Thailand tightens gun controls after deadly school shooting

By Kocha Olarn, Jessie Yeung, CNN

Bangkok (CNN) — Thailand is suspending new gun permits and tightening its firearm controls after last week’s deadly school shooting, in which a 14-year-old boy killed eight people before turning the gun on himself.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul issued the directive on Tuesday, ordering government officials to “urgently elevate firearm control measures across the entire system,” according to a statement from his office.

The measures include temporarily suspending the issuance of gun purchase permits, re-reviewing all permits still pending approval, and suspending new “welfare gun” programs – which allow eligible public officials, including civil servants and politicians, to buy discounted weapons.

Government agencies will also now inspect gun dealers nationwide and verify sales records; inspect ammunition at shooting ranges to check that they’re following regulations; and “accelerate crackdowns on illegal firearms, rigorously prosecute offenders, and request maximum penalties from the court,” the directive read.

The statement also lays out broader reforms that will take longer to legislate, such as increasing penalties for offenders, tightening ammunition controls for gun dealers and ranges, and requiring that gun permits be renewed on a more frequent basis.

An initial compensation of 1 million baht (about $30,166) has been approved for six of the deceased victims, the statement said.

The mass shooting has shone a new spotlight on Thailand’s high levels of gun ownership, both licensed and unlicensed.

Last Friday, the 14-year-old gunman first killed his grandparents at their home, where he also lived, before opening fire at a secondary school and killing six people there. He then killed himself. It was the country’s worst mass shooting since 2022.

Police said on Sunday the gunman had previously had an air gun confiscated by a teacher last year, and had watched violent content online, using social media to learn how to use a firearm. The firearm he used is believed to have been his grandfather’s.

Thailand has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in Southeast Asia, with around 15 guns per 100 people. Its firearm death rate is similarly elevated, second in the region only to the Philippines.

Countries with higher gun ownership rates tend to see correspondingly higher firearm death rates. Multiple studies link easy access to firearms with more frequent gun-related deaths, including through suicide, homicide and unintentional injury.

As well as reigniting debate about gun control in Thailand, the shooting has put a focus on mental health for students and young people.

The Ministry of Education said it would develop new safety protocols in the coming months, including mental health screenings and a system to refer at-risk people to specialists, drills for emergency response plans, a drive to stamp out bullying and better detection to stop items from being taken into schools.

Mass shootings elsewhere in the world have often led to stricter gun control measures. Serbia and New Zealand, two nations with comparatively high gun ownership rates, both tightened rules and brought in gun amnesty drives following horrific massacres in recent years.

The outlier remains the United States, where gun violence and rates of mass shootings are among the highest in the world, with little progress made on tighter laws in the face of strong lobbying and constitutional protections.

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