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Thai government buildings have flown flags at half mast to mourn the death of more than 30 people, including 23 children, after a former policeman burst into a daycare centre in a rampage that left the nation shocked.

Most of the children who died at the daycare centre in Uthai Sawan, a town 500 kilometres northeast of Bangkok, on Thursday were stabbed to death, police said, marking one of the worst child death tolls in a massacre by a single killer in recent history.

Police identified the attacker as a former member of the force who was discharged over drug allegations and who was facing trial on a drugs charge. After the attack, he went home and shot dead his wife and child before turning his weapon on himself.

The age range of children at the daycare centre ranged from two to five years, a local official said.

"It's a scene that nobody wants to see. From the first step when I went in, it felt harrowing," Piyalak Kingkaew, an emergency worker heading the first responder team, told Reuters.

"We've been through it before, but this incident is most harrowing because they are little kids."

The former policeman had been in court earlier in the day and had then gone to the daycare centre to collect his child, police spokesperson Paisal Luesomboon told broadcaster ThaiPBS.

When he did not find his child there, he began the killing spree, Paisal said. "He started shooting, slashing, killing children," Paisal said.

Late on Thursday, a Reuters photographer saw the body of the shooter, Panya Khamrapm, being moved in a bodybag from a van to a police station in the province.

"I don't know (why he did this), but he was under a lot of pressure," Panya's mother told Nation TV, citing debt the former policeman had clocked up and his drug taking.

Photographs taken at the daycare centre by the rescue team and shared with Reuters showed the tiny bodies of those killed laid out on blankets. Abandoned juice boxes were scattered across the floor.

"He was heading towards me and I begged him for mercy, I didn't know what to do," one distraught woman told ThaiPBS, fighting back tears.

"He didn't say anything, he shot at the door while the kids were sleeping," another woman said, becoming distraught.

About 30 children were at the facility - a pink, one-storey building surrounded by a lawn and small palm trees - when the attacker arrived. That was fewer than usual, as heavy rain had kept many people away, said district official Jidapa Boonsom.

The attacker forced his way into a locked room where the children were sleeping, Jidapa said.

Three boys and a girl who survived the attack were being treated in hospital, police said.

The massacre is among the worst involving children killed by one person. Anders Breivik killed 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a summer camp in Norway in 2011, while the death toll in other cases include 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut in 2012, 16 at Dunblane in Scotland in 1996 and 19 at a school in Uvalde, Texas, this year.

Gun laws are strict in Thailand, but ownership is high compared with some other countries in Southeast Asia. Illegal weapons, many brought in from strife-torn neighbouring countries, are common.

© RAW 2022

Crying and clutching toys, traumatised relatives have gathered at a child day care centre in Thailand where a former policeman had slain 34 people, most of them children, in a knife and gun rampage that horrified the nation.

Government buildings flew flags at half mast on Friday to mourn victims - 23 of them children - of the carnage in Uthai Sawan, a town 500km northeast of Bangkok, the capital of the largely Buddhist country.

After leaving the day care centre - a pink, one-storey building surrounded by a lawn and small palm trees - filled with dead, dying and wounded, the ex-officer went home and shot dead his wife and son before turning his weapon on himself.

Most of the children, aged between two and five years, were slashed to death, while adults were shot, police said in the aftermath of the worst child death tolls in a massacre by a single killer in recent history.

The aunt of a three-year old boy who died in the slaughter held a stuffed dog and a toy tractor in her lap as she recounted how she had rushed to the scene when the news first spread.

"I came and I saw two bodies in front of the school and I immediately knew that my kid was already dead," said Suwimon Sudfanpitak, 40, who had been looking after her nephew, Techin, while his parents worked in Bangkok.

Also among the dead, was Kritsana Sola, a chubby cheeked two-year-old who loved dinosaurs and football and was nicknamed "captain".

He had just got a new haircut and was proudly showing it off, said his aunt, Naliwan Duangket, 27.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha was due to visit the area on Friday. King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida were also due to meet victim's families, according to a local announcement.

Police identified the attacker as Panya Khamrap, 34, a former police sergeant who was discharged over drug allegations and who was facing trial on a drugs charge.

Panya had gone to the daycare centre to collect his child after attending court earlier in the day, police spokesperson Paisal Luesomboon told broadcaster ThaiPBS. When he did not find his child there, he began the killing spree.

"He started shooting, slashing, killing children," Paisal said.

Chakkraphat Wichitvaidya, a local police official, told Reuters autopsies showed the children had been slashed with a large knife, sometimes multiple times, and adults shot.

He said police were investigating the motive, while suspecting that Panya could have been triggered by stress.

"I don't know (why he did this), but he was under a lot of pressure," Panya's mother told Nation TV, citing debts her son had run up and his drug taking.

Photographs taken at the daycare centre by the rescue team and shared with Reuters showed the tiny bodies of those killed laid out on blankets. Abandoned juice boxes were scattered across the floor.

The attacker forced his way into a locked room where the children were sleeping. Three boys and a girl who survived the attack were being treated in hospital, police said.

There were about 30 children at the centre when the attack began, which was fewer than usual as heavy rain had kept many people away, said district official Jidapa Boonsom.

The massacre is among the worst involving children killed by one person.

The death toll in other cases include 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut in 2012, 16 at Dunblane in Scotland in 1996 and 19 at a school in Uvalde, Texas, this year.

Gun laws are strict in Thailand, but gun ownership is high compared with some Southeast Asian countries, and illegal weapons are common, with many brought in from strife-torn neighbours in the region.

© RAW 2022

Queensland's police union boss admits there's some "abhorrent" misogynistic and sexist behaviour within the force, but it only exists "in small pockets".

An inquiry into police responses to domestic violence has heard evidence this week that female police officers have been sexually assaulted, harassed, threatened and bullied.

It also heard that police officers have voiced misogynistic and racist views, and there's a pervasive fear within the force about speaking out.

Queensland Police Union of Employees president Ian Leavers says "there is some abhorrent behavior" but it only happens in "small pockets".

He says most police officers call out bad behaviour by their colleagues.

"What I do say is 98 per cent of the people that I represent are doing the right thing, each and every day," Mr Leavers told the inquiry on Friday.

"I do think it needs to be called out, it needs to be addressed, but we need to dive deeper as to why it is occurring, and what can be done as we move into the future."

Mr Leavers also revealed that a female officer who was "very close" to him had been subjected to abusive behaviour by a colleague.

His voice wavered as he spoke about finding out what the male perpetrator said and did.

"At that time I wanted to throttle that person," Mr Leavers said.

"I'm a law-abiding person, I haven't done that, but it deeply affected me and others, so I'm acutely aware of what takes place.

"But I can say the majority of police are doing the right thing, but those people, that behavior, is not acceptable."

Counsel assisting Ruth O'Gorman asked him about his comments about former Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo's landmark domestic violence report, which called for the inquiry.

In December, Mr Leavers called it as "another woke, out-of-touch report" in a radio interview.

He defended his comments as being made in frustration at another potential inquiry when numerous past probes hadn't led to changes to the system that helped police reduce domestic violence rates.

Judge Deborah Richards asked Mr Leavers if he accepted such language potentially "reinforces views within the police service that are unhelpful".

"I can accept some of that, but I ask you to accept my frustration because I want to fix the broken system," he said.

"And my intention was never to denigrate women or any other person, that is not ... I want to fix a broken system which I hope does get fixed."

The inquiry continues.

© AAP 2022