Thailand's government has frozen new gun licences and ordered a review of existing permits following a school shooting outside Bangkok that killed nine people, including the teenage attacker himself. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul directed the interior ministry and police to stop issuing permits to purchase, possess and carry firearms, calling for "tighter controls and decisive penalties" as the country absorbed its deadliest mass killing in years.
The order came on the same day the bodies of the 14-year-old gunman and the grandparents he killed were cremated at a Buddhist temple in Nonthaburi, a city just north of the Thai capital. According to the Guardian and Reuters, the white caskets of the couple were laid out at the Tem Rak Samakkhi temple alongside their portraits, while the boy's smaller casket was placed to the side, surrounded by white flowers.
What happened at the school
Officials say the teenager first shot dead the grandparents who had raised him at their home in Nonthaburi last Friday, before travelling to his school and opening fire. Reuters reported that the attack, at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, left six people dead before the boy killed himself, bringing the total toll to nine including the shooter.
Thailand News reported that the 9mm handgun used in the attack was legally registered to the boy's grandfather, a detail that has sharpened debate over how easily firearms already inside households can end up in the wrong hands. CNN reported that police said the gunman had previously had an air gun confiscated by a teacher, though investigators have not established a clear motive.
“"I want to tell him that being 14 is just a small fraction of your entire life, and every problem has a solution. Not everything is the end of the world," a 70-year-old mourner named Tawee told AFP, offering compassion for the young attacker.”
A country with deep gun culture
The measures Anutin announced go further than a simple licence freeze. Reuters reported that police were ordered to stop renewing permits that allow people to buy firearms, and that Anutin directed a deputy prime minister overseeing legal affairs to expedite a new gun control law with stronger controls and significantly harsher penalties. Registered firearms must be kept at home and cannot be carried in public, he said, reiterating existing law.
CNN reported that the government's directive also included suspending new "welfare gun" programmes, which allow eligible public officials, including civil servants and politicians, to buy discounted weapons, alongside plans to inspect gun dealers nationwide and verify sales records. Thailand News reported that a new bill is expected to be proposed within 60 days.
For European readers, the scale of Thai gun ownership is striking. Bangkok Post reported that Thailand had an estimated 10.3 million firearms in civilian possession, equating to around 15 guns per 100 residents, the highest rate in the region by a wide margin, according to a 2017 Small Arms Survey estimate. That is a far higher rate than most EU member states, where private firearm ownership is generally tightly licensed and restricted to hunting, sport shooting or specific security roles.
The Nonthaburi shooting marks the country's worst mass killing in nearly four years, according to multiple outlets covering the aftermath. It follows other recent gun violence in Thailand, including a separate shooting at a government office in the same province days later, in which a former lawmaker was accused of killing a local official.
Officials have stressed the current measures are a stopgap. Government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said the Interior Ministry and Royal Thai Police had been instructed to suspend renewals of purchase, possession and carry permits until the cabinet decides otherwise, pending the passage of a permanent law with stiffer penalties for illegal weapons.
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