Thai man arrested for illegally possessing 30 guns and ammunition

Officers from the Investigation Division Provincial Police Region 4 (INVP4) arrested a Thai man at his house in the Isaan province of Kalasin for illegally possessing 30 guns and over 2,300 rounds of ammunition.

The Deputy Commander of the INVP4, Nattanon Prachum, reported that the Royal Thai Police (RTP) introduced an operation to crack down on people involved with illegal weapons, especially the sale of guns via online channels.

Nattanon added that the operation followed several shootings and violence related to illegal guns, and discovered those guns were bought online. As a consequence, officers closely monitored firearm sales and gun buyers on social media, and they encountered pictures and videos of gun shooting practice.

The news was shared by a Facebook account ต๋อง ง, which belongs to a 28 year old Thai man named Sathaporn “Tong” Padtoom. Other pictures shared on Tong’s Facebook account showed that he had a pretty big collection of guns at home.

Police conducted a further investigation into Tong’s permit to possess firearms but did not find his name on the list. Officers then collected all the evidence and submitted it to the court to obtain a raid permit at Tong’s house.

Officers conducted a raid at Tong’s house in Kalasin yesterday, December 14. They found Tong’s armoury with 30 firearms including 17 pistols, seven rifles, six Thai-invented guns, also known as Thai Pradit guns, and 2,362 rounds of ammunition.

According to officers, each gun was registered and obtained legally, but Tong did not have a permit to possess them. This made Tong face a charge for possessing guns and ammunition without a permit.

The penalty will be imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both according to Section 7 of the Act on Firearms, Ammunition, Explosive, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearms.

Tong admitted that he did not have a permit for gun possession but insisted that he bought only registered guns and had never used them to hurt anyone. Tong revealed that he had a restaurant in Kalasin, and gun collection was his hobby.

Tong disclosed that he bought guns online at 10,000 to 200,000 baht each. He only used them at shooting ranges and had no intention of misuse.

Police reported that they would conduct further investigation into each gun to see whether they had been used in connection with any crimes.