Gun Laws in Thailand

[Arkady]

1 hour ago, JohnnyJazz said:

The big talk at my shooting range this morning was the suicide of the Korean guy in Phuket. Everybody was looking at the video and asking the same question : why foreigners come to Thailand to commit suicide. It seems that every year at about the same time (March) a foreigner kill himself at a shooting range in Thailand. Don't be surprised to be turn down when you try to join your local shooting range, foreigners have the reputation to be dangerous lunatics who shouldn't be allowed to come close to a gun.

 

Very sad. It's not easy to get any access to firearms in Korea and many other countries. There is not much information about this suicide attempt - he survived the initial shooting -  but it seems that this guy may have come to Thailand for another purpose and got depressed while here.

 

I think it is actually quite common in Thailand and not just amongst foreigners.  There is a rather tasteless clip on Youtube of a Thai woman shooting herself in the head at the Navy range in Bkk from the CCTV and the staff member walks up to her prone body looking like he is just irritated at another one.  I know of a wealthy Thai who also chose to end his own life at the Navy range, using a rented gun.  At the Raksa Dindaeng range at Sanam Luang several years ago a Thai was shot in the head and killed by a girl, who was apparently his companion, with a rented .22 rifle.  The girl ran off out the back door of the range and no one ever found out who she was or whether it was an accident or murder, despite the fact that the deceased turned out to be the nephew of a senior civil servant.  The range had not bothered to get any details of either of them as visitors, whom they shouldn't have let in without a member anyway, before letting her rent a gun and shoot it.  They were only interested in making money.

 

This sort of slackness at many ranges is one of the problems, particularly in tourist areas like Phuket.  Suicides at ranges can be greatly reduced by not renting guns to people who arrive alone or by not renting guns out at all, which is probably the most sensible but least profitable approach.  Gun owners have no need to go to a range to shoot themselves and people intending to rent a gun to commit suicide are quite unlikely to bring a buddy with them.  I remember being refused a gun rental when I arrived at a range alone in San Francisco.  The guy bluntly explained that he had already had to clean up brains and stuff from solo gun renters twice and didn't want to have to do it again. Makes sense. 

 

Another issue is safety at ranges where tourists who have never touched a gun before shoot.  Before the mysterious rifle shooting death at the range at Sanam Luang they were in the habit of taking in busloads of Japanese tourists, even though foreigners are not allowed to go to the range, unless as a guest of a member.  I once saw a Japanese woman there pointing a rented revolver at her friends who were taking pictures of her.  Last year I suddenly found myself there shooting next to a Chinese woman, who had obviously never touched a gun before, so I packed up and went home. Language can also a problem at ranges where tourists shoot and there are not many places where it is more  important to understand and follow instructions from the staff.

 

 

[daveAustin]

Don't be surprised to be turn down when you try to join your local shooting range, foreigners have the reputation to be dangerous lunatics who shouldn't be allowed to come close to a gun.

As opposed to Thais who are totally compos mentis at all times, don't have issues when they lose face and should all be allowed to carry arms as a result of their cool-headedness and sound mind?

[Kwasaki]

15 hours ago, Arkady said:

Another issue is safety at ranges where tourists who have never touched a gun before shoot.

The army shoot in CM although expensive l observed were very good on safety IMO.

[Arkady]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

The army shoot in CM although expensive l observed were very good on safety IMO.

 

Of course, some are good on safety.  The Air Force range at Don Muang is and the Sor Ror Phor at Ram Indra only rents guns to students to take their courses.  The biggest problems come where tourists are involved, not because they are foreigners but because it is just another dangerous activity they can try in Thailand for the first time without any proper tuition, like motor biking, jet skiing etc. and the locals just want to make a buck from them.

[Arkady]

Interested in winning a Smith & Wesson 625 JM .45 ACP revolver?  The Smith & Wesson Classic 2017 is coming up on 17-18 June at the 11th Army Circle shooting range in Bangkaen.  Competitors need to use a Smith & Wesson handgun.  For other details call the number on the flyer.

 

The Smith & Wesson 625 JM was designed by champion speed shooter Jerry Miculek and is derived from the M1917 .45 ACP revolvers that were produced by Colt and Smith & Wesson for the US military in World War I to supplement the short supply of M1911 semi-auto pistols, designed by John Moses Browning for Colt, and were adapted to use the same .45 ACP pistol ammunition.  To stop the rimless semi-auto ammunition from sliding down the revolver cylinder away from the firing pin, the cartridges were loaded in steel half moon clips.  Today's revolvers that fire .45 ACP and 9mm Luger semi-auto ammunition use plastic or steel full moon clips which are favoured by speed shooters for faster reload time over standard speed loaders.

 

Just about everyone who has had the chance to shoot a 625 JM agrees it is a fantastic revolver to shoot.  

