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Police spokesman Archayon Kraithong told reporters the situation was under control at the shopping centre, which sells high-end fashions and luxury cars, and includes a cinema, an aquarium and the five-star Siam Kempinski hotel.
Yutthana Sretthanan, director of Bangkok’s Emergency Medical Centre said three people were dead and six were hurt.
The incident prompted authorities to shut access to the nearby Siam elevated train stop, preventing commuters from exiting the transit station, as the evening rush hour began and intense rain pounded the city, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene.
First responders could be seen entering the shopping centre as sirens wailed outside.
Police spokesman Archayon Kraithong said police officers in the area had been ordered to secure the scene.
Witnesses said crowds of people left the building, one of several shopping centres in the area popular with tourists and well-heeled Thais alike.
Chinese tourist Liu Shiying told the AP that she saw people running and saying someone had opened fire.
She said she heard gunshots and an alarm ringing out and, that the lights in the shopping centre went out.
“We’re temporarily hiding. Who dares to go out?” she said while taking cover. She was later able to leave.
Multiple videos uploaded to social media showed people running out of the building and a person dressed in a baseball cap, dark shirt and camouflage pants holding a handgun.
Video posted later showed what appeared to be the shooter surrendering to police.
Shopping centre officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Gun violence is not uncommon in Thailand, though mass shootings are rare.
In 2020, a disgruntled soldier opened fire in and around a mall in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, killing 29 people and holding off security forces for some 16 hours before eventually being killed by them
