Aussie caught with gun at Thailand’s Samui Airport claims self-defence
An Australian man, who was caught with a firearm and 96 rounds of ammunition at Samui Airport in Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, claims he was carrying the weaponry in self-defence.
Yesterday, 41 year old Mark Bassett of Australian nationality attempted to smuggle a “gun-like object,” in separate pieces, and plenty of ammunition through security at Samui Airport on Thailand’s world-famous tropical island paradise.
Police arrested Bassett under suspicion of, “unauthorised possession of firearm parts and ammunition.”
The Aussie claimed he bought the weapon and ammo from a Thai man who he doesn’t know the name of at a shop in the Bophut area of Koh Samui.
Bassett claimed he needed the weapon for self-defence while travelling abroad.
The accused was taken to Bophut Police Station for further questioning.
Police didn’t say what punishment Bassett was facing, but similar historical cases suggest he could go to prison.
In October, an Israeli man was caught and arrested for arriving at Phuket International Airport with a bag full of bullets.
The 29 year old claimed he brought two loaded magazines in his luggage “by accident.”
The court didn’t buy it and sentenced Gal Shmuel Farjun to 18 months in jail in a Thai prison.
The Israeli government hoped Farjun would be extradited to Israel given that he does not have a criminal record back at home.
However, the judge had no sympathy for Farjun, who endangered the lives of passengers on an international flight.
Earlier this year, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered the Royal Thai Police to crack down on illegal firearms in the kingdom.
The orders followed the tragic gun and knife massacre that claimed the lives of 37 people, mostly young children, at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province in northeast Thailand in October.
Following the massacre, the RTP seized 263 guns in just 15 days in eight provinces of southern Thailand.