[HaleySabai]

On 2016-10-31 at 5:46 AM, Don Mega said:

 

 

Break the law and go to jail, what a strange concept !!

No....break law - pay Big Man - OR -  go to jail.

[Don Mega]

2 hours ago, HaleySabai said:

No....break law - pay Big Man - OR -  go to jail.

Seems that the days for the average pleb paying off the big man are rapidly diminishing, If you come from a seriously wealthy family that option will be there.

[bheard]

 
Come on, no need to go there. US and AU are cool. We got the gun thing ingrained in our DNA (Unless your a Lib) so were a little different. 

Objection your honour.
In Australia (AU) we don't have guns in our dna. Not at all!!
Thank god for that.

[Gary A]

For you anti gun folks, you should be making new laws about drugs,,,,,,,,,,, Oh wait, they are already illegal.  Drug overdoses now kill more US people than firearms.

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, Gary A said:

For you anti gun folks, you should be making new laws about drugs,,,,,,,,,,, Oh wait, they are already illegal.  Drug overdoses now kill more US people than firearms.

 

So because drugs are killing people guns are acceptable? That logic is fundamentally flawed...

[Gary A]

15 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

So because drugs are killing people guns are acceptable? That logic is fundamentally flawed...

It just shows that gun laws are useless. The old statement is, "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns".

[Arkady]

Just to remind you that this thread is about gun laws in Thailand, not the US, Australia or elsewhere.  There are many other forums for discussion of those topics.  Thailand's gun law is  embodied in its first major piece of firearms hlegislation, The 1946 Firearms Act.  It has been amended several times and fleshed out with ministerial regulations and letters but remains the same in essence, i.e. that members of the public  with basic qualifications have the right to purchase and own firearms to be kept at their registered addresses for use for protection of life and property. The weapons can be taken outside the home with permission (i.e. a Por 12 concealed carry licence which is now extremely difficult to obtain) or for a good reason which is not defined in the law.  However, there are precedents from the courts that indicate various reasons that might be accepted as "good" ones within the confines of the law.  These would include taking licensed guns for repair, for practice or sporting purposes at an accredited gun range, dealing with an immediate threat outside the immediate confines of the registered address, travelling to another province to collect cash in excess of 200,000 baht and so on and so forth.

 

Currently there is a complete new firearms act under consideration and very little of its proposed content has been revealed to the public, except that there will be an increase in fees for gun licences.  There might well be some big surprises in this new legislation, when and if it ever gets on the statute books.   However, there is not a popular or political anti-gun lobby in Thailand and the Thai police are known to be in favour of at least maintaining the status quo, as they like the idea of letting the public protect themselves from home invasion without bothering the police. The Ministry of the Interior has a huge programme of importing firearms, over and above the quotas it allocates to gun shops,  to sell to civil servants at a discount. This must be extremely lucrative for a select few at the ministry and is a benefit that many civil servants would hate to lose.  (Even if they are not gun nuts, they can buy the guns at a discount and keep them for five years, after which they can be transferred to the general public at the market price.)  So there is unlikely to be much support from the bureaucracy for tighter gun control.    Authoritarian figures have occasionally surfaced, e.g. Thaksin, with ideas of stricter gun control.  One of his Interior Ministers, Snoh Tienthong did come out with some ministerial regulations and guidelines that made it harder to get gun licences but there was no permanent amendment made to the law in his time and all his minor reforms were rolled back soon after his departure.  We have authoritarian types in power again but they have not hinted at any major tightening of the law.  In that case, one might ask, why do they want a complete new law.  The answer is we will have to wait and see.

[Kwasaki]

18 hours ago, Arkady said:

We have authoritarian types in power again but they have not hinted at any major tightening of the law.  In that case, one might ask, why do they want a complete new law.  The answer is we will have to wait and see.

This comment reminded me of old Thai guys in our village of two people l know who have these really old single barrel shotguns handed down from family.

Don't know what age they are but one of them l saw had a nice bit of engraving,  with a bit of gunsmith care l guess it could be sorted into a good looking old gun.

They have no gun licenses as you would expect so wondered if they could continue to keep them in the family.

[hansnl]

On 10/30/2016 at 9:34 PM, happynthailand said:

"NO",that type of gun is a war weapon,Thai citizen's can't own a weapon like that

Every kind of firearm, bow and arrow, sword, pike, axe, knife might be called a war weapon.

And has been and will be used in war.

An assault rifle then?

Every rifle can be used and has been used in assaults.

It is just a semiautomatic rifle, or maybe even an automatic.

Or maybe a toy, shooting little balls.

Do remember, without getting very nervous, people can kill and do kill.

With any kind of tool usable for killing.

[Arkady]

On 5/23/2017 at 3:49 PM, Kwasaki said:

This comment reminded me of old Thai guys in our village of two people l know who have these really old single barrel shotguns handed down from family.

