One-year delay, according to the interior ministry, to lower high rate of gun violence
PUBLISHED: 13 Feb 2025 at 14: 30
As part of a federal effort to reduce violence, Thailand will suspend the issuance of new weapons carrying allows for one year starting on Friday.
According to Traisuree Taisaranakul, a government of interior representative, the order was signed by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Wednesday.
The Royal Gazette published the attempt on Thursday, and it will become effective on Friday.
Ms. Traisuree claimed that the order was made because of the frequent and unfounded use of firearms in public in Thailand. Some people show their firearms in public to deceive people.
Such practices could lead to violence and danger to person’s lives, properties and confidence, she said.
In Thailand, guns are costly and at least difficult to obtain. However, according to the interior ministry, there were 6.2 million weapon registered in the nation as of 2023. Another 4 million unregulated arms, often sourced from strife-torn places or smuggled in, were even estimated to be in flow.
Data from the World Population Review in 2022 indicated Thailand was ranked 15th worldwide in gun deaths with 2, 804 persons killed, for a level of 3.9 per 100, 000 people.
Gun-related crimes are common, with some generating national interest and stoking gun control disputes.
In November 2023, Mr. Anutin ordered the release of weapons carrying permits after a sexual teacher was killed in a gunfight between rival pupil gangs in Bangkok’s Klong Toey district.
In a three-day global assault following a fatal shooting at Bangkok’s Siam Paragon buying store, authorities seized more than 2, 000 illegal weapons and made 1, 593 offenders. A 14-year-old child was detained at the scene of the death of two people, and a fourth victim of accidents a week later.
After the Paragon firing, Mr Anutin suspended the release of grants for importing and trading weapon, as one of seven short-term steps to strengthen gun control. In the longer term, he said, officials would glance at amending the country’s 76-year-old weapon legislation to similar flaws.