Thailand's "method" of gun control, PRK trying to follow

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twoblink

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Well,

I went to Thailand (Phuket Island) and got back last week. It was beautiful.. I took my gf to the range also... (Her first time shooting) She only got 1 on paper, but it's the fun that counts...

That said, Thailand has very loose control on guns, but very tight control on ammo. They have an "annual brass count", that means, if your range has registered 1000 rounds of 9mm, then, at the end of the year, there'd better be 1000 9mm casings, or else someone is going to jail..

On the surface, the "guns aren't dangerous if nobody has bullets" sounds logical, and this is now the new PRK argument (Mike Hernandez and the LA City Counsel should be sent somewhere with fire and brimstone, but I digress) That ammo control is effective..

Actually.. It's not.. Here's why.

Notice, it's an annual ammo count. The tax on it is very high ($1.50US PER BULLET!!) So they figure nobody can really afford to buy large quantities..

Well, I take some ammo, I shoot and kill people, I reload it, ... TA DA!! At the end of the year, I'm still ok, as long as I keep the brass!

So I don't know what kind of Bureaucratic Rat thought this up, but it's so stupid it's incredible..

I don't know which is worse though, the law it self, or the fact that the PRK is using it as a model..

Oh, before the compliants roll in, it's not really the PRK, it's really just LA City Proper, but I'm sure, if it was implimented, the People's Republik of San Fran or People's Republik of Oakland will follow..

I have confidence in Oakland, with sky high crime rates and Ebonics, nothing from the Oak town surprises me anymore..

:cuss: :banghead:
 
By any chance did you go to Phi Phi (sp?) island..this is where the movie"The Beach" was filmed. Looks like a awsome place if you ask me. Saw the above location on E!s' "Wild On" show.

Now back to the topic.
 
"that means, if your range has registered 1000 rounds of 9mm, then, at the end of the year, there'd better be 1000 9mm casings, or else someone is going to jail..."

On my best days, I'm able to find 90 out of 100 cases after scrounging around in the grass. You can go to jail for not finding all your brass? :rolleyes:
 
"that means, if your range has registered 1000 rounds of 9mm, then, at the end of the year, there'd better be 1000 9mm casings, or else someone is going to jail..."

On my best days, I'm able to find 90 out of 100 cases after scrounging around in the grass. You can go to jail for not finding all your brass? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I think revolvers might be very popular over there.
 
Gun shop are mostly 'mom & pop' family business in the large cities of Thailand. There is one main street in Bangkok where the gundealers sell out of. Interesting thing is that the local Thais sell to thais, the Chinese sell to Chinese & Indians sell to Indians.

Buyers are nominally kept tracked of, but the way the Thai govt. controls gun importation is by limiting how many firearms each business can import every year (ie., you can only import & sell 20 Glocks per calender year). Citizens can buy and own handguns and shotguns and certain hunting rifles legally. Guns I saw displayed were stainless S&W revolvers to Glocks, BHPs, mossberg & 870s and SPas shotguns. Stainless pistols are very popular as well as Glocks due to the humid conditions. You can get carry permits by filing & paying a fee, although many don't bother if they are pals with local police.

But in reality, the gun trade is fast & loose if you really want one. Thai corruption allows senior military officers to issue gun "final destination certificates" to intl. gun manufacturers and they the take these legal guns and pass them along to gun dealers for additional under the table sales. The military is/was responsible for much of the military arms trade in SE Asia from Vietnam era onwards and continues to do so today. Thai businessmen are still the primary providers of weapons & munitions to various rebel groups from Cambodia to the armies operating out of Myanmar & the Iron Triangle.

In border towns & villages, AKMs go for $150-250, bullets can be bought, but they do cost about $1/bullet.
 
Unbelievable.

