There are a LOT more shootings in Thailand that never make it to any statistic counter. I've heard gunshots regularly in some areas of Bangkok. It isn't surprising at all to hear. I've only witnessed one such incident directly and I don't believe it ever got reported. (Never have heard a gunshot in the US, other than on shooting ranges or hunting) The blood didn't even get cleaned up for many hours, by locals who just wanted their sidewalk clean. I never even saw a policeman attend the scene of the shooting in the 40 minutes or so that I was there.
If Thais were allowed to have guns like people in the US... the carnage would be unbelievable! You'd have every Somchai who got mad at some neighbor or at a driver they didn't like, going down to the sports shop and buying a gun and shooting up the place in his fit of rage.
In the US, in 2024, deaths by gun were 13 deaths per 100,000 people.
In Thailand, in 2024, deaths by gun were 5.3 per 100,000 people.
Gun ownership in the US is about 8X that of Thailand. Can you imagine how insane this place would be with the same availability and ownership levels!? In that sense, maybe it could actually be impressive that gun deaths in the US aren't higher? And with 55-60% of gun deaths in the US being suicides compared with 20-25% in Thailand.... makes it even more incredible. Adjusted, this brings it to: U.S.: ~5.2 non-suicide gun deaths per 100,000. Thailand: ~4.1 non-suicide gun deaths per 100,000. I know stats don't exactly work like the following... but humor me - multiply that death rate by the gun ownership rates to match that of the US and you'd have: U.S.: ~5.2 non-suicide gun deaths per 100,000. Thailand: ~32.8 non-suicide gun deaths per 100,000. Kinda puts a different light on it than I'd ever thought of before, even though I'd already thought of Thailand as having a much higher tendency toward violence than most people seem to think. Of course, that's only anecdotal from personal experience. But digging into the reality of things often will show a different picture than that which is bandied about, like how Thailand is so peaceful and wonderful and full of smiles and the US is a horrific place that you'll likely get shot or experience a shooting. Both polar opposites of what I've experiences in decades of living in both places. But of course, there will always be those US haters commenting their nonsense on here about how horrible the US is and how life in Thailand is so chill because Thais are so kind, peaceable, and docile. lol To each their own.