Phuket police show off haul of weapons and drugs
Saran Mitrarat


Handguns galore.

PHUKET: -- In a frightening indication of just how lawless some people in Phuket are, police seized more than 1,000 firearms, knives, packets of drugs and other contraband items in the week from November 1 to 7, which they showed off to the media this morning.

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Patchara Boonyasit explained, “Recently, there were several cases of people using weapons to attack or try to kill others, or to destroy properties. The police have been cracking down on these things with the aim of decreasing the number of criminals in Phuket to ensure tourists’ safety during that period,” said.

“The week included the Patong Carnival marking the arrival of the high season (November 1-3), the Loy Krathong Festival (November 6-8) and there are in addition the upcoming Asian Beach Games from November 14 to 23.

“We must ensure that the crimes decrease so that tourists will be more confident,” he added.

During the drive, 297 people were arrested in connection with 250 cases.

Of these, 85 cases involved the seizure of weapons – 35 firearms, 138 rounds of ammunition, four shotgun shells, 46 knives, two sets of brass knuckles and an axe.

A total of 181 people were arrested in 134 cases involving drugs. Police seized 2,213 methamphetamine pills, 473.11 grams of crystal methamphetamine, just over a kilo of marijuana, 79.4 kilos of kratom leaves, 13 bottles of 4x100 cocktail (a mixture containing kratom and cough syrup) and 53 packages of the restricted sedative Diazepam.

Among other items seized were 86 packages of fireworks, 638 sky lanterns and 229 pirated copies of branded goods.

Asked to estimate how many illegal firearms there are in Phuket, he answered that it was impossible to even know whether the number was in the hundreds or the thousands.

“More and more are being brought in – we don’t know how many. There are many ways that illegal firearms an be brought into Phuket and they are very cheap – about B2,000 per gun. Most are imported from Pattalung Province,” Gen Patchara told The Phuket News.

“Although we have finished this crackdown period, police will continue to keep an eye out and suppress criminality, especially during the tourist high season and the Asian Beach Games,” he added.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-police-show-off-haul-of-weapons-and-drugs-49594.php


-- Phuket News 2014-11-12

All of that in one week!

Nice job RTP !

Street value of 2,000 Bt per pistol is not very reassuring for one's safety.

This news article is a great example of why I am quite happy to be moving home to the US.

Short of living in a housing project in LA or Chicago, it is quite unlikely to see that amount of illegal weapons on the street anywhere.

Good luck to all of you that call this peaceful Nation home.

2000 bht is the price of a homemade single shot pen gun according to our local police.

Absolutely astonishing haul for a single week.

10,000000 known guns in Thailand. And this is a Buddhist country!

They are doing checkpoints everywhere looking for weapons. They were waving the westerners through but searching everyone who was Thai/Burmese. Strip searching and all by the roadside.

Sent from my LG-D858

Good to see the guns being taken out of the hands of idiots, but there is no shortage of idiots out there. I’m sure it won’t make much difference.

So out of 297 people arrested, 181 (60%) were arrested for drugs and the only drugs one could really class as dangerous are the meth and yaba. The ganja and kratom are hardly a victory. Have been used culturally in this part of the world for probably thousands of years…have been arbitrarily illegal for about 50.

What would the police do without the drug war to make it look like they are actually doing anything more useful other than collecting taxes?

What would the police do without the drug war to make it look like they are actually doing anything more useful other than collecting taxes?

Ah...responding to alot more traffic accident fatalities as a result of driving under the influence of a controlled substance.

Responding to alot more B&E and robbery calls committed by drug abusers who can't afford to maintain their habits.

Responding to domestic violence calls at residences of people high on drugs.

Taking children to hospitals who were victims of drug induced assaults.

How did I do? Did I forget any?

Thats a good "advertisement" for tourists thinking about a holiday there ain't it....

imagine if the police worked all year long instead of 1 week per year

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Advertising coming to a street corner near you soon.

All of that in one week!

Nice job RTP !

Street value of 2,000 Bt per pistol is not very reassuring for one's safety.

This news article is a great example of why I am quite happy to be moving home to the US.

Short of living in a housing project in LA or Chicago, it is quite unlikely to see that amount of illegal weapons on the street anywhere.

Good luck to all of you that call this peaceful Nation home.

Home to USA where guns are legal, including AK-47's, easily available to school children. At least they are illegal in Thailand.

All of that in one week!

Nice job RTP !

Street value of 2,000 Bt per pistol is not very reassuring for one's safety.

This news article is a great example of why I am quite happy to be moving home to the US.

Short of living in a housing project in LA or Chicago, it is quite unlikely to see that amount of illegal weapons on the street anywhere.

Good luck to all of you that call this peaceful Nation home.

Home to USA where guns are legal, including AK-47's, easily available to school children. At least they are illegal in Thailand.

What is better? Guns legal to law-abiding citizens combined with strong enforcement of gun laws OR guns illegal but gun laws not enforced?

Which option places more guns in the hands of criminals?