Thailand, land of Smiles and shootings?

After several deadly shooting incidents, Thailand is questioning its gun culture.

Article published on February 20, 2020 and updated.

There was a shooting at a jewelry store in Lopburi, the Nakhon Ratchassima massacre, gunfire near Chulalongkorn University and the latest murder case in a busy shopping center in Bangkok.

Thailand, normally serene, has been on edge sincea soldier rampaged through a northeastern town this month, killing 29 people in a shootingthat ended in a confrontation with police at a shopping center.

Ten days later, a man entered a clinic in a busy Bangkok shopping center and shot his ex-wife before fleeing.

The suspect, a salesman from another Bangkok shopping center, confessed to killing his ex-wife who worked at a beauty clinic at Century Plaza and injuring another employee on Tuesday, February 18, said police spokesman Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen.

These murders, as well as several other highly publicized armed crimes, have drawn attention to the high rate of firearm ownership, even though the number of firearm murders has decreased in recent years.

Thailand had around 10 million private firearms in 2016, according to Gunpolicy.org, or about one gun for every seven citizens.

Out of this number, around 4 million were illegal.

Thais have complained on Twitter about the disappearance of their sense of personal security.

"I can't say if Thailand has a gun problem, but it certainly has a gun culture," said Michael Picard, research director at GunPolicy.org at the University of Sydney's School of Public Health.

"Guns are idolized as symbols of power and privilege because they are expensive and difficult to obtain legally.".

While the level of gun violence is high compared to some of Thailand's Southeast Asian neighbors, it has been declining for several years.

Thailand recorded 1,034 gun homicides in 2016, compared to 2,234 in 2012.

Malaysia recorded four in 2016, while the Philippines had over 7,000 in 2011, according to the latest data from GunPolicy.org.

While global armed violence may be declining, a sense of insecurity is growing in Bangkok.

Days after the mass shooting in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima, in the northeast, on February 8 and 9, a Bangkok man panicked his neighborhood by firing dozens of shots in a commercial area near Chulalongkorn University, but fortunately, no one was hurt and the man was arrested.

In January, a primary school teacher robbed a gold shop in a shopping center in Lopburi province, about two hours north of Bangkok, killing three people, including a two-year-old boy.

Many commentators have deplored the rise of urban violence as Thailand's metropolitan areas grow.

“It is possible that urban crime is increasing while other causes of firearm-related homicides are decreasing,” said Mr. Picard.

Firearms for sale online

Gun laws are considered strict in Thailand, where possession of an illegal firearm is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 20,000 baht (590 euros).

However, law enforcement is a challenge due to the circulation of illegal firearms, corruption in the security sector, and new online channels for purchasing firearms.

“An emerging means of acquiring illegal firearms in Thailand is through the use of social media platforms,” said Mr. Picard.

“This has made it even easier to acquire an illegal firearm, because anyone can do it as long as they have an internet connection and a bank account”.

A used 38 Smith & Wesson can be found online for as low as 20,000 bahts.

To legally obtain a firearm in Thailand, it takes approximately three months of application process at the provincial department and around 1,500 bahts in fees, according to a Ministry of Interior official.

Most of the crimes committed with firearms in the past two months, including mass shootings, were committed with authorized firearms.

But authorities say that gun-related crimes have only attracted attention because they have occurred in close succession.

“Firearms crimes have not increased,” said police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen to Reuters.

“There are crimes that involve no weapons, and crimes that involve knives, guns, and clubs, and they can all kill people.

It's just that the incidents (related to firearms) happened around the same time.

See also: Thailand and guns: The media mention thousands of deaths from gun violence

Source: nytimes.com, businessmirror.com