As part of a stepped-up gun control work, authorities did shut legal loopholes relating to firearm classification and website sales, according to federal police chief Torsak Sukvimol on Wednesday. This comes one day after two people were fatally shot in an online shopping mall in Bangkok.
According to Pol Gen Torsak, the gun used by the 14-year-old sniper at Siam Paragon was modified and originally intended to fire empty rounds, so it wasn’t classified as a lethal weapon and was probably bought online.
The boy will receive a medical evaluation at the juvenile detention facility where he is being held on charges of murder and other offenses.
According to Pol Gen Torsak, there are more than 10,000 of these legally imported weapons in use in Thailand, and police will collaborate with other federal agencies to redesign them as lethal weapons in order to prevent their trade.
In an interview with television network 3, he stated that” we want to make sure these weapons are controlled firearms because their adaptation makes them dangerous weapons.”
Former police officer Kritsanapong Phutrakul, who now works as a criminologist at Rangsit University, claimed that while it is against the law to modify bare firearms, legal services are available to do so.
According to reports, the weapons used at Paragon was modified with the aid of a YouTube videos.
The best e-commerce sites in Southeast Asia, Lazada and Shopee, were searched by Reuters on Wednesday and revealed a variety of empty guns for sale at prices starting at 5,000 baht.
Reuters questioned Shopee and Lazada, but they did not respond right away.
Lessons from previous murders
According to Mr. Kritsanapong, authorities can increase gun control by enhancing enforcement, including developing a quicker system for preventing websites and online services that offer to buy or improve firearms.
The political will to advocate for long-term weapons power is also crucial, he continued.
According to Pol Gen Torsak, the police may put together a team to combat the illegitimate online sale of firearms.
Existing laws prohibiting the possession of illegal firearms hold a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and an additional fine of 20,000 baht.
After numerous mass shootings in Thailand in recent years, regulations have become more stringent, including a need for medical examinations for those who want to purchase firearms or maintain their licenses.
In Nong Bua Lam Phu, northern Thailand, a former police officer killed 35 citizens in October, including 22 children( the majority of whom were stabbed). Additionally, at least 29 people were shot and killed in Nakhon Ratchasima in 2020 by a man.
According to a Bloomberg investigation, the killer used the Sig Sauer P365 in the Nong Bua Lam Phu problems, along with an increasing number of automatic handguns and rifles that American gun manufacturers export and are connected to violent acts.
A cannon amnesty bill was drafted by the previous administration in response to the killing in October, enabling those in possession of unregistered weapons to do so or surrender them during a grace period. Nonetheless, the act was not approved by parliament prior to the May general election.
According to Mr. Kritsanapong,” the government may learn the lessons from previous mass shooting incidents, review the suggested solutions, and rapidly implement them.”
Some firearms are illegally imported into the nation, but Mr. Kritsanapong claimed that online sales were starting to cause issues.
He told AFP that” very few police officials have the skills, knowledge, and expertise to observe the gun industry digitally.”
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered the law to strictly enforce rules relating to website weapon purchases in the wake of the horror on Tuesday.
Authorities had been taking the repression of gun-related murder quite seriously, according to Pol Gen Torsak.
He claimed that over the previous two years, police had detained more than 900 firearms and charged criminals in over 2, 000 cases.
However, according to information gathered by the Office of the Basic Education Commission( Obec ), students frequently use blank guns.
In order to control the goods of plain weapons by treating them like real guns, Pol Gen Torsak is coordinating with the Department of Provincial Administration, which oversees weapons membership.
In a crackdown on online con artists last year, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau( CCIB) had seized more than 2, 000 plain weapons with tons of gun shells, according to Pol Maj Gen Amnat Traipot, assistant key.
Additionally, the Office of Police Forensic Science has confirmed that a vacant weapons can be altered to fire an actual gun-like bullet with more force. According to Pol Maj Gen Amnat, it examines an average of more than 100 modified plain weapons per month.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the interior minister, announced that he would ask the Department of Provincial Administration to halt issuing weapon licenses to the general public in an effort to lessen gun ownership. Additionally, he proposed regulating the trade in BB guns and bare guns with requirements for lawful registration.
Thailand is the world’s 13th-largest cannon owner.
According to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey in 2017, Thais owned about 10.3 million guns, just 6.2 million of which were registered, putting the nation in 13th location worldwide for little gun possession.
According to the survey’s artists, Thai people had an average of 15 weapon per 100 people, making them the most gun owners in Southeast Asia.
With 393.3 million guns, the United States was at the top, followed by China( 49.7 million ), India ( 71.1 %), and China.
According to data from the World Population Review in 2022, Thailand had a level of 3.91 people per 100,000 people, making it the 15th-highest ranking in the world for firearm deaths, with 2, 804 fatalities.
With 9,267 gun deaths, the Philippines was the best nation in the Asian region.