Thai Gun Laws

[guido]

Can anyone here please tell me what the legal requirements are for a Thai to own a handgun.Also,what are the penaltys for violating the legal requirements,for Thai's that is.I presume many Thai's hold weapons illegally is this true?

[maerim]

I presume many Thai's hold weapons illegally is this true?

I know that there is one less now, see bang bang your dead.

[KevinN]

GUIDO, altho you will get much info from the most intellectual post preceding mine, I will tell you my own experience.

I have tried to find out about gun ownership laws in Thailand for 3 years and have been able to find nothing by the Thai gov't in print.

I have talked to a lot of people and even policemen and some said that I had to go to AMPHUR and file an app.with them and that it would be sent to the police for approval,and some have said,"no way can you own a gun of any kind" and a policeman said that gun ownership has to be approved by the police and very few people ever get the OK and it is impossible for a farang to even own an air gun. so no need to waste a lot of peoples time with filing an app.

So from what I have found out,very hard for a Thai and impossible for a farang.

But as you know,,When guns are outlawed,,only outlaws will have guns..

[ka12345]

A couple of years ago, all you needed to do was join a gun club for a while and then apply at the amphur. To get approved you needed a reason such as a car or house that you want to protect. There was also some requirement that you had to have been in the same tabien baan for 6 months or something like that. Provided that you are a Thai citizen, a foreigner can not own a gun under any circumstances.

But I think the rules are more strict now.

[guido]

i have lived in los and luv it,presently i only vacation.That said i confess to some insecurity living there when only the potential bad guys get a gun...but thats me i guess.

[Pepe']

My understanding is that there are few Thai houses without guns in them.

When my wife first came to the US I showed her the gun in the night table.

I said this is for your protection if I'm not around.

She readily took it opened the chambers and said, " Oh 357 Ruger, stainless steel, nice but can you put 38's in it? 357 is too strong for me..."

She also loves martial arts movies.

[KevinN]

PEPE; she pobly right and 38 special hydro shocks are about as good as you can get, but I do like full load .357s,stop a deer dead in the tracks. A guy I know stole a box of my hand rolled .357s loaded in 38 cases one time and shot them in a cheap "chiefs special" that I had traded him for an old Evenrude sled, Used to be my wifes purse gun and I had bought her a S&W 66 S/S 3 in. Wasn't much of a snowmobile,but wasnt much of a gun either,and he told me that the gun wasnt any good as the frame was warped,but didn't admit to the theft. But I left them on the corner of my loading bench where he could get em in his pocket as I knew he was a thief,might have taught him a lesson.

[Pepe']

kevin,

Funny you should say that. .38 hydro shocks are what I keep in that gun now.

Easy to handle, deadly for intruders and don't have to worry about a stray round going through a wall, or two...

[mag4570]

My personal favorite for carry concealed is a 9mm w/ 3in barrel mfg by imi (Israeli military industries) Rather compact w/13 RD clip & one in barrel extremely accurate @ 25 yds, As Kevin knows I also have a 5 shot revolver 4570 which stands for 45 cal w/70 grains of powder mfg by magnum research w/ 10 in barrel & 4 pwr scope, The cylinder is 3 in long to accommodate the long cartridge & is sighted in at 100 yds & can group 3 shots in a 3in circle, Extremely accurate w/ enough impact pwr to take the heaviest game, And yes it takes two hands to handle it when fired, Quite a blast.

BTW Kevin good story on allowing him to ruin & posible take his hand off.

[stroll]

i have lived in los and luv it,presently i only vacation.That said i confess to some insecurity living there when only the potential bad guys get a gun...but thats me i guess.

It has been established here that foreigner are not allowed to have guns in Thailand, this is not America.

You could always buy one in the black market, but then owning and using it would be what it should be: ILLEGAL

Leave it to trained law enforcement officers to handle guns.

[splitlid]

im guessing that Kevin, Pepe and mag are from the good old US of A.

any of you guys ever had the need to use the gun in self defence?

ie. someone breaking into your home?

and if so did "ya waste the mutha?"

[Maejo Man]

It has been established here that foreigner are not allowed to have guns in Thailand, this is not America.

You could always buy one in the black market, but then owning and using it would be what it should be: ILLEGAL

Several points here, yes you could certainly buy one easily enought on the black market (60K plus for a good one) and keep it for "protection" However, once used in anger, the comensurate jail term would be the same as getting shot in the first place, so why waste the money. The pure possession of such a firearm, will guarantee a lengthy stay at his majesty's pleasure, and deportation, if the prison term is survived.

The other aspect is the fact that you might unknowingly purchase a military issue pistol such as a Colt model 1911A which could well be stamped "property of US government" or even overstamped with local military ID or Lao or Chicom markings. If this was the case, you would immediately fall into the category of being "in possession of weapons of war" (All military firearms are classified thus) This carries a mandatory 25 years jail!!

