Thailand's firearms controls have again come under scrutiny after two shootings in Nonthaburi this month exposed gaps involving illegal online sales, household access to registered guns and weapons bought through state welfare schemes.
The debate follows the shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School on August 7, 2026, and the shooting of the chairman of the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation three days later. Since 2020, Thailand has recorded at least 13 serious firearm incidents.
Small Arms Survey estimates that civilians in Thailand hold about 10.34 million guns: roughly 6.22 million registered weapons and more than four million unregistered firearms.
Online sales and modified blank guns
Unregistered guns are difficult to trace because there is no official record connecting a weapon to an owner or documenting later transfers.
Authorities are also concerned about blank-firing or imitation guns, commonly called blank guns, which are intended to fire blank ammunition but can sometimes be altered to fire live rounds.
That issue drew particular attention after the 2023 Siam Paragon shooting, when a 14-year-old used what police identified as a modified blank gun. Investigators examined the weapon's online purchase trail and arrested suspects allegedly linked to the sale of firearms and ammunition.
Following that case, the Interior Ministry announced action against illegal online gun sales and tighter restrictions on imitation weapons. The market now extends beyond face-to-face transactions to online sales, modification and onward distribution.
Registered weapons and household access
The Nonthaburi school shooting focused attention on weapons that are legally registered. Police said the handgun used by the 14-year-old was registered to his grandfather, but the boy was able to take the gun and ammunition from the family home.
With more than 6.2 million registered firearms, the issue is not only who receives a licence but how owners are monitored afterwards and whether guns and ammunition are safely stored.
The government had already tightened controls earlier in 2026 through closer scrutiny of purchase applications and continued monitoring of licence holders. After the school shooting, calls have grown for stronger storage checks, reviews of existing owners and measures preventing young people from accessing adults' firearms.
Welfare guns can be transferred after five years
A third concern is firearms sold at below-market prices under welfare programmes for civil servants and certain state officials, intended for personal and property protection and work-related duties.
Research by Assoc Prof Sumet Jarnpradub and colleagues, published in the Ramkhamhaeng Law Journal in 2025, identified legal issues involving such guns, ownership limits and the modification of imitation firearms. It cited cases where welfare guns were transferred or pawned contrary to the programme's original purpose.
The Kamnan Nok case was cited as an example, with a firearm found during the investigation identified as having originally been acquired through a welfare programme.
Interior Ministry letter No. MOI 0307.4/W1479 allows a welfare firearm to be transferred into another person's name after five years, while inheritance is treated separately.
Researchers said the provision allows guns initially supplied through a civil-service welfare scheme to enter general civilian ownership. They also raised the lack of a sufficiently clear cap on how many welfare firearms an individual official may buy.
Picture courtesy of The Nation
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15 August 2026
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