A comprehensive resource for safe and responsible laser use

Thailand: Protester killed after aiming laser pointer at troops

An anti-government protester in Bangkok was shot and killed after shining a laser pointer at government troops. An eyewitness said “The man was two yards in front of me and took out a laser pointer and started beaming it at the soldiers. I thought it was a crazy thing to do, then he was hit. I felt debris, bits of him hitting me. He went down straight away. There was a bullet exit wound at the back of his head.”

From The Daily Mail online. Caution: graphic photograph of the dead protester.

========


Commentary from LaserPointerSafety.com: The soldier(s) most likely fired either due to the laser pointer provocation, or due to fearing that a weapon with a laser gunsight was being used. The laser pointer light could not harm the troops except possibly at close range if shone into the eyes. Of course, in a protest/street battle situation, soldiers are not going to know or care about the eye safety characteristics of laser pointers.

This is reminiscent of a
2005 case in Florida, where a man aimed a laser pointer at deputies and was shot and killed. It is unfortunate but understandable that those with weapons who are having a laser aimed at them may “shoot first and ask questions later.”