live coverage now, but you can read the full story here.

Social media users are raising questions about why Chalong, the alleged shooter, was allowed to give a press conference at the police station, during which he was seen without handcuffs and smoking a cigarette.

Police say Chalong was not given special privileges, but had requested for a press conference to apologise to the victim's family, local media outlet Thairath reported.

Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has said that legal action would be taken against Chalong without exception, local media reported.

Thanyarat Doksone
Producer, BBC News Bangkok

Image source, YouTube/แนวหน้าออนไลน์

We've trawled through the recording of Anchalee Paireerak's YouTube programme and her livestreamed phone conversation with Chalong, during which he confessed to shooting Thongchai.

"Please wait… It’s Brother Chalong Reawraeng," Anchalee says as she answers a call on her mobile phone. Chalong cannot be heard in the first part of the conversation.

"Brother Chalong Reawraeng, wait up - I’ll call you back, I’m on air" Anchalee says. "What’s the big story? What? What did you say? Why did you shoot him? And where are you? You shot him just now? And did he die? Did he die? You shot him in the head?

"Now where are you going? You need to wait there for the cops. Don’t go anywhere."

Anchalee's team eventually puts Chalong on loudspeaker, and he is heard saying that Thongchai owes him some money for a favour.

"Just calm down, sit down and we can talk.," Anchalee says.

"Then he didn’t take responsibility," Chalong continues. "He tried to escape to his car, so I had to follow him."

Later, Chalong can later be heard saying "The cops are here" - to which Anchalee replies "You’re with the cops now. Put your gun down and don’t shoot anyone else, okay?"

"Yes, I gave it to them," Chalong says.

"Then sit down," Anchalee responds. "Let’s hang up now, all right?"

Image source, Thongchai Yenprasert / Facebook

Thongchai Yenprasert, 71, was a former police officer and prominent local leader in Nonthaburi province.

He died on Monday afternoon, hours after being allegedly shot by former lawmaker Chalong Reawraeng over what appears to be a personal dispute.

Thongchai joined the police force in 1984, and rose to become a prominent figure in Nonthaburi's political scene.

For more than two decades he served as president of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) - a role he held until his death today.

In 2020 he secured a fourth term as the leader of the PAO despite a challenge by Chalong Reawraeng, the friend who allegedly shot him dead, Thai PBS reported.

Thongchai died in the hospital at 14:36 local time (07:36 GMT) after being shot several times, including in the neck.

As we reported earlier, the alleged shooter, Chalong Reawraeng, is a former MP for Nonthaburi, where today's incident took place.

He has apologised to his former constituents for shooting Thongchai Yenprasert, saying he did not intend to do that to someone who he considers a "good friend".

He said Thongchai's driver pulled his gun and pointed it at him, prompting him to fire.

Speaking at a press conference from the police station where he is being held, Chalong said that Thongchai was angry at him, but he did not elaborate on the reason.

Image source, Facebook

Thongchai Yenprasert, the former police officer who leads the provincial administrative organisation, has died in hospital.

Chalong Reawraeng, the alleged shooter and a former lawmaker, had shot Thongchai several times, including in the neck.

Thanyarat Doksone
Producer, BBC News Bangkok

We have more lines from Chalong's press conference earlier at the police station, where he sought to explain his motive for shooting Thongchai.

"I can’t believe I’m in this position, sitting here. Throughout my life, I had never to come to a police station," Chalong said.

“Today I went to talk to my friend up in [his office]. We spoke and he didn’t listen to me."

Chalong said he had helped when Thongchai was in the real estate business and didn't have enough money. He also told reporters he had been sick since 2011 and was receiving treatment for polycythemia, a blood disorder related to the overproduction of red blood cells.

He spent so much on treatment that he had to approach Thongchai for financial help, Chalong said.

As he tells it, things escalated from there.

"He then pushed me, saying 'I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to talk'," Chalong recounted. "Then he started walking. Then I followed him to his car."

Gavin Butler
Live editor

Image source, EPA

This latest shooting will further spur debate about gun control in Thailand, which has the highest rate of gun ownership in Southeast Asia by a wide margin.

In the wake of Friday's school shooting, Thai Premier Anutin Charnvirakul ordered tougher enforcement against people carrying guns in public and said police would set up checkpoints as part of a crackdown.

Other measures would include tightening controls on the possession, carrying and use of firearms.

"No one has the right to carry a firearm, especially in a public place," Anutin said. Claiming that a weapon was for self-defence was no justification, he added.

There is an estimated 10.3 million firearms in civilian possession in Thailand, according to a 2017 estimate by the Small Arms Survey, which equates to around 15 guns per 100 residents.

