The Brisbane tourist was shot on Monday by unknown assailants as she and her sister sat in a bar watching a World Cup match.

A statement from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today said that DFAT "regrets to confirm Pam Fitzpatrick passed away on the 21st of June as a result of injuries sustained in a shooting incident on the 19th of June".

Consular officers in Bangkok were providing support to the Fitzpatrick family.

The Australian ambasador in Bangkok, William Patterson, has spoken with senior Thai police to register the Australian Government's strong interest in the investigation.

Ms Fitzpatrick is believed to have been the latest victim in a spate of shootings by drunken teenagers that has left five people dead this year, according to one report.

Thai police investigating the shooting told The CourierMail yesterday the shooting in the Thai tourist town of Kanchanaburi, 150km west of Bangkok, may have been a random act of violence committed by bored teenagers to show off.

After she was shot Ms Fitzpatrick fell into a coma and was placed on a lifesupport system.

Her father, Kevin Fitzpatrick, flew from Brisbane to Bangkok on Tuesday night. Ms Fitzpatrick's sister, Jenny, who was with her at the time of the shooting, and her brother, were also at her bedside.

"There is a bullet lodged in her spinal column," Mr Fitzpatrick said yesterday.

Thailand's national police chief ordered police in Kanchanaburi to leave no stone unturned in solving the case.

Yesterday, chief of the investigation in Kanchanaburi, Police Colonel Vorapat Vadhanavisala, said all 10 officers in the area had been assigned to the case and reinforcements were expected to arrive this week. He said police had several leads they were pursuing.

Kanchanaburi has been rocked this year by a series of driveby shootings on local bars. Since January more than 10 bars have been shot up, and five people have died, all of them Thai, the colonel told the Courier Mail.

"The majority of the attacks are done by teenagers," he said. "These teenagers get loaded with alcohol and then think it is fun to go around and shoot people. They do it to show off."

However, police have not ruled out the possibility that the attack may have been organised by a competitor to scare customers away from the bar Ms Fitzpatrick was drinking at.

"A person can be hired to shoot up a bar for the price of a drink in Kanchanaburi," the colonel said. "It is not unusual."

Jim Pollard

The Nation