Thai PM suspends firearm purchase licences after school shooting

PUBLISHED : 11 Aug 2026 at 16:33 Flowers and pictures of teachers and school officials killed are left outside Debsirin Nonthaburi School on Monday following a deadly shooting at the school, in Bang Kruai district in Nonthaburi. (Photo: Reuters) Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ​on Tuesday suspended the issuance of permits ​to buy firearms and ‌said existing licences would be reviewed, days after a 14-year-old gunman killed nine people.Mr Anutin directed Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt overseeing legal affairs ​to ⁠expedite a new gun control law, with stronger controls and significantly harsher penalties. Police were ordered ‌to stop renewing permits that enable people to buy firearms. Registered firearms must be kept at home and ⁠cannot be carried in public, Mr Anutin said, reiterating the current law. For illegal firearms, studies are underway to enact legislation requiring their return to the state within ​a specified period, he said. Last week, a teenage student killed six people and ​himself at ‌Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi after fatally shooting his grandparents in the Southeast Asian nation's ​worst ⁠mass killing in nearly four years. Thailand had an estimated 10.3 million ⁠firearms in civilian possession, equating to around 15 guns per 100 residents, the highest rate in the region by a ⁠wide margin, according to a 2017 estimate ​by the Small Arms Survey. Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong proposed new school safety measures to cabinet, including screening everyone who ‌enters education premises for ⁠illegal objects and ​weapons.