A bullet and a body: Thailand's troubling gun murders

[Lite Beer]

A bullet and a body: Thailand's troubling gun murders

KOH SAMUI - Rungrat Rungsuwan was manning her small shop selling trinkets on a main tourist drag on the Thai resort island of Koh Samui when she heard a series of loud bangs.

"At first I thought they were firecrackers," she told AFP as tourists in flip-flops and singlets filed past her storefront in the island’s ’Fisherman’s Village’.

"But once people realised it was gunfire everyone panicked and started running. Some people came into my shop to hide."

It was early March and just metres away influential local businessmen Panas Khao-uthai lay dead, six bullets fired into his body at close range by two assassins who calmly unloaded their pistols in broad daylight.

For the holidaymakers forced to dive for cover that evening, the murder -- which police say was over a commercial dispute -- was a glimpse into a reality familiar to locals: the country’s deadly enthusiasm for guns.

Renowned to outsiders for its laid-back, welcoming vibe, Thailand is also a country awash with firearms where disputes are all too frequently settled with a bullet and a body.

Barely a week goes by without a new headline-grabbing killing, usually stemming from a humiliation -- or loss of ’face’ -- over a personal or business dispute.

In one recent case, a woman was shot in the neck by an angry lover in a mall, while another saw a man gunned down outside his Bangkok apartment block after arguing with a security guard.

In a third, a bus driver shot a passenger in the chest because his victim had repeatedly criticised his road skills.

As one western police officer stationed at an embassy in Bangkok told AFP: "There is a real culture of guns in Thailand, it’s a military-style culture, a place of uniforms and male power."

Gun culture

Assessing the precise fallout of the kingdom’s enthusiasm for weaponry is difficult.

The Thai government does not provide a specific breakdown for annual gun murders outside of the country’s deep south, where a local Muslim insurgency has killed more than 6,400 in the last decade.

But the Gunpolicy.org website, an online database of global gun statistics run by the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health, believes Thailand has one of the highest gun homicide rates in Asia.

It estimates 3.48 murders per 100,000 people in Thailand, three times the rate of neighbouring Cambodia and on a par with the United States.

What is much clearer is the sheer number of weapons in civilian hands.

According to the Interior Ministry, there are 6.1 million registered firearms in Thailand, a country with 67 million people.

GunPolicy.org puts the total number of firearms at closer to 10 million, once the thriving black market trade is counted.

As the US State Department’s Bureau for Diplomatic Security wrote in its safety report for overseas staff: "Thailand has a fervent gun culture on par with the United States and has become a world leader in firearms-related homicides."

But while the US has long experienced a passionate debate on gun control, Thailand largely greets the human toll of its firearms obsession with a collective shrug.

’When you die, you die’

"No one has taken responsibility, no one has really taken up the issue," lamented Kasit Piromya, a former foreign minister who believes tighter gun controls are needed, as well as an amnesty for illegal weapons.

The lack of outrage shown over gun murders, he believes is down to the concept of a karma.

"When you die, you die. It’s acceptance and resignation. We take death calmly as part of life," said Kasit, who owns two registered pistols.

On paper Thailand has strict gun controls but the law is easily circumnavigated.

The sheer availability of weaponry concerns Police Colonel Akaradet Pimolsri, the head of Thailand’s police commando unit, each time his officers hit the streets.

"I want every gun to be registered," Akaradet of the elite Crime Suppression Division, told AFP at the unit’s Bangkok headquarters.

A key step would be for the government to set up a database containing the "ballistic fingerprints" of all over the counter weapons.

In late July, AFP accompanied Akaradet and 200 of his commandos on a dawn raid in Uthai Thani, a central province renowned for its crime syndicates.

Their target were two suspects in a 2011 gun murder in which a policeman was killed.

His officers took no chances, arming themselves with assault rifles, shotguns and body armour.

But by the time the convoy reached a series of mansions on the outskirts of town there was no sign of the main suspects -- although 20 guns, ammunition and bullet proof vests were seized.

The killers are still on the loose, ready to be hired once more for a hit.

Back on Samui, an island where tourism is a crucial mainstay, police also responded forcefully to the killing of Panas, arresting the alleged gunmen and conducting a series of raids that netted almost 100 weapons, Akaradet said.