Advice.............simply DON'T BUY ONE!

[Tornado]

im guessing that Kevin, Pepe and mag are from the good old US of A.

any of you guys ever had the need to use the gun in self defence?

ie. someone breaking into your home?

and if so did "ya waste the mutha?"

yes, spot on!

I understand the local government guys i.e. Pooyai and Kamnaan are also not allowed to carry a gun now as this law was passed not that long ago.

Guns are very easy to buy here, a friend of mine (farang), bought a 44 off of the local cop for 40,000 baht. Silly idea I must say!

[splitlid]

i have lived in los and luv it,presently i only vacation.That said i confess to some insecurity living there when only the potential bad guys get a gun...but thats me i guess.

maybe a big fork off dog, baseball bat under the bed, and an alarm system, would be better than a gun!

but are you talking ablout home security or talking about carrying a gun around with you?

if so then maybe your in the business where buying a gun illegally dosnt matter to you so much!!!

[KevinN]

Maejo; I have had a number of 1911A1 ACP's and even most I had in the military were not stamped as gov't property,altho some were,and have owned them up to the present model.and alot of them were sold as surplus.

splitlid;

Only one time,but didn't do any damage to him,cept he pobly shit his pants, the first was a warning that the people inside were armed and one thru the upper part of the door was sufficent to make him change his mind about entering, Just because people own guns is not a sign that they want to kill anyone,some of us enjoy shooting and like the machinery called firearms, was for years a gunsmith,mostly part time and always had a gun under construction, as a hobby it was self supporting.

I enjoy a day on the bench and I shoot anything from a 22 rimfire mdl.52 win. bull gun to an 8MM Rem. Mag. mdl.700 BDL REM. from 50 to 500 Meters.My favorite tho is a Ruger 1V Bull Barrel 22/250 with a 24X unertl I can hit a bottle cap at 300 meters 50% of the time. But I do not like shooting people,even when they were shooting at me,but life's a bitch.Why do some folks love the machinery called automobiles or motorcycles,work on em and love em,but think that everyone that loves the action and machinery of firearms is a nut?? I only own 2 guns that have killed someone that I know of,one was bought by my father in the late 30s,an indian was drunk and shot himself,and the other was a gift to him from my great aunt,her husband had internal cancer and could no longer stand the pain and shot himself in the mouth.

[weary]

one was bought by my father in the late 30s,an indian was drunk and shot himself,and the other was a gift to him from my great aunt,her husband had internal cancer and could no longer stand the pain and shot himself in the mouth.

Well, that proves the saying "Never give a gun to a dead Indian."

[stroll]

Maejo; I have had a number of 1911A1 ACP's and even most I had in the military were not stamped as gov't property,altho some were,and have owned them up to the present model.and alot of them were sold as surplus.

splitlid;

Only one time,but didn't do any damage to him,cept he pobly shit his pants, the first was a warning that the people inside were armed and one thru the upper part of the door was sufficent to make him change his mind about entering, Just because people own guns is not a sign that they want to kill anyone,some of us enjoy shooting and like the machinery called firearms, was for years a gunsmith,mostly part time and always had a gun under construction, as a hobby it was self supporting.

I enjoy a day on the bench and I shoot anything from a 22 rimfire mdl.52 win. bull gun to an 8MM Rem. Mag. mdl.700 BDL REM. from 50 to 500 Meters.My favorite tho is a Ruger 1V Bull Barrel 22/250 with a 24X unertl I can hit a bottle cap at 300 meters 50% of the time. But I do not like shooting people,even when they were shooting at me,but life's a bitch.Why do some folks love the machinery called automobiles or motorcycles,work on em and love em,but think that everyone that loves the action and machinery of firearms is a nut?? I only own 2 guns that have killed someone that I know of,one was bought by my father in the late 30s,an indian was drunk and shot himself,and the other was a gift to him from my great aunt,her husband had internal cancer and could no longer stand the pain and shot himself in the mouth.

O.k., I understand where you are coming from. But don't you think ownership should be made very difficult and closely monitored?

I have over the past decades observed countries, including the most liberal ones, tighten up their laws, not because junkies and thugs advise them to do so, but out of necessity postulated by past incidences, the abuse rate is simply too huge.

[p_brownstone]

When I first came to Thailand in 1971, my job involved a lot of up-country travel during which I would often be carrying quite large sums of money, so my Company arranged for me to purchase a pistol; with all the correct paperwork to enable me to carry it too.

First problem was that legally all one could purchase was either a .22 Magnum or a .32 - rather ridiculous when most up-country villagers had access to anything up to AK 47's and RPG's - the Vietnam war was still going on of course.

Anyway - I was 25 and felt rather James Bondish with my little weapon and took it up-country on my next trip.

