Thailand has a gun problem - 10 million of them

Just three days after a 14-year-old opened fire at his school, killing eight people before shooting himself, another incident in the same province illustrated even more starkly Thailand's troubled relationship with guns.

Chalong Riewrang, a 71-year-old former politician, went into the local administration office to discuss a large sum of money he says he was owed by the administration chief, Thongchai Yenprasert, a man he called his friend.

The conversation ended abruptly with Chalong pulling out a gun and firing four shots through the window of Thongchai's car, hitting him and his driver. Thongchai later died from his wounds.

Chalong then left the scene, and phoned a startled journalist he knew who was in the middle of a live broadcast on YouTube, to tell her what had happened.

After the police intercepted him and took him to the station, he was allowed to speak to reporters, casually smoking a cigarette and seemingly unperturbed by what he had done.

He explained that he had "not intended to shoot his friend" , but opened fire when the driver also pulled a gun. The police did find two guns in the car, but said they were not in a state where they could have been fired.

This was not the only gun fatality in Thailand on that day. In Prachinburi, east of Bangkok, a police sergeant shot his wife in the head while arguing with her as she was driving their car to pick up their young son. The car crashed and the sergeant then shot himself in the head. His wife died in hospital.

There were probably other gun deaths that day which were not reported by the media.

The Thai police do not keep their own tally, but in recent years the number of gun deaths every year is estimated to range between 2,000 and 3,000. In Britain, which has a similar population, the number is less than 50.

Guns are sometimes used in robberies, and for a relatively modest fee you can hire a hitman in Thailand to kill someone for you. But the typical gun death occurs during domestic disputes, financial disagreements, or in bar brawls fuelled by alcohol.

Thailand has more than 10 million civilian-owned guns in circulation - 4 million of those unlicensed. So that means minor altercations over trivial issues can suddenly turn lethal.

"It's very unfortunate that Thailand has a very high tolerance for violence," says Boonwara Sumano at the Thailand Development Research Institute.

"Guns are seen as a status symbol, and there are so many ways that civilians can get them. Also, showing strength, wielding power, is seen as the right thing to do in Thai society. So, when you have a norm that promotes the possession of weapons to show your strength, and access to those weapons, this is the result."

At first sight Thailand appears to have quite strict gun regulations. Anyone wishing to buy a gun must first apply for a purchase permit, then, once they have bought it, apply for a second possession permit. If they wish to carry the gun outside their homes they then need a third permit. Imported guns – most of them - are very expensive.