Gun Laws In Thailand

[KevinN]

Does anyone know the laws pertaining to owning a pellet gun here,I have looked a little and have not found anyplace that sells them and can not find out on a web search the laws here.

I know that in Mexico that fire arms are illegal but they sold a fine pellet gun in most places of business like big c or carriefore.

due to the fact that all our domestic water is harvested roof water,I would like to get a pellet gun to help eliminate the house sparrows as their droppings on the roof contaminates my water supply.. any info would be appreciated, Thanks.

[lopburi3]

Firearms laws are very tight and getting more so. Don't know bb/pellet law but also have never seen any here. Would suggest a sling shot for the pests if you can't find another source for your water.

[Nam Kao]

Why deprive yourself of the extra vitamins and minerals?

[KevinN]

Thanks Nam Kao, I never thought that there was much nutritional value in UREA.

Lopburi; Well harvested rain water is really the big thing and is reccomended by the govt. and it is far superior to any well water, and I couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a screen door when it comes to a sling shot. and the rock projectiles flying all over would make it very dangerous in my area.

and where would I find the thai gun laws and I wouldn't think that air guns would be considered firearms and be under govt. control..

[maerim]

From what I see of the shootings on the front pages in the Thai language press the government is having a job to control the amount of proper ones.

[Thaiboxer]

KevinN,

With regards to gun laws in Thailand, yes they are quite strict compared to my homeland (Florida, USA) and with being a foreigner it's even tougher than it is for the locals to get guns. A man at a gun shop in downtown BKK said you had to be a citizen or have a citizen buy it for you and be present when you shot it (at either a local range or wherever). The gun must be registered in the name of a Thai citizen as well. Since then, one poster on here mentioned that simply having permanent residence and your name on the house registration would be good enough to apply for a gun license/permit or whatever you need to buy one. I wanted to buy a handgun since I had to sell my guns before moving here with my Thai/Chinese wife last year. Guns are considerably more expensive here due to lack of manufacturers and of course the infamous import duties. Unfortunately, airguns are regulated under the same rules as firearms (they are not classified as real guns where I come from and are therefore easily obtained from any sporting goods outlet). A pellet gun would certainly come in handy in congested areas due to its low noise and limited range, but it may be harder than getting a firearm where I come from. One poster suggested a slingshot...I have several I brought with me and you can buy them here (Chatuchak Weekend Market in BKK or some sporting goods stores downtown) and I don't see how they (or bows and arrows) can be classified as firearms. I've shot slingshots/wristrockets for years and with marbles, lead sinkers or steel ball bearings, they are sufficiently accurate. Just practice and you'll be fine...the wristrockets are the most powerful/accurate since they have that added wrist support part. You might also consider a good simple or compound bow with flat tipped arrows...short range and won't really stick into anything. Those suction cup arrows popular with kids bow sets may just do the trick. For gun laws, I would do some more research as most foreigners (like me) aren't well-informed. Chok dee!

[KevinN]

Thaiboxer; I also am from USA pacific northwest,and I have a bunch of guns in the states both hand, and long firearms and air,But firearms are strictly controlled in Mexico,you even have a fired 22 cal. case in your car and they will confiscate your car but air guns are sold everywhere, and are not considered firearms.I bought a very good 22 cal. one there and used it to shoot quail while on prospecting or fishing trips.

I have my name registered on our house papers and am legal in all affairs.

I can not find any Thai gun control laws listed anywhere,and if you talk to 12 Thais,you get 16 different answers. And I have tried every search engine that I know of and still can't find anything written,but it is pobly like the laws that are posted,they enforce some and not others ,depends on the way they feel that day I guess, Like when I went to get my house papers,I was told it was impossible for a farang, but a friend has em so I went back the next day,talked to someone else and got them and a Thai ID card.so it seems like you just have to talk to the right person,,a lot different than Mexico too,as here I am never required to pay mordida.[graft]

[Thaiboxer]

KevinN,

Just out of curiosity, are you a permanent resident here? I will not have lived here for three consecutive years until 2005. Hopefully, I can then apply to get permanent residence which will make things here much easier. It sounds like Mexico is a bit strict on gun stuff...my aunt (Mom's youngest sister) lives there with her Mexican husband and four kids. With the high crime rate, my uncle may have a few around the house but I don't know. I know it's possible to buy guns (illegally of course) cheaply in Thailand and places like Cambodia but supposedly the penalties are stiff now if you're caught and being a foreigner they will nail you harder I'm sure. You could probably get just about any firearm cheaply just over the border in Burma....maybe a few thousand baht for an AK-47. If it were legal, I wouldn't mind having a good, 4-6 inch barrel .357 Magnum revolver. My wife likes the revolvers better than the semi-autos and of course they last longer generally.

