Thailand's government has ordered an immediate halt to the issuance of new firearm ownership permits following a shooting last week in which a 14-year-old killed eight people before turning the gun on himself. The suspension, confirmed by officials this week, also blocks renewals of existing permits and builds on an earlier ban preventing licensed gun owners from carrying weapons outside their homes.
According to , the attack ultimately left nine people dead, a figure one higher than the eight victims plus the shooter cited in initial official accounts. also reported that police have been instructed to review all existing firearm-purchase licences in the wake of the attack, and that registered guns must now be stored at home rather than carried in public.
What led to the shooting?
On the Friday before the announcement, a student at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, on the outskirts of Bangkok, shot his grandparents dead with a handgun belonging to his grandfather before travelling to the school and opening fire on staff and pupils, according to authorities. The dead included both grandparents, five members of school staff and a 12-year-old girl.
Investigators believe the teenager may have taught himself to use the weapon through videos on social media. Police say there is evidence he had been watching violent online content and had shown a marked interest in learning how to handle firearms, and that this, combined with stress over his studies and unspecified family difficulties, may have contributed to the attack.
The case is closely tied to Thailand's broader struggle with gun violence: the country has one of the highest rates of civilian firearm ownership in South East Asia, with an estimated 10.3 million weapons in private hands, alongside persistently high levels of gun crime.
How is the government tightening gun laws?
Under the new measures, no new permits to purchase or own a firearm will be granted, and licences already held will not be renewed once they expire. This builds on a carry-permit suspension introduced in late 2023, under which registered gun owners have been required to keep their weapons at home or use them only at licensed shooting ranges.
Separately, according to Bangkok Post, the nationwide suspension also extends to carry permits for blank-firing and imitation firearms, and new import permits for gun shops have been halted until further notice. The newspaper reported that provincial governors nationwide, and police in Bangkok specifically, have been ordered to stop issuing any such permits with immediate effect.
Thailand's prime minister has pledged to fast-track stricter gun-control legislation carrying severe penalties. The government is also weighing incentives to encourage owners of an estimated four million unregistered firearms to surrender them voluntarily, while the education minister has proposed installing screening checks at school entrances to prevent students from bringing weapons onto campus.
Is this part of a wider crackdown?
The current measures extend a pattern of tightening restrictions that predates last week's shooting. Reports from The Nation Thailand indicate the Interior Ministry had already moved earlier this year to suspend new public-carry firearm licences in response to previous gun-related violence, suggesting the latest step is part of an ongoing tightening rather than an isolated reaction. That earlier suspension was issued under Thailand's 1947 Firearms Act and is set to run for one year from its publication in the Royal Gazette.
Our earlier coverage detailed how the prime minister vowed stricter gun laws and signed a one-year suspension of carry permits shortly after the attack, alongside pledges for tighter background checks nationwide. Separate reporting captured how students fled the school as the shooting unfolded, with police saying more than a dozen people were injured in addition to those killed.
What happens next?
reported that the suspended permits are now under formal review, though no public deadline has been set for when that review will conclude. Meanwhile, the one-year suspension on carry permits announced earlier this year remains in force and is scheduled to run its full course from the date of its publication in the Royal Gazette, according to The Nation Thailand.
Key Facts
- A 14-year-old shot his grandparents at home before killing five school staff and a 12-year-old girl at Debsirin Nonthaburi School.
- puts the total death toll at nine, one higher than the eight victims cited in initial official accounts alongside the shooter's own death.
- Thailand has roughly 10.3 million civilian-owned firearms and an estimated four million unregistered guns.
- New gun-purchase permits and renewals are suspended nationwide, extending a carry-permit ban first imposed in late 2023.
- Provincial governors and Bangkok police have been ordered to halt permit issuance, including for blank and imitation firearms.