I was staying in a Hotel in Takli - then a US Air Force base - happily sleeping in my room one night when I heard the door open quietly. Imagining I was about to be robbed I quickly sat up in bed holding my .32 at the ready. Unfortunately it was just a little BG who obviously had a deal with the desk clerk who had told her a young Farang was sleeping alone in Room XXX and might want company. She came 'round the corner of the bathroom, saw me sitting in bed with the gun pointing at her, squeaked in alarm and ran out. (Obviously I was holding the wrong sort of gun!)

Feeling a little disappointed I put the thing away and went back to sleep.

About 15 minutes later the door opened again - a LOT more forcefully this time - and 2 MP's stormed into the room.

After a fair amount of chaos I finally managed to explain to them that I was not, as they assumed, a US Serviceman off base with a gun.

I later realised that if I had been a little quicker and had actually been holding the gun when they entered I could easily have been seriously injured.

I never bothered to take the thing up-country again.

[maerim]

I never bothered to take the thing up-country again.

A quick question, do you still have it?

[Jeepz]

KevinN~

Ah, the sweet single shot Ruger rifle. Wonderful piece of work that. Remington 700 is a pretty good rifle too, but a bolt action, so not quite as interesting to me as a good single shot.

Generally, I always recommend a revolver for self defense work. A well made revolver is reliable, easy to check, doesn't require jacking a round like a semi-auto (unless you carry the semi-auto with one chambered), no safety to remember, magazine catch to hit under stress and drop your ammo on the floor. You would be amazed what can go wrong when the adrenaline starts pumping.

If you don't shoot regularly and practice with your weapon, don't bother with a semi-auto. I don't care how "kewl" they look, how many rounds they hold, or what movie you saw someone waving it around in. Semi-auto's need attention, have magazine feed problems, need to have the magazines swapped out occasionally (due to spring fatigue), and are subject to a long list of various woes.

Stroll~

Of course you shouldn't own a gun. Don't think about it. Don't consider if anyone else owns one either. I think idiots and felons shouldn't own firearms. 'Nuff said.

Jeepz

[stroll]

So you are in favor of strict laws then, Jeepz?

You are right, I don't want to own a gun, I am one of these liberal idiots who choose to live with the risk of being killed, rather than endangering the life of innocents. I mean it exactly as I say.

[maerim]

Personally, I prefer for real street cred anyway the 120mm armour piercing shell with the detachable sabot, whoo hoo you wanna see the mess they make when they set up shock waves and splinter the insides of a tank, yeah.

Of course I only use these on high days and holidays for general purpose work you know shopping and days out with the family I tend to use semi automatic stuff and as for back up the odd RPG, nobody messes with me.

[stroll]

You are fast approaching 1000 posts, Maerim!

[maerim]

You are fast approaching 1000 posts, Maerim!

With any luck the gun lobby just might let me.

[p_brownstone]

I never bothered to take the thing up-country again.

A quick question, do you still have it?

No.

Took the thing apart 20 or so years ago and discarded sections in diverse places.

I don't like guns in the house, but would hate the thing to fall into the wrong hands - of course a .32 can't start WW III but it can certainly change several lives for the worse.

On second thoughts of course - WW I was provoked by little more than a .32 ........

[monty]

Story of P_Brownstone is still correct today. Farang friend of mine works for a big diamond company and in his position is required to carry large amounts of the precious litte stones. His employer arranged a handgun and all the proper paperwork enabling him to legally carry a concealed and loaded weapon.

There are also strict guideluines for importing your personal weapons into Thailand, requiring large amounts of paperwork, but certainly possible for e.g. sporting events including shooting disciplines(in which coincidently Thailand has a couple of remarkable good marksmen, scoring high points in asian competitions!).

[Tornado]

one was bought by my father in the late 30s,an indian was drunk and shot himself,and the other was a gift to him from my great aunt,her husband had internal cancer and could no longer stand the pain and shot himself in the mouth.

Well, that proves the saying "Never give a gun to a dead Indian."

funny!

[Maejo Man]

With any luck the gun lobby just might let me.

The gun lobby is a wonderful institution, but has cost the gun owners dearly.

Below are three semi automatics from my collection of over three hundred, which I was forced to part with because of a change in the ownership laws.

I lost a small fortune!

See if you can identify the one on the right Maerim

These are the sort of weapons that will get you serious time in Thailand for having in your possession.

[KevinN]

You are fast approaching 1000 posts, Maerim!

I really think thats cool,just think how much wisdom and knowledge he has imparted on the folks in this forum.

Now if he could just get his IQ up into the double digits.

[maerim]

See if you can identify the one on the right Maerim

Looks very much like some sort of rifle, am I right?

Do I win a prize.

I have a question for you why on earth do you want three hundred guns ?

One is too many for most people including me.