Thailand's national police chief has ordered a nationwide drive against illegal firearms, ammunition and explosives, alongside increased security at schools, shopping centres, parks and other public spaces.

Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiwpan, deputy inspector-general and Royal Thai Police spokesman, said on Tuesday, August 11, that Pol Gen Kitrat Phanphet issued the order after a series of violent incidents involving firearms or explosives. Those incidents caused deaths, injuries and property damage.

The operation splits responsibility between two deputy national police chiefs. Investigation teams will pursue illegal weapons offences, while crime-prevention officers will step up patrols and prepare for emergencies in public areas.

Gun permits

Until further notice, no new permits to purchase or own guns will be issued. Existing purchase permits will not be renewed but it is unclear what will happen to existing gun ownership permits.

Permits to carry guns were suspended in late 2023 - meaning owners must keep their weapons at home or at a shooting range.

Authorised are also considering measures and incentives to persuade the owners of an estimated four million unlicensed guns to hand them over in the wake of the school shooting.

Focus on illegal weapons and online sales

Pol Gen Thana Chuwong, the deputy national police chief responsible for investigation work, has been assigned to lead action against offences involving guns, ammunition and explosives.

Police units have been told to identify and investigate people linked to illegal weapons, carry out searches connected with weapons offences, and investigate unlawful sales both in person and through social-media channels.

Investigative and crime-prevention resources are also to be combined for nationwide enforcement operations.

Illegal weapons are already listed among crimes that police units must address continuously under the Royal Thai Police's 2026 operational plan.

More patrols at public locations

Pol Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, the deputy national police chief responsible for crime prevention and suppression, will oversee security measures at so-called soft targets. These include schools, shopping centres and public parks.

The measures call for more visible Stop Walk Talk patrols, checks for firearms, and inspections of suspicious people and vehicles. Police have also been instructed to improve systems for receiving emergency reports and getting officers to incident scenes.

Tactical special-operation teams are to be kept ready to intervene in serious incidents, while security is to be increased at public locations more generally.

Police weapons also under review

Police units have additionally been ordered to review and control official police firearms in line with existing regulations.

The force's 2026 plan already includes Stop Walk Talk patrols, tactical training and stronger capabilities for responding to serious incidents.

Pol Gen Kitrat instructed commissioners, commanders and supervisors at every level to coordinate investigative and crime-prevention teams during the crackdown. Officers were also told to follow police tactics and the law strictly.

Picture courtesy of The Nation

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12 August 2026

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Haven’t seen them here yet, oh wait… the doorbell’s ringing.

"Permits to carry guns were suspended in late 2023 - meaning owners must keep their weapons at home or at a shooting range.

Authorised are also considering measures and incentives to persuade the owners of an estimated four million unlicensed guns to hand them over in the wake of the school shooting."

Under the current gun law (which dates from 1947) it is illegal to leave a firearm in the care of someone who is not the owner of record; if you leave a gun at a shooting range then, legally, both the range and the owner are breaking the law.

The sad fact is that the majority of shootings involve illegal firearms.

Make life too difficult for the owners of the estimated 6 million registered firearms and I suspect the number of illegally-held weapons could well go up as registered weapons get reported 'lost' or 'stolen', especially if the government retroactively rescinds properly-issued ownership permits or forces a buy-back scheme offering pennies on the dollar for legally-held guns.

Uh yeah, isn't that part of their job?

Illegal gun crackdown, illegal medications crackdown, illegal vehicles crackdown, illegal workers crackdown, illegal migrant crackdown ....... all as effective as a wet tissue.

Who is doing the crackdown, the universally respected honest effective efficient non-corrupt RTP?

"Crackdowns" here in Thailand are mostly a joke... Meaningless Jibber jabber fot a few weeks

"Until further notice, no new permits to purchase or own guns will be issued. Existing purchase permits will not be renewed but it is unclear what will happen to existing gun ownership permits.

Step in the right direction ....

About effing time to get rid of all privately held guns in Thailand.

Alright, owning a gun, but what about the ammunition? The Nonthaburi tragedy: that kid had about 60 rounds; you need to ask what was the legal gun owner doing with all those rounds of ammunition, kept in a house.

They should say, a gun not being used at a gun club for target shooting should have no more than, say 10 rounds kept in a house.

Good luck in getting the guns they are so many guns in thai hands that they will not give them up

you have no right of self defense in your own home anyway

11 hours ago, kickstart said:

Alright, owning a gun, but what about the ammunition? The Nonthaburi tragedy: that kid had about 60 rounds; you need to ask what was the legal gun owner doing with all those rounds of ammunition, kept in a house.

They should say, a gun not being used at a gun club for target shooting should have no more than, say 10 rounds kept in a house.

Gun owners who regularly take part in shooting matches can have large amounts of ammunition at home. Why? Because a typical handgun match will need 200+ rounds spread over 10 stages. Depending on the gun being used, some ranges will not have sufficient quantities of the caliber needed (e.g. .38 Super). So you need to bring your own.

Some guns can also be quite picky as to what ammunition they run: if competing, reliability is key so, again, bring your own.

When a permit for a pistol is issued it is for gun + 12 rounds of ammunition, which the gun shop selling the pistol will also provide. However the current firearms act says nothing about how much ammunition an individual can have.

11 hours ago, BKKBike09 said:

Gun owners who regularly take part in shooting matches can have large amounts of ammunition at home. Why? Because a typical handgun match will need 200+ rounds spread over 10 stages. Depending on the gun being used, some ranges will not have sufficient quantities of the caliber needed (e.g. .38 Super). So you need to bring your own.

Some guns can also be quite picky as to what ammunition they run: if competing, reliability is key so, again, bring your own.

When a permit for a pistol is issued it is for gun + 12 rounds of ammunition, which the gun shop selling the pistol will also provide. However the current firearms act says nothing about how much ammunition an individual can have.

As I said, if you are not a registered member of a firearms club you should not be able to keep large amounts of ammunition at home.

If you are a club member, that is different, and your club license should be checked every year.

Any new law must stipulate the amount of ammunition you can keep at a private house.