At the streetside restaurant where the killing took place, the tables are filled once more with tourists oblivious to the violence that occurred there three months ago.

Laurent Haroutinian, the French manager of the restaurant where the shooting took place, said they reopened after just two days.

"It was the first time I saw anything like this," he said. "And I hope it is the last"

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/A-bullet-and-a-body-Thailands-troubling-gun-murder-30266347.html

-- The Nation 2015-08-11

[clockman]

And all good, Buddhists!

[WhizBang]

Thailand, slowly killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

[MZurf]

Why don't they understand that the answer to many guns are more guns? Why don't they understand that to arm every man, woman and child is the only solution?? This is where the US is heading and you see how well it works there!!

[bangkokfrog]

I suspect that there is a lot more to it than Buddhism and Karma, and would be interested to compare the gun / murder culture in Thailand to other Buddhist countries. Like many other things, I think it all comes down to corruption and poor policing that lets people think and act like we are back in the days of Al Capone.

Edited August 11, 2015 by bangkokfrog

[DLang]

Perhaps if they had a proper, more natural culture, that didn't force regression of natural emotions, consider social death worse than a physical one, where foresight and cause and effect actually existed, and they emotionally matured past the age of 11, they wouldn't have as many of these incidents.

Edited August 11, 2015 by DLang

[Jim walker]

Just the words ‘on a par with the United States’ should be enough for the Junta to spring into action create a few more new laws this sort of murder is almost as bad as boy racers on their nifty fifties and round up all the guns and have them crushed and ban the sale of ammunition in the country and the only source of ammunition would be the military or police.

[Benmart]

Why don't they understand that the answer to many guns are more guns? Why don't they understand that to arm every man, woman and child is the only solution?? This is where the US is heading and you see how well it works there!!

This is about Thailand and not the USA. Focus is difficult to maintain for those with faulty lenses.

[Lupatria]

It wasn't all bad he came up with it seems:

[lildragon]

They found over 100 weapons on Samui? God those islands are infested with scum. I'll visit but never live there.

[NickJ]

Many people take the law into there hands here because law enforcement and justice is for sale here......The police are 100years behind where they should be....and most, not all judges can be bought.

The trick is not put yourself in a situation where you will need either.

[Nemesis7]

amazing Thailand...really

[BigC]

A bullet and a body: Thailand's troubling gun murders

KOH SAMUI - Rungrat Rungsuwan was manning her small shop selling trinkets on a main tourist drag on the Thai resort island of Koh Samui when she heard a series of loud bangs.

"At first I thought they were firecrackers," she told AFP as tourists in flip-flops and singlets filed past her storefront in the islands Fishermans Village.

"But once people realised it was gunfire everyone panicked and started running. Some people came into my shop to hide."

It was early March and just metres away influential local businessmen Panas Khao-uthai lay dead, six bullets fired into his body at close range by two assassins who calmly unloaded their pistols in broad daylight.

For the holidaymakers forced to dive for cover that evening, the murder -- which police say was over a commercial dispute -- was a glimpse into a reality familiar to locals: the countrys deadly enthusiasm for guns.

Renowned to outsiders for its laid-back, welcoming vibe, Thailand is also a country awash with firearms where disputes are all too frequently settled with a bullet and a body.

Barely a week goes by without a new headline-grabbing killing, usually stemming from a humiliation -- or loss of face -- over a personal or business dispute.

In one recent case, a woman was shot in the neck by an angry lover in a mall, while another saw a man gunned down outside his Bangkok apartment block after arguing with a security guard.

In a third, a bus driver shot a passenger in the chest because his victim had repeatedly criticised his road skills.

As one western police officer stationed at an embassy in Bangkok told AFP: "There is a real culture of guns in Thailand, its a military-style culture, a place of uniforms and male power."

Gun culture

Assessing the precise fallout of the kingdoms enthusiasm for weaponry is difficult.

The Thai government does not provide a specific breakdown for annual gun murders outside of the countrys deep south, where a local Muslim insurgency has killed more than 6,400 in the last decade.

But the Gunpolicy.org website, an online database of global gun statistics run by the University of Sydneys School of Public Health, believes Thailand has one of the highest gun homicide rates in Asia.

It estimates 3.48 murders per 100,000 people in Thailand, three times the rate of neighbouring Cambodia and on a par with the United States.

What is much clearer is the sheer number of weapons in civilian hands.