You mentioned those birds messing up your water supply...I suppose if they're small enough and don't have strong legs (like those little finches) you could try fly paper from any supermarket and maybe catch them live. They should stick right to that paper and then you can dispose of them in the woods somewhere. I don't know if anybody as tried this, but it might be worth a shot. Too bad they don't have a good K-Mart or Wal-Mart nearby...those $40 ten pump air guns are plenty good for most household pests! Take care and chok dee!

Thaiboxer

[DaveYo]

Hey what about Paint Guns??????????? Or the crossbow???? Are those illegal too???

You can paint the birds, and keep up your practice of the aim. With this, you can make it stink so bad, no other bird will want to be around them. Besides paint guns operate by air compression. They can be converted to like a sub machine gun. Hehehehehehehe. As of the crossbows, they are so quiet, yet you can plaster the birds to the tree if your aim is good enough. Like a twit and twang and thud.

Daveyoti

[Rigger]

In the small village were I live in N/E thailand they have taken all the muskets and slug guns away from all the kids and the big kids in the last month. I got rid of mine and would not take the risk if I was you they also searched some houses for fire arms

Rigger

[DaveYo]

I suppose it might be harder in Thailand. Don't know cause I have not tried. I do suppose if you know the right people and have the right connections to obtain one, I am sure you might have to pay a bit more than doing such under normal channels. There are plenty of gun smugglers out there who do it for a living.

If one obtains one behind back doors, I hope they are smart enough to keep their mouths shut and keep it well hidden. Don't use it unless it is absolutely necessary. If one ever does use it, gosh I hope that person gets rid of it quickly. The last thing you need is to be caught with an illegal weapon in Thailand.

The ones I prefer are the quiet ones. Those are the best. I dislike the ones making noise of all sorts. With the quiet one, no one will know you even fired a shot. If one gets caught with this type, you can bet your sentence will literally double or triple. It is also known as silencers and definitely very much illegal any place around the world. The only ones that I know that uses something like this are the Commandos in the Elite units in the military. Yet one can obtain this but lo the price is very high. Don't ask me how much cause I have no idea on the market today.

So back to paint guns which is used primarily for fun and games. This you can spatter on a person if you wish. That is what I would like to know if this air compressed gizmo is illegal or not?????? Here in USA they can buy it over the counter without a problem. As of the crossbow, well that is another thing all together. That thing can zip an arrow quite a distance with power to spare. If one is close enough it will go right thru you provided no bone in your body stops it. In the past I used my old fashioned bow and arrow with explosives on as tips back in Vietnam. Handy little tool. That weapon bailed me out numerous times. I can carry lots of arrows, and carry plenty of explosives and still not be weighed down to move about. The Bow was easily assembled within a matter of a couple minutes. Hmmmmmm, the one I can come closest to describing this is similar to the one Rambo had in those movies. Best I can come up in its description. The explosive tip was indeed something. It really packed some powerful punch. It basically looked like a round triangle with a tip that has to have some impact to set it off. Secondly only way it becomes armed is if you screw it on to the arrow itself. Once you do that it becomes live. Then you aim and away it goes.

I don't know if anyone who had one of these that I had, but if they did, they do know precisely what I am talking about.

Daveyoti

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I don't think they'll let you have one Kev, but why not go ask a senior cop in your area. The Royal Thai Police Department does have a firearms branch.

[Thetyim]

Where I live the locals make their own air rifles.

The compressed air comes from a cycle pump and it is .177 calibre.

This might sound like a crappy scheme but they pack more punch than any legal Uk air rifle .

I have been told that you need a firarms license to legally own one but the local police ignore them as they are only used for sparrow smashing.

If you really want to buy a production air rifle then go to MaiSai.

You will see many shops selling pellets and springs.

Ask to see a brochure, choose your weapon and then someone will pop across the border and get it for you. This was true when I went there 3 months ago. Do not part with ANY money until you have it in your hands. The barrels all looked a bit short to me but I have never held one . I think they are Chinese made.

Personally I would go for a crossbow. As far as I know they are legal and can be had for under 2000 baht.

[KevinN]

OK Guys; heres the deal

I only want a pellet gun to shoot the house sparrows off my roof and gutters,,I would be ###### silly to run around shooting cross bow bolts into the air or shooting paint balls or if it was somehow possible to fire an explosive tipped arrow, which I doubt because of balance, into the air where they would land on a neighbors house. And I remember the hill tribes in Nam that used cross bows that shot small fire hardened split bamboo bolts,and I have owned some very powerful crossbows in the states and have killed deer with them.and I also think that Rambo and Arnold do some shit in the movies that is impossible for a normal man to do.

