Gun control in Thailand

On the 6th of October 2022, a mass shooting in a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lum Phu shook Thailand to its core. 36 lives were lost – of which 24 were children aged as little as two. A pregnant caretaker who was killed had just a month to go before giving birth. The massacre only ended when the perpetrator killed his wife and son at home, then turned the gun on himself.

As the nation wept for all the senseless deaths, questions emerged about how this could happen.

We dive into why tighter gun control laws – though crucial in our society – may not be enough to curb similar incidents from happening in the future.

More news in Thailand:

Tighter gun control sounds good on paper

The man believed responsible for the massacre was a 34-year-old former police officer. He began showing signs of trouble after he transferred to Nong Bua Lum Phu in 2019, according to Matichon. Despite apparent red flags during his tenure – drug use, needlessly discharging his firearm, and alcoholism – none of his police colleagues apparently stepped in to intervene.

And even after years of troubling signs, he was only suspended from the police force in 2021 after admitting to methamphetamine use that dated back to his secondary school years. After leaving the force, he was somehow still allowed to possess firearms in spite of his history of drug use and irresponsibility with guns.

For what it’s worth, the Thai government has once again ordered tighter gun control and a crackdown on drugs in response to this incident. They will be looking to revoke gun licences of individuals who cause “societal unrest and chaos” and recall firearms from officials and police officers who misuse them. Gun owners will also be required to go through regular mental check-ups to retain their firearms.

This response sounds terrific. On paper.

History has a habit of repeating itself

That’s because this isn’t the first time the government has promised to prevent mass shootings. Just 2 years ago in Korat, an active soldier stole firearms from the armoury at a nearby army base. He then killed 29 people and wounded 58 in a spree that lasted over 10 hours.

At the time, the attack was unprecedented. No one in Thailand wished to see something like this again. The authorities promised changes to prevent tragedies like this from occurring.

Yet, here we are today.

The promises made now and 2 years ago are part of a rush to plug up Thailand’s strict but porous laws. They do not address the underlying problem: enforcing these regulations.

The underlying problem lies in enforcing regulations

Despite its already very strict gun laws, there are over 6 million registered privately owned guns in a country of ~70 million, according to the Ministry of Interior. That’s just under one gun for every 12 people.

And this is only counting registered guns. GunPolicy.org reports that there are a total of over 10 million privately owned guns in Thailand, meaning that over 4 million of those are unregistered.

You would not expect 4 million guns, almost half the total, to be unregistered in a country with such strict gun control laws.

Image credit: Unsplash

But let’s get one thing straight: Thailand does not have a history of mass shootings. At least not yet. What it does have is rampant gun violence. Thailand has the highest reported rate of gun-related deaths in Southeast Asia, according to DW. 

Furthermore, Thailand is seen as Southeast Asia’s principal black market for firearms, states findings by GunPolicy.org. Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs in Chiang Mai, also told DW that guns are easy to obtain, especially along the Cambodian and Burmese borders.

Here’s a sampling of cases that have been reported in 2022 alone:

If gun laws are already strict by international standards, and it is still so easy to obtain firearms illegally—so much so that almost half of the country’s firearms are unregistered—then the problem is not the law.

But the incentives to abide by, and enforce them. Especially for state officials, and law enforcement officers themselves.

A compounded issue due to public trust in law enforcement

It is no secret that juniors in the Thai military and police force often face harsh economic conditions. 

One of the key reasons to explain the Nong Bua Lum Phu shooter’s motivations – he was an ex-cop turned killer – was that he had “no money”, shared Thai National Police Chief Damrongsak Kittipraphat.

Junior officers make very little wages and some turn to asking for bribes from citizens in order to make enough for a living, asserted prominent Thai opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit in an interview with TIME. 

Back in 2014, the Thai government actually offered money to traffic cops who turned down bribes. Cases of cops shaking down both locals and tourists are also circulated on social media, like this 2019 incident involving a Chiang Mai cop accepting ฿200 (~USD5) from a Chinese tourist.

Image credit: Wikimedia

We spot the same trend in more serious cases too – like this incident in February 2022 where cops in Nakhon Phanom allegedly accepted bribes to release drug dealers from custody. In short, more gun laws will not help reduce the amount of firearms in the wrong hands, if we don’t fix the root problem. Sadly, as things stand, officials overseeing these regulations are often incentivised to look the other way.

Thai people know this. There have been many calls for police and military reform when other heartbreaking events have occurred over the years.

A well-known case of a 24-year-old man who suffocated to death when the police tried to extort a ฿2 million baht (~USD60,000) bribe for his release in August 2021. Or the horrific irony, that this daycare shooting incident fell on the exact date of the Thammasat University massacre, 46 years later.

The last thing we want is a normalised culture of bribery extending to firearms regulations as well.

But when the odds are stacked this way, it is no wonder that many Thais see little reason to respect the law and its enforcers, or simply feel jaded by continuous promises to reform both.

Actions speak louder than words to reform systems

Even if Thailand succeeds in introducing more laws to control guns, the underlying issue remains: making sure existing laws are followed and enforced. In this potential reality where rhetoric is prized over action, there is little reason to believe that the Nong Bua Lum Phu tragedy will bring about lasting change.

And if the lives of 24 children aren’t a heavy enough toll, the cycle will continue – a nation trapped in an endless loop, unable to break away from our checkered history of gun violence.

In a broader sense, though stricter laws and more crackdowns may help in the short-run, we have to acknowledge that our current system’s structure only serves to incentivise people to go around those laws.

The families of these victims deserved better. To see their children grow up, graduate from school and start families of their own. And we owe it to them to honour their memory by making this the turning point. Not for a bleaker future, but for something better. A world in which these kids would have been able to nap in peace, dreaming of a better tomorrow.

Cover images adapted from (Clockwise from Top Left): Matichon

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