According to the Interior Ministry, there are 6.1 million registered firearms in Thailand, a country with 67 million people.

GunPolicy.org puts the total number of firearms at closer to 10 million, once the thriving black market trade is counted.

As the US State Departments Bureau for Diplomatic Security wrote in its safety report for overseas staff: "Thailand has a fervent gun culture on par with the United States and has become a world leader in firearms-related homicides."

But while the US has long experienced a passionate debate on gun control, Thailand largely greets the human toll of its firearms obsession with a collective shrug.

When you die, you die

"No one has taken responsibility, no one has really taken up the issue," lamented Kasit Piromya, a former foreign minister who believes tighter gun controls are needed, as well as an amnesty for illegal weapons.

The lack of outrage shown over gun murders, he believes is down to the concept of a karma.

"When you die, you die. Its acceptance and resignation. We take death calmly as part of life," said Kasit, who owns two registered pistols.

On paper Thailand has strict gun controls but the law is easily circumnavigated.

The sheer availability of weaponry concerns Police Colonel Akaradet Pimolsri, the head of Thailands police commando unit, each time his officers hit the streets.

"I want every gun to be registered," Akaradet of the elite Crime Suppression Division, told AFP at the units Bangkok headquarters.

A key step would be for the government to set up a database containing the "ballistic fingerprints" of all over the counter weapons.

In late July, AFP accompanied Akaradet and 200 of his commandos on a dawn raid in Uthai Thani, a central province renowned for its crime syndicates.

Their target were two suspects in a 2011 gun murder in which a policeman was killed.

His officers took no chances, arming themselves with assault rifles, shotguns and body armour.

But by the time the convoy reached a series of mansions on the outskirts of town there was no sign of the main suspects -- although 20 guns, ammunition and bullet proof vests were seized.

The killers are still on the loose, ready to be hired once more for a hit.

Back on Samui, an island where tourism is a crucial mainstay, police also responded forcefully to the killing of Panas, arresting the alleged gunmen and conducting a series of raids that netted almost 100 weapons, Akaradet said.

At the streetside restaurant where the killing took place, the tables are filled once more with tourists oblivious to the violence that occurred there three months ago.

Laurent Haroutinian, the French manager of the restaurant where the shooting took place, said they reopened after just two days.

"It was the first time I saw anything like this," he said. "And I hope it is the last"

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/A-bullet-and-a-body-Thailands-troubling-gun-murder-30266347.html

-- The Nation 2015-08-11

Be nice if foreigners could legally register guns at least to protect our homes. Specially with the amount of gun nuts out there

But with the way the law is that one can only buy an unregistered one which leave one in the hands of the wolves

Question if you were worried about a possible break in

Would you A shoot the intruder with an unlicensed gun then try to fight it out in court

Or B take a risk and don't arm yourself and just hope he doesn't shoot you and your whole family

Just interested in answer

[BuaBS]

Yes , I would love to buy a gun as a foreigner here in T-land. Much cheaper than in euroland. Just for fun , but we are not allowed. ( and with a silencer , because they make too much noise , and scare people and animals).

[Docno]

It wasn't all bad he came up with it seems:

First off, please don't circulate fake quotes made up by desperate gun lobbyists. Hitler never said these words. He only talked about ensuring that people in conquered territories are not armed so one need not fear armed insurrection (http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/disarm.asp). Would the American authorities have allowed gun ownership in the general Japanese population during the post-war occupation? Give that a moment of thought.

Second, with the exception of Jewish citizens, gun regulation was actually laxer under the Nazis than under preceding administrations (http://www.salon.com/2013/01/11/stop_talking_about_hitler/)

Please think critically before accepting and circulating the stuff that goes around the internet.

[Docno]

I suspect that there is a lot more to it than Buddhism and Karma, and would be interested to compare the gun / murder culture in Thailand to other Buddhist countries. Like many other things, I think it all comes down to corruption and poor policing that lets people think and act like we are back in the days of Al Capone.

Well, the article does say that the gun murder rate in Thailand is three times that of Cambodia, which I would expect is no less corrupt or efficiently policed.

[laislica]

Why don't they understand that the answer to many guns are more guns? Why don't they understand that to arm every man, woman and child is the only solution?? This is where the US is heading and you see how well it works there!!

