Clatter of arms
With a more than great shot in the legs, he was called 'the cannon of PSV'; Willy van der Kuijlen. When he took off for goal, a cry echoed from thousands of throats in the stadium; "Skied Willy".
With 311 goals in the Eredivisie, he is the absolute top scorer of all time and he would undoubtedly have been that of the Dutch national team if the then Ajax clan led by Cruijff had not thrown a spanner in the works. The Netherlands' best and most stylish goalie ever, Jan van Beveren and the cannon Willy van der Kuijlen, turned their backs on the Orange for good.
The shots from the Eindhoven cannon came to mind when I read an article in 'Der Farang', a German magazine published in Pattaya.
Gun Possession
Statistically, according to said article, 15 out of 100 inhabitants of Thailand own a firearm. Near the Royal Palace you will find more than a hundred arms dealers in the approximately 300 meter long Burapha street. The country that attracts millions of tourists from all over the world with its smile, charm and peaceful Buddhist culture harbors a bloody secret.
More than 5.000 people are shot dead in Thailand every year. A simple calculation shows that every day no fewer than 14 people are killed in this way in cold blood. If we compare the figures with the number of inhabitants, these percentages are twice as high as those of the United States. Statistically, 7.48 people per 100.000 inhabitants die in Thailand in this way every year. According to a study by the Seattle-based 'University of Washington', the number in the US is 3.55 people per 100.000. For comparison: in Germany and I assume the Netherlands and Belgium will not differ much from that, the percentage is 0.15 per 100.000.
The Center for Small Arms at the College of International Relations in Geneva has mapped the proliferation of these weapons. The experts estimate the number worldwide at no less than 650 million, of which ten million in Thailand. Hence the conclusion that statistically 15 out of 100 inhabitants of Thailand own a firearm. Compared to the US, this is not too bad, because 89 out of 100 inhabitants own a firearm.
In Thailand, of the 10 million firearms mentioned, only 3,8 million are officially registered and if the figures are correct, 6,2 million are in the illegal circuit.
History
The fact that Thailand is the Mecca for the illegal arms trade has a history. According to the Center for Small Arms, Thailand is South Asia's most important black market. In the 70s, Thailand was the main route from the United States and China for arms supplies to the Cambodian Civil War. After the end of this war, many weapons were smuggled from Cambodia via Thailand to Myanmar (Burma). A network of agents, traders and transporters has formed around this lucrative trade. Within this net you will find criminals, arms dealers and people from the police and army circles.
Privately, many Thais complain about the gun culture, but there is no organization that addresses this theme in a public debate. In Thailand, as in the US, the interests of certain groups seem to predominate.
When Willy shot you could cheer and as a PSV supporter you got tears in the eyes of joy. The tears that flow as a result of gun violence bring intense sadness.
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How can they know how many people own firearms if a large proportion are not registered?
In other words, how do they know how many unregistered firearms are in circulation?
Check? Does it exist?
Sales figures? This is about black markets!
I think there are so many more!
The university of applied sciences in Geneva has apparently calculated this in the article. If you doubt that, you should read that research first.
I assume that the 100 official arms dealers in Burapha street do not live off the air, they apparently have a considerable turnover.
Does this mean that it is easy to get a gun license in Thailand?
Who knows about that?
You can get a permit for a few hundred baht
I don't think foreigners get a permit
Beats!!
As a farang you are not allowed to touch the weapon if your wife has a permit!
I do know expats who have a permit and a weapon. Got that license for good reasons.
It certainly will, in Thailand there is simply a lot to 'arrange'.
The chief of the local police simply told me that if I wanted a gun and wanted to join the shooting range I just had to apply for a license in my girlfriend's name.
Gun ownership must be very widespread in Thailand. Three anecdotes :
My Thai son-in-law and his friends from the village regularly go “hunting” with self-made guns. They are a kind of muskets with long barrels and black powder. It seems to me that those things threaten to explode with every shot. I keep my distance for safety. However, those guys can shoot damn precisely and deadly with those primitive devices.
My wife went to the acupuncturist in Phitsanulok. To pass the time we strolled through the market in the station area. In one of the streets, the window of a gun store caught my attention because the weapons on display looked impressively dangerous. Weapons of war? I don't know much about it.
I ask my Thai brother-in-law if all of this is freely available. He answers plainly “Khrap” (yes) and adds that officially a gun license is required, but that there is undoubtedly something to arrange in the shop, even for a farrang.
My Norwegian neighbor Kjell (through his wife) invests money in Sino-Thai company that imports and overhauls second hand rice peckers from Korea. My wife and I were able to join them at the import company's Chinese New Year reception. My Norwegian neighbor and his wife had an impressive set of Chinese crackers in the trunk. But at the party their bangs and fireworks made little impression. At least half of the men present raised a revolver at the “bang moment” and fired several salvos into the air.
When we went for coffee with a compatriot (it was not coffee but red wine) who had built a beautiful walled house in a very remote location, I asked about the safety of such a desolate house. He referred to the high walls, the gate, the electronic system and the alarm, he talked about the dogs and the geese… and about his gun. When I reacted to the latter with some disbelief, he promptly took a black Colt revolver from a drawer. Fully licensed and a monthly afternoon practice at the police shooting range in a nearby village.
Personally, I don't want a gun in our Thai home. I can't bear to think what the consequences would be if I were to shoot someone with it, whether in drunkenness or rage. Or what harm the (grand)children could do with it if they found the weapon by chance.
Not long ago, the house of a prominent member of the Phue Thai was searched by the police. 9 weapons were found in the house, all of which had been granted a permit. I think this gentleman is not the only one who has more than 1 gun. Statistically that may be 15 out of 100 Thais, in reality fewer Thais have 1 or more weapons.
