Thailand has the highest number of privately owned guns in ASEAN

[bamnutsak]

Edited the headline...

 

Thailand has the highest number of privately owned guns in ASEAN that we know about

 

 

[jvs]

5 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Good.  More guns in the hands of people creates a polite society.

 

No need for euros or aus people to take part in this discussion.

You must be from the US,there is just a small difference between being polite and being scared to be shot.

I am from Europe and i do take part,what are you going to do?

Shoot me?lol

 

[Bday Prang]

6 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

No its been like this for 20 years. Easy to get guns. Ive seen 6 shooters.

 

You need to talk to Thais more.

Plenty of guns in Thailand, not so sure how a Swedish institute has any Idea how many there are , Guesswork in my opinion. 

[Bday Prang]

22 minutes ago, MrMo said:

And they are just the registered guns !

 

If they were registered guns they would not need a swedish "survey" to "guess" how many , they would  just n look in the register and count them.  Nobody has a clue how many illegal guns are circulating, or perhaps more importantly, how many of them are in the hands of nutters like that guy

[firemans35]

I've heard people there in cambodia have been know to carry hand grenades.

[BKKBike09]

15 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

How would any research project,  establish the number of guns , was it a telephone survey? or online survey ? or were they over here knocking in doors and asking people?  Or maybe yet another "fine"  example of "mathematical modelling " " the graduate institute of international and development studies in geneva"  ???   sounds very impressive but how could they possibly know

Why was the  "survey" not conducted in partnership with the authorities here,  that way as the guns were found they could have been confiscated . Usual academic rubbish producing  worthless figures in my opinion

"Among the most common figures on gun ownership are personal estimates by knowledgeable observers. Their impres- sions are useful, but they can also differ dramatically. In some countries, such estimates have diverged by a factor of ten (Small Arms Survey, 2007, pp. 45, 54). Expert estimates can be much higher than other country totals, often double or triple other estimates, sometimes even higher. Expert estimates are important and should be considered seriously, but in our methodology, highly divergent expert estimates are usually discarded as outliers."

https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf

 

The figures for Thailand are 'expert estimates' (the survey also claims that China has 49 million unregistered private firearms ... ).

 

Regardless, however counted, Thailand has a large number of both legal and illegal held privately-owned firearms. The potential for mass shootings has been here for ages. The more pertinent questions are a) why do they not happen here more often (thank goodness) and b) are they now going to happen more frequently. 

 

 

 

[MrJ2U]

It's more a problem with psychosis from to much Yaba and Ice. 

 

News articles everyday of these addicts have "episodes" of irrational barbarity. 

 

No sain or rational pets is going to usually commit mass murder to children.

 

(Not counting Putin)

[zyphodb]

7 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

<deleted> - 1 in 7 Thais have a gun? 1 gun for every 7 Thais? Naturally some will have more than 1 gun. I would not take a chance. Never <deleted> off a Thai. You won't be the winner. Relax and enjoy life.

 

When you include illegal guns I should think that the number is closer to 1 in 3...

[worrab]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

One nutter kills the same number of people as say a daily dose of road deaths and they are all up in arms about guns, forgetting the mass murder on the roads each day. 

Let us remember that this was the murder of innocent sleeping children so there will be an uproar and rightly so!! No comparison whatsoever to road deaths!!

[Bday Prang]

9 minutes ago, BKKBike09 said:

"Among the most common figures on gun ownership are personal estimates by knowledgeable observers. Their impres- sions are useful, but they can also differ dramatically. In some countries, such estimates have diverged by a factor of ten (Small Arms Survey, 2007, pp. 45, 54). Expert estimates can be much higher than other country totals, often double or triple other estimates, sometimes even higher. Expert estimates are important and should be considered seriously, but in our methodology, highly divergent expert estimates are usually discarded as outliers."

https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf

 

The figures for Thailand are 'expert estimates' (the survey also claims that China has 49 million unregistered private firearms ... ).

 

Regardless, however counted, Thailand has a large number of both legal and illegal held privately-owned firearms. The potential for mass shootings has been here for ages. The more pertinent questions are a) why do they not happen here more often (thank goodness) and b) are they now going to happen more frequently. 