This is about Thailand and not the USA. Focus is difficult to maintain for those with faulty lenses.

Sar-chasm.......

Yes of course you are correct.

Thai's know everything and have no need to learn from the success or mistakes of others.

[Docno]

It's interesting that while Thailand is in competition with the US as a gun culture, you don't seem to see the mass shootings in schools, theatres, and religious sites in the former that you so frequently see in the latter. So it's a somewhat different gun culture. My suspicion is that the difference lies in how guns themselves are viewed. In the US, they are almost a fetish ... they are seen as collectables, things of beauty and lust, and the only thing that keeps tyranny at bay. I don't see Thais glamorising guns in the same way -- guns are a tool for protection and dealing death. Two cultures experiencing a sickness, but one perhaps sicker than the other.

[tuanku]

when the police get their shiny new guns, their old ones (or the new ones) will be sold off and we will then have many thousands more guns in circulation

[Gandtee]

Why don't they understand that the answer to many guns are more guns? Why don't they understand that to arm every man, woman and child is the only solution?? This is where the US is heading and you see how well it works there!!

This is about Thailand and not the USA. Focus is difficult to maintain for those with faulty lenses.

Touched a nerve have we?

[dunroaming]

"But while the US has long experienced a passionate debate on gun control, Thailand largely greets the human toll of its firearms obsession with a collective shrug."

Not really like for like though. The big concerns in the US tend to be the mass killings at schools, colleges and workplaces. Most people in the US tend to accept the day to day murders by gun as part of the gun culture of the country

[oxo1947]

It wasn't all bad he came up with it seems:

Another complete lie from the NRA---- as Gobbles (the propaganda minister ) said , if you are going to lie make it a big lie & keep repeating it---if its said enough people will not refute it .It is a pity in these days when it is so easy to Google the truth---that some posters are to lazy ---or for other reasons to do so. Hitler relaxed the gun laws---for everyone except Jews.

Gun Law Germany 1928---1938-

The law was loosened in 1928, and gun permits were granted to citizens "of undoubted reliability" (in the law's words) but not "persons who are itinerant like Gypsies." In 1938, under Nazi rule, gun laws became significantly more relaxed. Rifle and shotgun possession were deregulated, and gun access for hunters, Nazi Party members, and government officials was expanded. The legal age to own a gun was lowered. Jews, however, were prohibited from owning firearms and other dangerous weapons...... http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/01/hitler-stalin-gun-control

[727Sky]

Why don't they understand that the answer to many guns are more guns? Why don't they understand that to arm every man, woman and child is the only solution?? This is where the US is heading and you see how well it works there!!

Actually if you did a little research on the statistics. you might have a different thought. Crime has dropped several percentage points in all the states that concealed carry is permitted. Places that have traditionally been gun free zones like, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, where a little over 500+ people are killed by their outlawed guns (gun free means no guns are allowed) every year should prove to most thinking people that outlawing the guns in the states will just permit the bad people to still have them. Difference between law abiding citizens and gangland thugs is the law abiding will do whatever the law says while the thugs just say, "Screw you come and get it".

Much of the violence you hear about in the states are turf wars as the drug cartels expand their distribution networks in the major cites.. Chicago was prime Pickens with their gun laws... IE bad guys have guns good guys lose ....every time...

Pistols commit most of the crimes yet the politicians always want to outlaw what they call an assault rifle. Assault rifle is a fully automatic rifle not a semi auto (semi-auto pull trigger gun fires one shot where an auto fires all it's bullets until no more ammo or it jams).Same with Thailand where a local can legally buy a pistol for about 100,000 baht (same pistol in the states cost around 300$) but when it comes to a rifle unless a .22 caliber forget it... Why because the government does not like competition; maybe rightly so.

You don't here about the 750,000 crimes (or more ) every year in the states where a gun stops someone from being raped, robbed, or murdered. That is not part of the MSN agenda.

I could probably fill the allotted space up with stories of how a gun saved someone's life but it would be a waste of my time... The lines are divided and both entrenched in their reasoning.. It really does not matter for the states has a pesky thing called the Constitution...... and all it takes is about 34 states for a constitutional change of the 2d amendment.

You hate guns and gun owners and live in the states then there is a mechanism for change.. Get busy.. Non citizens can talk all they want to and post on bulletin boards about evil guns and evil American policies.. Nothing will change until American citizens want to change the constitution.