Don't know what age they are but one of them l saw had a nice bit of engraving,  with a bit of gunsmith care l guess it could be sorted into a good looking old gun.

They have no gun licenses as you would expect so wondered if they could continue to keep them in the family.

 

I think there was an interim period after the 1946 Firearms Act was promulgated when gun owners were allowed to take in existing guns and get them registered. As far as I know there isn't any legal mechanism for getting them registered now. If there were an amnesty for unlicensed firearms, as they have sometimes had in the past, it would be only for weapons being turned in to be destroyed.  

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Arkady said:

If there were an amnesty for unlicensed firearms, as they have sometimes had in the past, it would be only for weapons being turned in to be destroyed.  

Such a lovely old gun seems a shame but the law is the law l guess.

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed. 

[Editorial]

A few boys in brown will soon be knocking at someone's door, if not already done...

[Kwasaki]

12 hours ago, Editorial said:

A few boys in brown will soon be knocking at someone's door, if not already done...

Could you please explain why you would think that. 

[Kwasaki]

Just order one of these from eBay for target shooting. 

 

http://www.tactical-life.com/firearms/anzio-ironworks-monstrous-20mm/

[Kabula]

123RF is on the photo.

 

123RF is a photo stock company.

 

It appears she copied and pasted a stock photo!

 

LOL

[bazza73]

On 5/22/2017 at 7:12 PM, Gary A said:

For you anti gun folks, you should be making new laws about drugs,,,,,,,,,,, Oh wait, they are already illegal.  Drug overdoses now kill more US people than firearms.

Why? Drugs are a criminal activity, so extremely variable in quality. The overdoses come from getting a batch which has been adulterated with other chemicals, or the purity is higher than the drug addict is used to.

Legalising drugs would be a big step towards eliminating deaths from overdoses. And has a lot of other societal benefits.

I'm not anti-gun. I used to own firearms. In Australia, you can still own guns for hunting or sporting purposes. What I don't get is the American fetish for handguns and automatic weapons whose only purpose is to kill people. If you are a genuine hunter, a bolt-action rifle with a five-shot magazine is all anyone should need.

 

[Gary A]

1 hour ago, bazza73 said:

Why? Drugs are a criminal activity, so extremely variable in quality. The overdoses come from getting a batch which has been adulterated with other chemicals, or the purity is higher than the drug addict is used to.

Legalising drugs would be a big step towards eliminating deaths from overdoses. And has a lot of other societal benefits.

I'm not anti-gun. I used to own firearms. In Australia, you can still own guns for hunting or sporting purposes. What I don't get is the American fetish for handguns and automatic weapons whose only purpose is to kill people. If you are a genuine hunter, a bolt-action rifle with a five-shot magazine is all anyone should need.

 

 

Yes, guns are for killing people who are trying to kill you. Why do you suppose that isolated farm home don't suffer home invasions like city homes? I'll tell you why. These farm homes usually have a loaded gun sitting in a corner. Their children respect those weapons and are taught and know how to use them. Violent killers don't want to die so they choose  homes that are not likely protected with firearms. Not all farm homes are that well protected but most are. Why take a chance of getting shot when there are safer targets in a city where owning a gun is illegal.

[Gary A]

Years ago I was a licensed firearms dealer. I gave up when the paperwork simply became too much to put up with. After I quit the business, I had a 12 gun gun cabinet that was always full. A couple of the guns were always loaded. The cabinet was left open and only locked when we were not going to be home. Both my children were taught to respect the guns and both knew how to use them. My daughter didn't like guns but she was also well trained how to use them.

[Kwasaki]

I thought this was a Thailand gun law thread.  

[Arkady]

A series of off topic and inflammatory posts has been removed.

 

Kawasaki is right. Please try to stick to the topic of Thailand gun laws. There are very few threads in English on this topic for those interested, so please don't clutter this one up with irrelevant comments. There are plenty of other threads available elsewhere for you to express your views on gun laws in other countries.

[Ace of Pop]

Most Cities have a Clay Pigeon type range nearby ,I found them rather expensive though , been to a Handgun Range , much cheaper ,and with being a member could legally own a Gun . But living in Thailand where they vet their Imegrants I see little need for one.?


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[Kwasaki]

28 minutes ago, Ace of Pop said:

Clay Pigeon type range

One of the UK hobbies l miss. 

[transam]

5 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

One of the UK hobbies l miss. 

You will laugh, I gave up the sport a bit before they took away gun licenses, why, one day at our club a guy turned up with his gun and ammo in a Russian Army uniform, he was English.....

 

So, as the song goes..."We gotta get out of this place"....

[Ace of Pop]

One of the UK hobbies l miss. 

I got up to A in Sporting Gun . Started with an old Fabarm thing,then 682 Multi Barreta ended up with a Parrazi that didn't Realy need me toHit Em . Regard it like TAs Pontiac.??


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