BANGKOK: Near Bangkok’s Chinatown, there are at least 40 authorised gun shops – some of which offer to handle all the gun licence paperwork.
A new handgun can be bought legally for about 85,000 baht (US$2,200). Buyers who fork out a little more can possibly get a permit in two weeks – a fraction of the two-and-a-half months or so that it usually takes.
The ease in obtaining a gun reflects how lax Thailand’s gun control laws are, said critics.
There have been calls for tighter gun control in the country after a mass shooting at a nursery in the north-eastern Nong Bua Lam Phu province on Oct 6. That day, a sacked police officer went on a gun-and-knife rampage, killing 37 people including 24 children.
Dr Boonwara Sumano, a senior research fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute, said the process of gun permit issuing takes about 80 days.
“So if you would like to apply for a gun permit, you can visit the district office, which has around 900 locations in Thailand,” she said.
“But if you want to submit an application for the child allowance for social security, you have to go to the social security office which has around 70 locations nationwide.
“So, it’s much easier to get guns, (as compared with making) sure that your child has good well-being.”