Moved to the laws and politics area.

pax

I believe everyody in the world should have guns. Citizens should have bazookas and rocket launchers too. I believe that all citizens should have their weapons of choice. However, I also believe that only I should have the ammunition. Because frankly, I wouldn't trust the rest of the goobers with anything more dangerous than string. -- Scott Adams (creator of "Dilbert.")
 
There are literally millions of small islands around Thailand, there is absolutely no border patrol there, it's simply not possible...

And so guns coming in from china etc.. are not stoppable. There's no way..

When I went shooting there, there is extensive logging and cataloging of everything, from guns to bullet to time... EXCEPT who is actually using the gun! You'd think this was important, but it's not.. They care about the guns and bullets, not the people..

The laws there make no sense...

Have a bullet shell, go to jail, have a gun, it's ok?? :banghead:
 
"if your range has registered 1000 rounds of 9mm, then, at the end of the year, there'd better be 1000 9mm casings, or else someone is going to jail.."

I don't get it, are you allowed to own ammo, or is all ammo kept at the range ? In other words you buy the ammo at the range, shoot it all there and they make sure you turn in the right amount of brass ?
 
They have an "annual brass count", that means, if your range has registered 1000 rounds of 9mm, then, at the end of the year, there'd better be 1000 9mm casings, or else someone is going to jail.
Click to expand...

So keep a stash of extra casings ... sounds pretty easy to get around (or am I missing something?)
 
What happens at the end of the year if they turn in 1001 pieces of brass ? :D
 
Hello from Thailand
I am a LEO in Thailand. For many issues here I would like to share some information as follows:
1. Gun control law: In summary, Thai civilian can own
1.1 Pistol and revolver of caliber smaller than 11.44 mm. That the barrel is not exceed 7 inches.
1.2 Shotgun
1.3 Rifle of caliber smaller than .45 inch. Full auto and semi auto are prohibited except .22
1.4 Air rifle
2. For each purchase of the mentioned arms. The applicants in Bangkok (the capital) must apply to the Registration Division of the Police and the provincial applicants must apply to the District Administration Office. The required document are:
2.1 Thai citizen ID card and copy.
2.2 Resident Registration document and copy.
2.3 Recommendation from the workplace signed by board of the company for civilian applicants or signed by officer of the rank of Colonel or above for government officers.
2.4 Fingerprint certificate from the residential police station. The government officers had finger printed when they joined the agencies but the civilian applicants have to arrange this by themselves.
2.5 Bank statement for civilian applicants.
3. All applicants must apply for purchase license in person and specify the type and caliber of arms they want to purchase, this include air rifle, and wait for approx. 2 week for the result then they can pay the fee and wait for another fortnight for the purchase license. The application can be declined for any reason. .45, .357 and rifle except .22 purchase license are especially difficult to obtain. Despite all difficulties occurred, the purchase fee is less than 15 cent.
4. With the purchase license the arm can be bought at gun shop. Then the “Arm registration document†will be issued. It indicate the owner, residence, type of arm, caliber, brand, factory number and arms registration number forged when the gun was imported. The arm is to be kept at the residence and transported only by the owner. Other person can use it only in extreme emergency.
5. The mentioned process is apply to resale or arms inherit.
6. There is no limit for the purchase. Some people can manage to possess more than 100 arms but normal enthusiasts normally possess around 5-20 pieces.
7. Ammo purchase is to be license. The application is less difficult but only 12 cartridge can be purchase each time. In fact this law is almost not enforced and people can purchase a lot of ammo at gun shop or shooting range. The brass count is extremely rare, I don’t think that it is really enforced. Sometime the range buys the brass back for reload. Practically the range ammo can be brought back home.
8. Arms are really expensive here, a Glock 19 costs 1,100 USD, a Kimber 1,800-2,000 USD, Ruger 10/22 450 USD, good 9 mm or .45 ammo is around 1 USD a piece, .44 magnum is around 2 USD a piece while a .30-06 can be 3 USD a piece.
9. NOW we are having the real trouble. On May 29, 2003, Ministry of Interior issued 6 month order that prohibit new arm registration for any person who already has 2 arms. The order expired on December 31, 2003 but it is very likely that new gun control law is in progress.
10. Some shooters and I are organizing the first RKBA association in Thailand. There are some shooting sport organizations for certain kind of shooting but not for RKBA objective.
11. Illegal arms trade in this region is a complicated issue. After 1975 VN has always influence Cambodia and succeed in overthrown the Khmer Rough government in the capital so the KR move to Thai border while VN stationed their troops in Cambodia. To deter VN Thailand in cooperation with China have supported Khmer Rough. A lot of Chinese arms moving around this sub-regional underground. The westerns also oppose VN, BBC programme stated that the British SAS also help KR in lad mine planting. Anyway, illegal arms can be obtained without much difficulty in Thailand and criminals are never in short of them.
12. If you want vacation in real beaches please try Trang and Krabi Province that also are in the southern Thailand. They are more nature than Phuket Province

