Thailand has a gun problem — 10 million of them

Two shocking shootings in a matter of days have once again exposed Thailand's extraordinary gun culture, weak enforcement and millions of weapons in civilian hands

Thailand is facing a gun problem of enormous proportions.

Just three days after a 14-year-old opened fire at a school, killing eight people before taking his own life, another shooting in the same province provided a grim illustration of how quickly ordinary disputes can become deadly when guns are readily available.

Chalong Riewrang, a 71-year-old former politician, went to a local administration office to discuss money he claimed he was owed by the administration chief, Thongchai Yenprasert — a man he described as a friend.

The argument ended with Chalong pulling out a gun and firing four shots through the window of Thongchai's car.

Thongchai and his driver were hit.

Thongchai later died.

A dispute that became a killing

Chalong left the scene and then called a journalist he knew, apparently while she was broadcasting live on YouTube, to tell her what had happened.

After police stopped him and took him to the station, he was reportedly allowed to speak to reporters while casually smoking a cigarette.

He insisted he had not intended to shoot his friend, claiming he opened fire after the driver also produced a gun.

Police found two firearms in the vehicle, although they said neither was in a condition that allowed it to be fired.

The incident was yet another reminder of how quickly disputes in Thailand can escalate when firearms are available.

Britain has a fraction of the deaths

The scale of Thailand's gun problem becomes clearer when the figures are compared with Britain.

Thailand is estimated to suffer somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 gun deaths every year.

Britain, despite having a similarly sized population, records fewer than 50.

And the deaths are not confined to organised criminals or gang warfare.

Domestic arguments, financial disputes and fights in bars can suddenly become fatal.

More than 10 million civilian guns

Thailand is estimated to have more than 10 million civilian-owned firearms in circulation.

Around four million are believed to be unlicensed.

That means a minor argument that might otherwise end with angry words can become a shooting within seconds.

The country's gun culture is not simply about criminals obtaining weapons illegally. Guns are also legal possessions for millions of ordinary civilians.

And there are major weaknesses in the system governing those weapons.

Gun laws exist — but the loopholes are huge

On paper, Thailand has strict rules.

Anyone wanting to purchase a firearm must obtain a purchase permit, then apply for a possession permit after buying it. Anyone wanting to carry a weapon outside their home requires another permit.

But the possession permit is effectively for life.

There is no routine mental-health screening and no requirement for comprehensive checks on how firearms are stored.

That can have devastating consequences.

The teenage school shooter was reportedly able to obtain his grandfather's legally owned firearm and ammunition.

A gun that was perfectly legal for one family member therefore became accessible to someone who should never have had it.

The government's own gun scheme has created another problem

Thailand has also operated a controversial scheme allowing police officers and other officials to purchase firearms at heavily discounted prices.

Since the scheme began in 2009, around 200,000 guns a year have reportedly been imported, predominantly from the United States.

After five years, those weapons can be resold.

The system has been investigated repeatedly amid allegations of corruption and has been identified as a possible source of weapons entering the black market.

Locally manufactured weapons and unlicensed gunmakers add another layer to the problem.

Anutin promises action — again

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has now ordered immediate measures to tighten gun controls.

The discounted government purchasing scheme has been suspended and the issuing of new purchase licences halted.

The government is also considering limiting the lifetime validity of possession permits and potentially introducing an amnesty encouraging people to surrender illegal firearms.

Anutin has promised tougher penalties and asked parliament to work on new legislation.

But there is a major problem with that promise.

Thailand has heard it before.

The government has tried this already

After the horrific 2022 nursery massacre, and again after a 14-year-old opened fire at a Bangkok shopping mall in 2023, similar promises were made.

The discounted firearms scheme was suspended.

It was then reinstated.

Following another school shooting earlier this year, the carrying of firearms by people not on official duty was banned.

Yet the guns remain.

And so does the culture surrounding them.

This is about more than gun laws

Thailand's problem cannot simply be solved by changing a few regulations.

There are millions of firearms already in circulation, widespread corruption, weak enforcement, illegal weapons, locally manufactured guns and a deeply established culture in which firearms can represent power and status.

There is also the country's long military tradition.

Even when Thailand is governed by civilian politicians, the military has remained an enormously influential institution throughout modern Thai history.

The symbolism begins remarkably young.

Children's Day celebrations can include visits to military bases where youngsters are allowed to see weapons and, in some cases, pose for photographs holding firearms.

The message is difficult to miss.

Thailand is an outlier in Asia

The country's gun ownership figures stand out dramatically against its neighbours.

Indonesia, with a population roughly four times larger than Thailand's, has only around 82,000 civilian-owned firearms.

Malaysia has around 107,000.

Gun deaths are comparatively rare in both countries.

The Philippines is the major regional exception, sharing a significantly stronger gun culture and much higher levels of gun crime.

Thailand's 10 million civilian guns therefore represent an extraordinary outlier.

Gun owners say the problem isn't legal firearms

Not everyone agrees that tighter controls on legally owned guns are the answer.

One Thai businessman told the BBC that he owns more than 70 firearms, describing them largely as expensive toys and saying he had never fired most of them.

He argued that criminals generally use illegal weapons and questioned why authorities were not doing more to target blank guns and spare parts that can allegedly be converted into functioning firearms.

Another gun owner, with more than 40 weapons, said he kept guns because he no longer trusted the country's ability to protect ordinary citizens.

His argument was brutally simple: crime and drugs are widespread, police numbers are inadequate and people feel they need to protect themselves.

One gun was enough

That argument, however, runs into the uncomfortable reality illustrated by the latest killing.

Chalong Riewrang reportedly once held permits for nine guns.

In recent years he had reduced that number to one.

One was enough.

A dispute over money ended with a friend dead, a 71-year-old man in a police station and another family facing the consequences of a moment that apparently nobody expected when the day began.

That is the real danger of Thailand's gun culture.

It is not simply the professional criminal carrying a weapon.

It is the ordinary argument, the family dispute, the business disagreement or the drunken confrontation that suddenly acquires a deadly option.

Thailand does not merely have a gun problem.

It has millions of guns sitting inside a society where, far too often, a moment of anger can turn into a lifetime of regret.

SOURCE

I saw this coming when that disturbed scumbag killed all those children at the school in Nong Bua Lamphu, including his own wife and stepson. Seeing this in America, and knowing of the lax enforcement, has many believing they can do what they want and only get a slap on the wrist and or a reduced sentence no matter the crime.

They kill here for things that are so minor, anyone has to be wary of crossing someone here, not knowing who's carrying a gun, let alone knives that are part of everyday carry items for a large majority here. and I see this continuing to a higher degree because of all of this.

This isn't gangs or suicides that are the main problem, as those are everywhere anyway. Is it a copycat mentality, knowing they can kill so many at one time because they hear of this happening in the US, or just the fact that mass shootings have been going on here as long as guns have been available?

Domestic violence is huge here, as well as most everywhere else, and guns in those hands, like suicides, make things deadly in an instant. Like all other places also, illegal guns are easy to acquire. Those seeking an illegal gun are the ones who are much more likely to commit crimes and shootings. No background checks because they already might have a record of violence, and their intentions having guns are a lot more likely to be fatal when someone crosses their path.

Just like the US, legal gun owners aren't shooting people, so again it's a mental issue. Hidden, pent up anger from childhoods of abuse and or neglect, and their victims are usually the innocents, unlike gang violence. Again, this is going to continue.