News Forum - Can foreigners own guns in Thailand?

[Thaiger]

https://youtu.be/2qtN6QCqv0Y   This subject is explained and clarified by the head of the Firearms Business Operator Association of Thailand. Just so you know, the response may come as a shock to some people and will undoubtedly be welcome news to others. Find out more in this video!

The story Can foreigners own guns in Thailand? as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Rookiescot]

So as a foreigner you need to have a job in Thailand to own a gun.

Thats as far as I got in the video.

Most of us on here will reach the same point. 

[anarchofarmer]

I've had at least 2 offers turn up in my facebook feed over the past 3 months!

[L-Dogg]

Yes, you can own guns . I am in the process now of sorting thru my arsenal here in the US to figure out what I can legally own there. Most of my weapons qualify to be registered in Thailand, but I have some Class 3 stuff that they are not giving me a decision on. I have a few Full-Auto SBR's and also a few suppressors that I think are going to be a no go. I will leave them with my brother here in the US. But most I am allowed to bring I found out, and I was shocked myself.

[Janneman]

Wrong title. Should be:

Can foreigners legally own guns in Thailand?

Quite a few international criminals visit Thailand, sometimes resulting in liquidations. Those criminals own guns but not legally of course.

[TWS60]

Dabbled in this about 2013/14, and my admittedly fuzzy recollection is there was a government/ local provincial process for a Non-Thai / foreigner to obtain a legal firearm permit, but that path was closed sometime around 2016/17 with legislation requiring Thai citizenship - among other gun/ammo related issues.   Can find reference to it via a Google search.

The general consensus among the on-line farang brigade at the time was that the xenophobic Thai Government aren't keen on us farangs to begin with, or guns themselves as a matter of self-preservation given the country's track record for coups, insurrections and mass, sometimes violent, public uprisings.  

Lest we forget the events in and around that time frame.  The idea that the new Thai Gov in camouflage fatigues would happily and quite easily grant farangs a special, extra privilege like owning a firearm here, seemed as likely as them waking up one day and deciding all us mostly harmless old farts on long-stay Non-O visas were worthy of permanent residence permits/visas. 

TBH, nothing in this video left me with the idea that anything's changed.  I rather think the exuberant fellow with big ideas of importing several of his more modest firearms from Murica to Thailand, will be met with a dose of reality. 

And for what it's worth, many (me included) also feel whatever gun culture we had in us from our previous home country, ranging from hunting and a modest, sensible desire for home and self protection, to those with obsessive/compulsive fixations about guns and ammo at best, to mentally unhinged fever dreams at worst, have calmed down and moved on after living here in sunny old Thailand for a number of years.  

At some point you quit fretting and obsessing about stuff on the other side of the planet and for some reason, start putting ice cubes in your beer glass.

[DeathByTaxation]

On 8/29/2022 at 1:35 AM, L-Dogg said:

Yes, you can own guns . I am in the process now of sorting thru my arsenal here in the US to figure out what I can legally own there. Most of my weapons qualify to be registered in Thailand, but I have some Class 3 stuff that they are not giving me a decision on. I have a few Full-Auto SBR's and also a few suppressors that I think are going to be a no go. I will leave them with my brother here in the US. But most I am allowed to bring I found out, and I was shocked myself.

Hi, I don't know if you will get this, but I would like to see what you have come up with.  I am a US citizen.  My wife is Thai and we are planning to move there as soon as we sell our house - Hopefully within 4 months.

I don't know if I will be alerted if you respond, but would love to chat about this.  Thank you.

Edited April 13 by BigHewer
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[BigHewer]

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[TWS60]

4 hours ago, DeathByTaxation said:

Hi, I don't know if you will get this, but I would like to see what you have come up with.  I am a US citizen.  My wife is Thai and we are planning to move there as soon as we sell our house - Hopefully within 4 months.

I don't know if I will be alerted if you respond, but would love to chat about this.  Thank you.

Would be interesting to hear what, if anything, he came up with. 

Checked his profile, hasn't posted here since that last entry.

I'd speculate he had a change of mind once reality landed on his head, bit like fantasies about importing one's favorite vehicle tends to fizzle out.   The juice ain't worth the squeeze. 

Even if there was a way, I'd wager the backhander would have to be astronomical for a civil servant to stick his or her neck out.  Farang+Gun is radioactive.   If it ever came to light, the blow back would be a sight to behold, for all parties involved. 

[MrStretch]

On 8/28/2022 at 11:35 PM, L-Dogg said:

Yes, you can own guns.

Really?  Do tell. But since this was from 1.5 years ago, I doubt there will be a follow up.

Siam Legal says no.  They have a reputation for being current on Thai law as it applies to foreigners, so I'd say those weapons ain't coming in.

 

"Foreign Ownership:

Non-Thai citizens are not permitted to own firearms in Thailand, emphasizing local control over firearm possession."

https://www.siam-legal.com/thailand-law/are-guns-legal-in-thailand/#:~:text=Foreign Ownership%3A,local control over firearm possession.

 

[TWS60]

Also suffered from a life-long habit of moving all my s**t around the world.  We bought a bunch more stuff to put in the container to Thailand as well. 

No physical inspection at the port in BKK.  In hindsight, my favorite pistols would have gotten through amidst all that junk.  Could have sat on my patio out in the jungle supping Leo beer, talking to them, stroking them with an oiled cloth, and then practice quick draws in front of a full-length mirror, "You talkin' to ME?  Do ya' feel lucky?  Well, do ya' punk?".

Guns to Thailand.  Fuhgettaboudit.  You can't have them, so you won't use them in the way you did, or fantasize that you might here in LoS.   They're a liability, just let it go.....    If you ever did pop one off, well, we'll read about you on Page 1 of Thaiger News and discuss at the pub later, for about 1 minute, usurped by The 7 Deadly Days of Songkran, price of chicken at Makro, and the latest Thai lady to find a 2 meter King Cobra in her Bangkok toilet.