 

 

 

Estimates are just that.  whether by self appointed "experts" or anybody else.  There are many guns here but nothing like this has happened before, Perhaps a more pertinent question is how many nutters are out there that have the potential to commit similar atrocities?   Perhaps the "experts" could shed some light on that?    Thought not 

Its not the guns that kill people its the person pulling the trigger and it only took  one gun  (and one nutter) to cause the devastation that occurred  Always amazes me how many experts appear after the event, any event, for that matter

Will it happen again? unfortunately due to the high profile media coverage, I fear that possibility has now increased. Many nutters seek notoriety, and are prepared to die to achieve it, its not only islamists

[hotchilli]

These are legally held firearms... for what reason so many want to be armed and for what reason I don't know.

The question really should be how many illegal guns are owned?

 

[Bkk Brian]

2 hours ago, Tahoe said:

That is the first thing that came to my mind. There is no way that Thailand has more than the Philippines - at least per capita.

The same institute, SAS world rankings per capita

50: Thailand 15.1 per 100 people

142: Philippines 3.6 per 100 people

[scorecard]

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

More than the Philippines ???

 

I suspect this information is somewhat distorted and deliberately designed to trigger debate given the recent tragic events... 

Interesting.

 

I'm also aware of the massive numbers of people in the Philippines carrying handgunds. Once visited a big company oil refinery an hour out of Manila, 90% of the staff on duty carrying handguns. Like many situations in the Phils. gang warfare with shooting common and had happened many times, rounds bouncing off / penetrating processing/pressure vessels, pipes etc. Normal for the Phils.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, worrab said:

Let us remember that this was the murder of innocent sleeping children so there will be an uproar and rightly so!! No comparison whatsoever to road deaths!!

Deaths are deaths, and tragedies like this can be stopped for the most part and so can road deaths. If the government really cares they can do something about it.

[grandpa]

I can never understand why anybody needs a hand gun or any other gun come to that!  ALL hand guns should be banned from private ownership. UK did this after the Dunblane shooting with some success. Police should be issued with guns (if they need them) as opposed to having to buy their own, and should hand them back at the end of each shift.  As Thailand never enforces anything it is probably pointless making any new legislation.

[micmichd]

5 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

One nutter kills the same number of people as say a daily dose of road deaths and they are all up in arms about guns, forgetting the mass murder on the roads each day. 

But YOU never forget to derail an issue. 

[EdrigoSalvadore]

18 minutes ago, grandpa said:

I can never understand why anybody needs a hand gun or any other gun come to that!  ALL hand guns should be banned from private ownership. UK did this after the Dunblane shooting with some success. Police should be issued with guns (if they need them) as opposed to having to buy their own, and should hand them back at the end of each shift.  As Thailand never enforces anything it is probably pointless making any new legislation.

How else will you be able to keep your family safe? 

Edited October 8, 2022 by EdrigoSalvadore

[Ryan1982]

8 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Good.  More guns in the hands of people creates a polite society.

 

No need for euros or aus people to take part in this discussion.

Omg now the yanks also join the conversation. God bless Thailand and protect them from them Muricans

[Ryan1982]

8 minutes ago, EdrigoSalvadore said:

How else will you be able to keep your family safe? 

Buddy, you really believe a gun will keep you safe if someone really wants to come for you? You believe santa is real too?

[Guitar God]

9 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Good.  More guns in the hands of people creates a polite society.

 

No need for euros or aus people to take part in this discussion.

Yeah, the more guns, the safer the country. Look at the U.S. it’s the safest  country in the planet. 
No shootings there, just a bunch of polite people. 

[KanchanaburiGuy]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

Deaths are deaths, and tragedies like this can be stopped for the most part and so can road deaths. If the government really cares they can do something about it.

No, tragedies like this CAN'T be stopped.

 

This, and most cases like it, are individual people acting alone. There is simply no way to know beforehand when one single person is going to flip out and do something crazy. No amount of police training and preparedness could have prevented him from getting out of his truck, shooting someone outside the building, then bursting his way inside the Daycare Center and attacking a bunch of people.

 

And yes, it is easy to focus on guns; what to do about them, how to control, regulate, and/or eliminate them. But it's also lazy!

 

Remember............

 

MOST of the damage done on this day at the Daycare Center in Uthai Sawan.......... WAS DONE BY KNIFE!

 

In article after article, post after post, headline after headline......... I see this man being described as a "Gunman." ........... "Gunman! Gunman! Gunman!" And yes, he had guns and used them.

 

But, when you get down to it, what he REALLY was........... was a "Knife-Wielding Madman." THAT'S how he inflicted most of his damage!

 

So why all this talk about "Guns, Guns, GUNS?"

 

Why isn't all the talk about the weapon he MOSTLY used?

