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STORY: "I would like to extend my condolences, there are no other words to describe this feeling. I want to give you all moral support to be strong," the King said to relatives of the victims.

Grief-stricken relatives sobbed and clutched toys at a children's daycare centre on Friday, a day after a former policeman killed 34 people, most of them young children, in a knife and gun rampage that has horrified Thailand.

Government buildings flew flags at half mast to mourn victims - 23 of them children - of the carnage in Uthai Sawan, a town 310 miles northeast of Bangkok, the capital of the largely Buddhist country.

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