Thanyarat Doksone
Reporting from Bangkok

Nonthaburi's provincial governor has just spoken to Thai reporters and confirmed that Thongchai Yenprasert and his driver were the two people injured in the shooting.

Thongchai was hit by several bullets, one of which struck his neck, and remains in a "severe" condition, Governor Chettha Mosikarat said.

"He still has pulse and has been sent in for an operation because the bullet hit his neck and cut through major veins," Chettha explained. "The doctors decided to perform an operation to stitch the damaged veins."

Thongchai's driver was hit in the arm and the hand, and is also undergoing surgery.

Chettha noted that Chalong - the alleged shooter - and Thongchai have known each other for a long time, but he was not aware of any conflict between the two men.

Image source, Reuters

Thanyarat Doksone
Producer, BBC News Bangkok

"I’d like to apologise to the people of Nonthaburi who loved the PAO chief, or his family, or any other people," Chalong said in further comments to reporters from the police station.

"I didn’t intend to do anything, because he’s a good friend of mine, but he didn’t want to talk to me."

"My family will be in deep sorrow. My daughter will surely be heartbroken," he added. "They wouldn’t think this is something I would have done."

Thanyarat Doksone
Producer, BBC News Bangkok

Chalong, the alleged shooter, has just been allowed to given a press conference from the police station where he is being held.

He told reporters that Thongchai was "angry" with him.

"I told him to take responsibility on this. If you don’t have [the money] now, you can pay in instalments to my children... I told him I’m in trouble," he explained.

"He then pushed me, saying 'I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to talk.'"

Chalong said he then followed Thongchai towards his car.

"When I pulled the gun out, I didn’t intend to shoot him. But then [Thongchai's driver] pulled his gun out and pointed it at me, so I fired."

We've reviewed footage of the shooting and now see that the attack happened outside the provincial office's building, rather than inside as reports previously indicated.

Chalong is seen pointing the gun at someone through the window of a black car.

A separate clip shared by local media outlet Thairath shows Chalong tucking the gun into his pocket as he walks away from the scene.

Monday's shooting comes just three days after a 14-year-old boy went on a shooting rampage at home and in school, also in the Nonthaburi province near Thailand's capital Bangkok.

The teen killed his grandparents at home before opening fire at teachers and students in school, then turning the gun on himself.

The two cases are not connected.

Authorities said on Sunday that the teen shooter's consumption of violent social media content, anxiety over his studies and family issues, and conflict with friends might have fuelled his actions.

In this case, the MP, Chalong, had seemed to indicate that he carried out the shooting due to a personal grudge against the former officer.

Chalong declared that he had carried out the attack in a phone call to a well-known political commentator, who was livestreaming on YouTube at the time.

The presenter, former journalist Anchalee Paireerak, was filmed picking up a call midway through her programme.

"I'll call you back... Oh, something big [happened]? Go ahead, what's that?" she says.

Viewers cannot hear what the caller says next, but Anchalee is seen reacting in shock.

"Did he die? Did he die? You shot him in the head? You need to wait there for the cops," she says. "Don't go anywhere."

Chalong's motives remain unknown, with police investigations ongoing. The former MP reportedly told journalists while being apprehended that he was upset Thongchai did not accede to a favour he requested.

The alleged shooter Chalong Reawraeng served as MP for three terms, most recently under the Pheu Thai party.

The 71-year-old earned the title of a "cobra" – a Thai reference to a politician who goes against party lines – in 1997 when he voted for a prime ministerial candidate from another party. He ran for office in the latest election under the ruling Bhumjaithai party but failed to win a seat.

The victim, Thongchai Yenprasert, is a former police officer who currently serves as the president of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation.

The 71-year-old joined the police force in 1984 and served as the deputy superintendent and superintendent of several district police stations in Nonthaburi, on the outskirts of Bangkok.

He was appointed chief of the provincial body in 2004.

Image source, Thongchai Yenprasert's Facebook page

A former Thai MP shot a local government official on Monday, then dialled into a YouTube show to inform presenters of what he'd done.

Chalong Reawraeng, a former lawmaker for the province of Nonthaburi, has been arrested, according to police. His victim, Thongchai Yenprasert, is the president of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation.

Thongchai has been hospitalised along with his driver, who was also shot. Several reports say they are "seriously injured".

The incident comes just a few days after another shooting in the same province, when a teenage boy killed seven people at his home and school, then killed himself, in Thailand's worst mass shooting since 2022.

There does not appear to be any link between the two attacks.

We'll bring you the latest updates as we get them.