 

---------------

 

Sorry, but tragedies like occurred in Nong Bua Lamphu Province the other day cannot be "prevented."

 

It's one person acting quickly and unpredictably, mostly using a "weapon" that is completely beyond our ability to regulate......... a KNIFE! 

 

The simple fact is, this man flipped out. And in his flipped-out state of mind, he thought that killing all these children (and adults) was exactly the right thing to do! To him.......... in those moments of disconnect.......... it was exactly what he needed!

 

Is that sick? Is that crazy? Sure it is! But to him......... in that moment......... it wasn't crazy at all! It was what his mind was telling him he NEEDED to do!

 

--------------

 

But that's individual. Its all in his mind. And no amount of policing or training could have anticipated it or prevented it.

 

The only thing that could have prevented it.......... the ONLY THING.......... is a hero. A hero who happened to be in the right place at the right time............ and who was willing to risk his or her own life to stop him! Thats it! (And maybe that hero has a gun....... and maybe he doesn't. We've seen it happen both ways........ and we've seen it fail both ways!)

 

It's simply not possible for the police to be in all places at all times. And there literally would have been NO WAY for them to know beforehand that they needed to be in THAT place at THAT time!

 

Because..........

 

It was one man.......... acting alone...........doing the unpredictable [the unimaginable?]........... at a completely unpredictable time.

 

Sorry, but there simply is no "defense" for that!

 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by KanchanaburiGuy

[richard_smith237]

6 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

18 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

More than the Philippines ???

 

I suspect this information is somewhat distorted and deliberately designed to trigger debate given the recent tragic events... 

This figure comes from the SAS, which the article says is an independent research project, located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Why would an institute in Switzerland distort gun ownership figures in Thailand? I look forward to your 'conspiracy theory' explanation.

No conspiracy at all.... Just questioning the stats... how is the data collected ???

 

Who sourced this data? are they simply listing the numbers they were provided with? and who gave them this information? is it valid, how was the information collected... 

 

 

Having been both here and the Philippines knowing a lot of Thai friends and Philippine friends, having worked in both countries.... I would argue that there are more guns in the Philippines than in Thailand which is why this article surprised me.  

 

10 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

No its been like this for 20 years. Easy to get guns. Ive seen 6 shooters.

 

You need to talk to Thais more.

I have... And to Filipinos more.... thats why I would have expected to read that there are more guns per capita in the Philippines than in Thailand. 

 

 

[Burma Bill]

4 hours ago, Iron Tongue said:

I had always thought it was Cambodia.

For reference (Google):-

 

Equipping, possession, carrying, use, purchase, sale, trading, loan, transfer, rental, production, fabrication, repair, transportation, transit, import, export and stockpiling of weapons, explosives and ammunition of all its aspects by the civilian population are prohibited in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

 

I have lived here approaching 3 years and have never read about gun atrocities like those in Thailand.

 

[NoshowJones]

40 minutes ago, KanchanaburiGuy said:

No, tragedies like this CAN'T be stopped.

 

This, and most cases like it, are individual people acting alone. There is simply no way to know beforehand when one single person is going to flip out and do something crazy. No amount of police training and preparedness could have prevented him from getting out of his truck, shooting someone outside the building, then bursting his way inside the Daycare Center and attacking a bunch of people.

 

And yes, it is easy to focus on guns; what to do about them, how to control, regulate, and/or eliminate them. But it's also lazy!

 

Remember............

 

MOST of the damage done on this day at the Daycare Center in Uthai Sawan.......... WAS DONE BY KNIFE!

 

In article after article, post after post, headline after headline......... I see this man being described as a "Gunman." ........... "Gunman! Gunman! Gunman!" And yes, he had guns and used them.

 

But, when you get down to it, what he REALLY was........... was a "Knife-Wielding Madman." THAT'S how he inflicted most of his damage!

 

So why all this talk about "Guns, Guns, GUNS?"

 

Why isn't all the talk about the weapon he MOSTLY used?

 

---------------

 

Sorry, but tragedies like occurred in Nong Bua Lamphu Province the other day cannot be "prevented."

 

It's one person acting quickly and unpredictably, mostly using a "weapon" that is completely beyond our ability to regulate......... a KNIFE! 

 

The simple fact is, this man flipped out. And in his flipped-out state of mind, he thought that killing all these children (and adults) was exactly the right thing to do! To him.......... in those moments of disconnect.......... it was exactly what he needed!

 

Is that sick? Is that crazy? Sure it is! But to him......... in that moment......... it wasn't crazy at all! It was what his mind was telling him he NEEDED to do!