My bro in law,who lives next door has several rifles and shot guns,some front stuffer rifles and slug guns and some pellet guns,and he tells me how it is,but I want to know the laws as written,not how a Thai does it. They might get by with things that would spell prison to a farang. He is also running a whiskey still.

But I do thank you for the pertinent posts as some were very informative.

[pnustedt]

They might get by with things that would spell prison to a farang. He is also running a whiskey still.

Be careful. A neighbour in my wife's village who had a still attracted the attention of the police during a festival - they searched his house as a result and found guns.

We had his distraught wife round asking her to get out her husband of prison by paying the police. However, my wife was told by the police that one was the wrong sort of gun - apparently he had a machine gun. However, I saw him walking around the village a few months later so he couldn't have been confined for too long.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

My bro in law,who lives next door has several rifles and shot guns,some front stuffer rifles and slug guns and some pellet guns,and he tells me how it is,but I want to know the laws as written,not how a Thai does it. They might get by with things that would spell prison to a farang. He is also running a whiskey still.

Couldn't the brother-in-law shoot 'em for you Kev ? Well.....maybe not when he's on the jungle juice. .

[maerim]

He is also running a whiskey still.

That's why he's got the guns.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

The cops are probably dropping in to sample a bottle or two from time to time. They might be persuaded to shoot a few birdies with their 45's

[maerim]

From what I have seen of ploice marksmanship here make sure they shoot the sparrers before they dip into the hooch.

Failing that let me know where they are so I can avoid the place.

[Guest IT Manager]

I bought a 12" crossbow this morning for our neighbourhood dog problem. Bambow quorrels with banana leaf flights. Accurate so far to about 25 feet, and have asked the handyman to make 20 steel quorrels for me with the same type of flight as they are flat. Looking there for accuracy and hit at 40 feet which is about my limit I think.

Cost...140 baht.

[Thetyim]

I have just got back from Mai Sai.

The stalls are still selling the pellets and springs but most stall holders were reluctant to offer a gun.

Pm me if you want details of a stall which is still selling them.

Prices have gone up, I was quoted 4800 baht.

[p_brownstone]

You will find Chinese made Pellet Guns in Chatuchak, pistol types for around Baht 400 believe it or not, which fire plastic, round, pellets. Not particularly accurate above 10 meters or so but practice helps. I have one to get rid of the neighbours cats who used to use my lawn as a toilet!

Probably easier to let a Thai to buy one for you though.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Are you still friendly with the neighbours ? .

[Pink Mist]

need one for my neighbours chooks maybe him too

[Thaiboxer]

There are some decent and powerful Chinese-made air rifles that shoot the .177 caliber pellets and are commonly found at gun shows in the US...I once bought one for about $40 and paid another $10 for a replacement kit containing a cleaning kit/replacement springs and O-rings. 4,800 baht sounds a bit steep for such an air gun and the one I had didn't have a safety on it. Muzzle velocity can vary of course, but this one probably shot out at around 800-900 fps (don't know that in meters per second off the top of my head). They probably won't be as accurate as a quality one like an RWS or Gamo, but they should be pretty close with good pellets. I believe most of them utilize either a beak barrel design or they may have a separate pump lever...in either case they only require one pump before firing. With that much power, you could bag more than just tiny birds! Maybe 2,000 baht would be more reasonable since these are mass produced with much less quality control than most made in Europe or the US. As one poster mentioned, a Thai friend or family member should get it for you to ease the process. Chok dee!

[r_yates]

Here you go guys, the definitive answers from those nice people at the Department of Provincial Administration.

http://www.dopa.go.th/English/servi/serv.htm

Enjoy jumping through hoops and filling out forms till your fingers bleed.

Brought to you by the Honky Tonk Kid.

[DaveYo]

Hmmmm, I am surprised that you fellas are really descriptive of these firearms that are available, and is even giving locations of where to get one right smack on this web site which is viewed from time to time from Thai Authorities!!!!!!!! Are we naive or stupid or what??????

Are you guys trying to get someone into some suicide trap set up by the authorities in revealing such revelations????

Come on now if you have such information I would like to think in doing us expats a favor here and send such privately. But again its all up to you folks. The last thing I would want to do is follow up on this and walk right smack into some police sting operation out to catch foreigners getting these items. Lo and behold, then you are looking out yonder at the Hilton!!!!

This is my opinion, so hopefully some of you have common sense to understand just what I am talking about here and use your crystal ball to see a bit ahead of potential problems.

Daveyoti