'Hurry up kids, let’s go!': How one man sheltered 60 children as Thai nursery massacre unfolded close by

UTHAI SAWAN, Thailand: Monchai Pipatvilaikul never thought that the manicured stone garden at his house would one day become a playground for 60 schoolchildren, let alone their hiding place from an armed criminal.

But when he heard about a cold-blooded massacre at a local nursery nearby on Thursday (Oct 6), everything changed.

The armed assailant had fled the scene and was still at large at the time. The situation deeply worried Monchai, who feared the attacker might go on to target a primary school just a few kilometres from the nursery.

With the school also in close proximity to the perpetrator’s house, the students in class that day could be in danger.

“I rang the director of Ban Non Sawat Nong Paibool School and he told me what I’d heard was true. He also said there were students stuck inside the school. They were in classrooms with their teachers,” Monchai told CNA.

“So, I talked to my wife about rescuing them.”

Monchai owns a stone mill in the sub-district of Uthai Sawan, Nong Bua Lamphu, where the massacre took place. 

The assailant, later identified as a former policeman, murdered dozens of people at the nursery and surrounding areas. Most of them were young children sleeping inside the childcare centre when he broke in with weapons and went on a killing spree.

The youngest victim was three years old.

“It wasn’t clear at that time what was happening, so I thought while the situation was still volatile, the (primary school) students should come to my place as it would definitely be safe for them,” said Monchai.

Together with his wife and two employees, he rushed to the school in two four-wheel drives. They chose a route largely unknown even among locals, that leads to the back of the school but with terrain that is rough and difficult to navigate.

“There are two routes to the school. One is rough and requires a four-wheel drive. The other one is actually fine too but there were chances that we would run into the perpetrator," Monchai explained.

"So, I chose the back route, which is rough and requires a four-wheel drive, because I know for sure how to manage that.”

When they arrived at the school, the students were still hiding. One of the teachers told CNA there were about 60 children and ten teachers lying low in four rooms on the premises.

All the doors and windows were shut, and the students told to remain quiet to make it seem like nobody was at the school. 

“We took the children to hide in different rooms because we had heard the perpetrator was coming this way, and we were afraid he would come into the school,” said Teeramet Sewana, a teacher who had been working at Ban Non Sawat Nong Paibool School for only six months.

When the 26-year-old heard about the massacre, he was in a cooking class with his students, making snacks. Examinations were already over and the children were just a day away from a school break.

“I told the children to stay quiet, closed all the windows and locked the door,” he told CNA.

They had been hiding in fear for nearly an hour, when someone knocked at the door.

It was Monchai, who recounted that nobody made any noise or opened the door until a school employee informed those hiding inside that they could come out. 

“I told the kids we were going on a school excursion and that they should hurry,” he said. “'Hurry up, kids! Let’s go!’”

The evacuation took place quickly, with teachers and students transported to Monchai’s house in two trips. During this time, terrified parents were calling the teachers to make sure their children were safe.

As soon as all the students and teachers were inside his house, Monchai closed the gate and ordered several male employees to guard the place.

“The kids were brought to sit in the pavilion. They got to use the restroom, then ran and played in the garden,” said the stone mill owner. “I also played music for them.”

The students and teachers stayed at his place for about two hours - until police confirmed that the perpetrator had shot himself to death. 

A total of 36 people - 24 children and 12 adults - were killed and ten injured in the most atrocious terror attack Thailand has witnessed in recent history.

The students from Ban Non Sawat Nong Paibool School, physically close to the peril, returned safely to their families on Thursday evening.

Yet the tragedy that befell a usually peaceful community has undoubtedly shaken its residents - and an entire nation - to the core.