WEB DESK: Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Friday announced plans to introduce a new firearms control law after a shooting rampage near Bangkok left at least eight people dead, renewing calls for stricter gun regulations in Southeast Asia’s highest gun-owning nation.
Speaking to reporters, Anutin said the proposed legislation would prohibit the public from carrying firearms, allowing only government officials on official duty to do so. He did not provide further details on whether the law would also tighten gun ownership requirements.
The announcement came after a teenage gunman fatally shot his grandparents before killing at least five other people and then himself at a school on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Under Thailand’s current legal framework, separate licences are required for owning and carrying firearms.
According to a 2017 estimate by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, Thailand has approximately 10.3 million civilian-owned firearms, equivalent to around 15 guns for every 100 residents, the highest rate in Southeast Asia. Of those weapons, more than six million are registered, while about four million are believed to be unregistered.
Thailand has witnessed several high-profile mass shootings in recent years, including attacks at schools, a major shopping mall in Bangkok and a 2022 massacre in the country’s northeast that claimed 36 lives, including 22 children.
Following a shooting at a Bangkok shopping mall in October 2023, Anutin, then serving as interior minister, introduced several gun control measures, including a temporary suspension of new firearm licences, restrictions on gun imports and a ban on people under the age of 20 from using shooting ranges.
Long-term proposals also included mandatory medical certificates to assess the mental health and psychological condition of gun owners, as well as fixed validity periods for certain firearm licences.
However, experts say Thailand’s current licensing system still lacks mandatory mental health screening for gun applicants, allows firearm ownership from the age of 20 and does not require periodic reassessments of licence holders.
Piyaporn Tunneekul, an associate professor at Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, said Thailand’s firearm regulations remained inadequate and called for stronger preventive measures, including laws similar to “red-flag” legislation adopted in several other countries, which allows authorities to temporarily remove firearms from individuals considered a danger to themselves or others.
She said repeated mass shootings highlighted the urgent need for comprehensive reforms to prevent future tragedies.