Edited August 11, 2015 by 727Sky

[timendres]

Just the words ‘on a par with the United States’ should be enough for the Junta to spring into action create a few more new laws this sort of murder is almost as bad as boy racers on their nifty fifties and round up all the guns and have them crushed and ban the sale of ammunition in the country and the only source of ammunition would be the military or police.

Expect guns to be banned within 300 meters of schools very soon...

[NongKhaiKid]

' Troubling ', really ?

I may be wrong but I can't recall any official reaction over the years and for a country that just loves crackdown's no one seems bothered by the amount of guns in circulation and the willingness to use them often for the most minor of issues.

[MaiChai]

Thailand the Wild East. Never a dull moment.

Another article from The Nation apologizing for things wrong with Thailand. Almost like the journalists have the moral high ground being the educated elite who are embarrassed about the actions of their fellow countrymen.

[duckmandon]

Thailand the Wild East. Never a dull moment.

Another article from The Nation apologizing for things wrong with Thailand. Almost like the journalists have the moral high ground being the educated elite who are embarrassed about the actions of their fellow countrymen.

I think that journalists need to put this stuff out there. They have the power to reach millions upon millions of people here & elsewhere in the world. If they cannot be heard then how do we know what is happening in any country. There is so much wrong in this country that it will take years & years & years for it to get anywhere near close to catching up to civilized countries. I hate guns & there is no need for any civilian to own one. Let the people who uphold the law carry the guns & look after the people. POLICE. Here in Thailand its hard because of the rampant corruption which goes all the way up. Thailand needs to sack the total police force (with the armed forces looking after the people in the meantime) & train a new & not corrupt police force.

[BigC]

Why don't they understand that the answer to many guns are more guns? Why don't they understand that to arm every man, woman and child is the only solution?? This is where the US is heading and you see how well it works there!!

Actually if you did a little research on the statistics. you might have a different thought. Crime has dropped several percentage points in all the states that concealed carry is permitted. Places that have traditionally been gun free zones like, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, where a little over 500+ people are killed by their outlawed guns (gun free means no guns are allowed) every year should prove to most thinking people that outlawing the guns in the states will just permit the bad people to still have them. Difference between law abiding citizens and gangland thugs is the law abiding will do whatever the law says while the thugs just say, "Screw you come and get it".

Much of the violence you hear about in the states are turf wars as the drug cartels expand their distribution networks in the major cites.. Chicago was prime Pickens with their gun laws... IE bad guys have guns good guys lose ....every time...

Pistols commit most of the crimes yet the politicians always want to outlaw what they call an assault rifle. Assault rifle is a fully automatic rifle not a semi auto (semi-auto pull trigger gun fires one shot where an auto fires all it's bullets until no more ammo or it jams).Same with Thailand where a local can legally buy a pistol for about 100,000 baht (same pistol in the states cost around 300$) but when it comes to a rifle unless a .22 caliber forget it... Why because the government does not like competition; maybe rightly so.

You don't here about the 750,000 crimes (or more ) every year in the states where a gun stops someone from being raped, robbed, or murdered. That is not part of the MSN agenda.

I could probably fill the allotted space up with stories of how a gun saved someone's life but it would be a waste of my time... The lines are divided and both entrenched in their reasoning.. It really does not matter for the states has a pesky thing called the Constitution...... and all it takes is about 34 states for a constitutional change of the 2d amendment.

You hate guns and gun owners and live in the states then there is a mechanism for change.. Get busy.. Non citizens can talk all they want to and post on bulletin boards about evil guns and evil American policies.. Nothing will change until American citizens want to change the constitution.

Yes guns keep the peace. People are far less likely to disrespect you for no reason if they know that a fist fight could end up on death and the winner in jail.

There shall always be murders and burglars

Civilians should have the right to defend themselves in their homes and some people on some areas should be allowed in their cars depending on their job and the danger level in the area

[MrJohnson]

Law enforcement. Law enforcement . Law enforcement. Doesn't matter if it is gun control, road rules, counterfeiting, alcohol sales it all comes back to the same thing. There is no point in having a legal system if it is not upheld and enforced.

[Nobb]

The Uthai Thaini raid had to be warned by a inside police officer on there pay roll. The land of smiles is turning into the land of guns and murder!