I saw Willy van der Kuijlen score a lot as a boy. He had to train hard for that. I think that the illegal, young gun owners do that mainly - in the absence of milk cans - by shooting at empty cans of pla kapong. That's why they sometimes fail. Willy rarely.
With money you can buy everything Peter also a gun permit.
Hence the conclusion that……statistically…..viewed 15 out of 100 inhabitants of Thailand own a firearm.
It is indeed not possible for foreigners to obtain a legal gun permit, I raised the subject several times with senior police officers (in the family), each time they proudly held their loaded service weapon in my hand (after some Leo of course), but for the Thai ega it is no problem at all, only to be used indoors (for self-defense) Costs incl 9mm weapon about 80.000thb
Seems very expensive for a handgun. An illegal weapon will be a lot cheaper.
Absolutely not expensive.
An S&W revolver in .357 at a licensed arms dealer should cost 110,000 baht, for an officer 80,000 baht.
Legal weapons are expensive, obtaining a permit is partly dependent on income.
Illegal guns are said to be much cheaper.
Incidentally, illegal possession and use of firearms is also a problem in the Netherlands that the police and judiciary cannot get a grip on.
Stricter laws don't help.
“Buying” a “weapon license” in Thailand is not at all that simple, if not impossible, simply because obtaining a license and legally purchasing a firearm involves many steps.
There must be a good reason to be eligible, and the conditions and required documents are legion. i
and often difficult
The price of pistols and revolvers is also very high.
The fact is that, just like in the Netherlands, the possession and use of illegal weapons cannot be controlled or controlled, and finding them is usually, sorry, a fluke.
If something is found, there usually follows a detailed report of the "weapons" found, including axes, cleavers, kitchen knives, baseball bats, etc.
Is it possible for a foreigner to obtain a firearms permit?
Yes, big paperwork, Thai and Dutch, and the support of a policeman helps.
That's right, gun prices are very high in Thailand. A Remington 870 shotgun that is in the US for $350 at Wallmart will cost you a whopping 45.000 baht in Thailand.
Furthermore, someone also mentions weapons that look suspiciously like war equipment, but nothing could be further from the truth. You can buy a replica M16 in Thailand, but it is often a .22 version, you can just shoot a rat off the path with it, but nothing else. Semi-automatic rifles with a caliber larger than .22 are not allowed in Thailand.
That is unfortunately not correct. .22 cartridges are just as deadly as heavier ammunition, such as .44 Magnum or .45 ACP. A standard .22 cartridge has a lead head that often deforms or splinters in the body, resulting in a kind of dum-dum bullet.
There are videos on YouTube showing examples of the devastating effects of .22LR https://youtu.be/JhEAAIdLywA
.22 ammunition is also the caliber of choice for professional assassins because with a silencer, a pistol shot makes little noise.
Here's another source: https://www.quora.com/What-makes-a-22-caliber-bullet-so-dangerous
I have the impression that, especially in the comments, there is heavy speculation here. Also the article: Joseph cites a few studies, but then makes his own judgment - “Thailand is the Mecca of the arms trade”. Then I think differently. Vietnam was full of guns….
The comments are spot on: 'you can get a permit for a few hundred baht' – 'you can arrange everything in Thailand' – 'I know expats who have a permit' – 'you can buy anything with money'...
Well, I have been coming to Thailand for 25 years and I have been living here for almost 14 years now. I'm not getting a permit. I can't 'arrange' it either, not even here in Isaan. And I'm not stingy.
And yes, here in Isaan just about every man has some kind of gun. But that doesn't work half the time, a catapult is much more dangerous, so to speak, because they are very accurate with that.
But my nine years close to Pattaya gun sitting was rare, only a kind of mafiosi who had it and used it. Just like in my old homeland….
Willy van der Kuylen was a good football player, I'll join the rest because I don't understand the connection with gun ownership in Thailand.
And yet there are far fewer deaths due to gun violence in Vietnam (and there are almost 40 million more people living there than in Thailand) maybe a difference in mentality…
inhabitants of Vietnam 94.348.835 (2015)
residents of Thailand 67.976.405 (2015)
difference of more than 26 million inhabitants
NAM 98,721,275 (July 2020 est.)
THAILAND 68,977,400 (July 2020 est.)
according to https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/th.html
Rudi starts by saying that there is heavy speculation. And then he calls himself a speculation.
I live in the Isan and know some big cities and places there. The urban population of the Isan , and therefore also of the smaller towns, consists of millions of Thai people, if you add up this population of the larger towns.
However, when I look around I don't get the impression that these ordinary townspeople are interested in weaponry. Let alone buy something. And most of them don't even have the money for it.
So to say that almost every Isan man has some kind of gun : rubbish or speculation, or both ?
Nice piece of reality, this is also part of Amazing Thailand…
As I said, a gun license is not easy to get at all, simply because it involves:
- The police
– The Amphur
– A doctor and sometimes a psychologist
– Handing over fingerprints and DNA
– Home visit by the police
– Criminal record check
And for a foreigner
– Any copy of a permit in your own country
– Declaration of impeccable conduct
– Guarantee by a Thai police officer
– Membership of a police shooting club helps
But it is possible to acquire a permit.
Treat with patience and the right way.
Possession of a weapon in a public place is punishable by 3 years in prison.
Even wearing a bulletproof vest causes problems.
If you live in Thailand, do you need to apply for a gun permit?
Can someone answer that?
Lionel.
Who is someone? A Thai? A foreigner? And should? Then what for?