Gun shops in Bangkok's historic district are struggling under existing and proposed restrictions on firearms, with some traders converting their businesses to other products amid a government crackdown.
Suchart and Friends Gun, a firearms shop in the capital's old quarter, now displays loaves of sourdough bread in its window instead of pistols and rifles. Owner Warintorn Boonyachai began baking bread five months ago to cover staff salaries after the shop was banned from importing firearms, a restriction applied to all gun shops in Thailand since a 2023 shooting at a Bangkok mall.
"I do still have hope, because like I've said, selling guns is less tiring than selling bread," Warintorn said. He also owns a baking school.
Thailand has the second-highest rate of private gun ownership in Asia. A 2017 estimate by the Small Arms Survey put civilian firearms at about 10.3 million, or around 15 guns per 100 residents, with a little more than 6 million registered and another 4 million unregistered.
The latest measures follow a shooting this month in which a 14-year-old gunman killed at least seven people at his home and school outside Bangkok before fatally shooting himself. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul proposed a new law to suspend the issuance of new firearm purchasing permits and new gun ownership permits. Police were ordered to stop renewing permits for buying guns.
Thititorn Bupparamanee, president of the Firearms Traders Association of Thailand, said the suspension of permits would not fix the country's gun violence problem. "They are not fixing the problem at the right places, because if they did, there would be less crime," he said, adding that restrictions on legal purchases may force some people toward the black market.
The industry is worth about 2 billion baht, according to Thititorn. One gun store that has operated for nearly seven decades had only two guns left for sale and six staff members. The guns could not be sold and new ones could not be imported, staff said.
The mother of a 14-year-old student who fled the school shooting on 7 August said she supports the right to own guns but wants more controls, including on people carrying weapons outside the home. "There definitely should be a scrutiny everywhere on weapons, because knives are also as scary."
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August 17, 2026
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