 

--------------

 

But that's individual. Its all in his mind. And no amount of policing or training could have anticipated it or prevented it.

 

The only thing that could have prevented it.......... the ONLY THING.......... is a hero. A hero who happened to be in the right place at the right time............ and who was willing to risk his or her own life to stop him! Thats it! (And maybe that hero has a gun....... and maybe he doesn't. We've seen it happen both ways........ and we've seen it fail both ways!)

 

It's simply not possible for the police to be in all places at all times. And there literally would have been NO WAY for them to know beforehand that they needed to be in THAT place at THAT time!

 

Because..........

 

It was one man.......... acting alone...........doing the unpredictable [the unimaginable?]........... at a completely unpredictable time.

 

Sorry, but there simply is no "defense" for that!

 

 

I did not say it could be stopped, but it can be kept down by some control of guns. but suppose this madman did not have a gun, there is no way that he would have got near the 38 he murdered if all he had was a knife. Think about it.

I do agree with just about everything you have said though.

[steven100]

Thailand has the highest number of privately owned guns in ASEAN

 

of course it does .....   every kid, man, gang member and taxi driver has a damn gun under his seat. 

[spidermike007]

Out of ten ASEAN member countries, Thailand has the highest number of guns in the possession of private individuals, with 10,342,000 guns being recorded in 2017, according to the Small Arms Survey (SAS).

 

Guns being recorded, is the key word here. How many millions more were not recorded, and how many were there never any record of? How many were smuggled into Thailand? How many were allowed in by highly corrupt men on the border? Are the borders safe here? Absolutely not.

 

How about mandatory annual psychological checks, and background checks, of every policeman, and soldier who is issued a gun here? There are way too many loose cannons, without much emotional development, who are drunk with their power, in both segments of Thai society. 

 

Many years ago, my sister in law, was involved with a rather dodgy Brit, while living on Samui. When she finally ditched him, he was livid, and just could not handle it. He ended up coming one night, at 3:30am, and burning down her bungalow, which was made of wood and thatch. It went up like a bomb. Fortunately, neither she, nor her roommate were there at the time, or they would have either died, or ended up with major 3rd degree burns all over their bodies, which I believe was his intention. In most countries, this would be treated as attempted murder, correct? The police were able to find a video of him racing away from the scene, at around 3:35am, as there was a CCTV camera in front of the police station, only a few hundred meters away from her bungalow. They took him in, and told him he would have to leave Thailand, and could never return. Not sure what exchanged hands, for him to not have been arrested. He was also told he would have to pay my sister in law 120,000 baht for the destruction of her gold, cash, and possessions. Same for her friend. He did pay. We know that for a fact, as we were friendly with a couple of his friends. When she went to the police station to collect, she was told that he never paid, and he was already back in Thailand. But, that they had advocated for her, and made sure he could never come back to Thailand! When she pushed, and told them that she knew for a fact that he had paid them, she was told that her life was now in danger, and that she needed to back down, and go away, or her safety could not be guaranteed.

The real problem is, you cannot report these guys. Not to the higher ups, not to the provincial authorities, and certainly not to the army. They are all corrupt beyond imagination. And the level of corruption simply escalates, the further up the food chain you go. They are not expected to be honest, and they are not expected to engage in law enforcement, traffic or public safety, on any level. It is an irrevocably broken and dysfunctional system. Anything hyperbole to the contrary, is just a smoke screen, intended to deceive the naive amongst us.

So typical of these goons, who have the audacity to pose as cops. They are anything but. Many are operating their own little mafia gangs. But law enforcement? Rarely. 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by spidermike007

[billd766]

10 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Good.  More guns in the hands of people creates a polite society.

 

No need for euros or aus people to take part in this discussion.

Who made you top dog?

 

It is a discussion forum open to all. If you post expect all sorts of replies.

 

[Photoguy21]

10 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Good.  More guns in the hands of people creates a polite society.

 

No need for euros or aus people to take part in this discussion.

"More guns in the hands of people creates a polite society." or a more psychotic society. 

[ourmanflint]

only cowards and idiots need guns to make them feel safe, Thailand has its fair share of both

[dave moir]

9 hours ago, nightfox said:

Typical Thai media hysteria inflating the numbers as after living in Philippines for years and seeing every one and their mother owning a firearm there with daily ongoing murders using firearms there is no way Thailand has highest number of guns in the possession of private individuals in Asia.

Highest recorded possession? Many many more unrecorded I would imagine ????