Best regard.

PS Some shooting ranges here make dirty profit on tourists ESP Japanese and Chinese. Those who never touch real gun can rent a rusty .38 and shoot it at 2-3 USD per ammo.
 
10. Some shooters and I are organizing the first RKBA association in Thailand. There are some shooting sport organizations for certain kind of shooting but not for RKBA objective.
Click to expand...

Please PM me. As the representative of the International RKBA group called the Self-Defense Network, I will be please to hear about your efforts.
 
Why, thank you Mr. Goodglock for the skivvy on Thailand's gun laws.
 
Thank you very much for your concern of the people’s right here, many who walk the street here don’t realize it.

Continue…
Although there are more than 2 millions registered guns in the country of 63 millions people, the gun enthusiasts are not the big group. There are 5 monthly gun magazine in Thailand. There may be 15-20 shooting competition annually, maybe there are some more program but I don’t closely follow what I don’t join such as IPSC and sporting clay. There are few thousand CCW issued but it is for only specific pistol/revolver and last only one year. Th application process is the same as that of the purchase plus the ballistic test of the piece.

The new order also suspends the CCW issuing. However, Minister of Interior himself can give permission to overrule the order case by case……

It is a difficult to establish a registered association here. After the order came out there had ben panic in the gun webs for about 2 week then a collector went to the gov. agency that regulte the association for detail. Many form for many organizers and we are just in the founder and member gathering step. We may apply soon but It may take 2 months more after we apply for official status of the association. The main objectives declared are 1. The education of arms laws and use of arms 2. Public relation of fact about arms 3. Cooperation of shooting sports – standard objectives of RKBA association. However, at present some people wrote to some gov. agencies responsible for the law making request to be present and join the debate in the future gun law. This act is very new and we will wait and see what it will be.

Thank you very much MicorBalrog, nice to hear that there is this kind of “International Human Right Group†If you please inform me at [email protected] of your group I am very glad to know more about it. I will keep you inform at your E mail of our progress.

Nice day N Safe stay.

Best regard.
 
Aha, a bit more about gun shops here. They are really Mom N Pop shop like CWL said, most of the owner and staff don’t know about their goods except they are the best ones!!. Among the shooters there is LOL of some certain shops that screaming out loud that their guns are grade A and the other shops’ are grade B or C. They have plenty of K boom photo to show that the brands they don’t sell are really baddd. Yes, we also really in need of gun consumer protection, oh this is also one objective of our RKBA association. :D
 
You should be trying to get the government to stop making new gun laws and throwing out the ones already in place and not trying to get the government to put a rating or anything thing else on them. What exactly is the main problem with these guns they sell?
 
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Uhm, the gov. doesn't do the gun rating, just the bad shops do. It is funny the 30 gunshops are next to each other and a few step can give you more than 10% in price difference. May be we hae to blame the blind buyers. One thing here better than the US- the full capa. is not limited and brand new 15 rounds mag. for Glock 9 Para is 25 USD. 30 rounds may be 50 USD.
 
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