UPDATE: Thailand opens 1567 hotline as Phuket records first firearms crackdown arrest
Thailand has opened its 24-hour 1567 hotline for illegal firearm reports, while Phuket has made the first arrest under the nationwide crackdown involving a CZ pistol and 30 rounds.
Thailand’s Interior Ministry has opened the 1567 Damrongtham Centre hotline around the clock for reports of illegal firearm possession and people carrying guns in public, as authorities intensify nationwide checkpoints and roadblocks.
The Phuket Express reported that the incident was Phuket’s first arrest under the nationwide firearm crackdown, which began on 7 August.
According to The Phuket Express, a joint checkpoint team led by Phuket Governor Chotnarin Kedsom and senior Interior Ministry officials stopped a BMW in Ko Kaeo, Mueang Phuket district, on the night of 10 August. The team found a CZ pistol with a magazine loaded with 30 rounds concealed beneath the driver’s seat.
The driver, identified by The Phuket Express only as Natth, 29, with his surname withheld, could not produce a licence to possess and use the firearm or a licence to carry it. He was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm in public without permission and possessing a firearm without permission. The suspect and the seized items were handed over to investigators at Mueang Phuket Police Station.
Unsit Sampuntharat, Permanent Secretary for Interior, said administrative officials had been working with police in every province since 7 August. The operations are focused on preventing firearms from being carried in public and protecting people and property.
Unsit said carrying a firearm in a vehicle or in a public place violates the law, and that self-defence or another intended purpose cannot be used as a justification.
The ministry said Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had ordered a temporary one-year suspension of firearm-carrying licences, known as Form Por 12, effective from 20 February 2026. Authorities are also urging people who possess unregistered firearms to surrender them at district offices.
The 1567 Damrongtham Centre hotline is available for reports about suspected illegal firearm possession or people carrying guns in communities, public places and at public events. The ministry said officials would investigate tip-offs and take legal action where offences are found.
