BANGKOK: Loaves of sourdough bread now fill the display window of Suchart and Friends Gun, a firearms shop-turned-bakery in Bangkok, where pistols and rifles once lined the glass case.
"In this case, we used to display various guns. These indentation lines are for long-range guns. They would stack up here. And we used to have shelves up here for guns but now we have shelves to display all the sourdough bread," said owner Warintorn Boonyachai, who now runs the shop in place of her husband, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer.
The shop, which has been operating for the last 4 decades, hasn't been able to import firearms since Thailand suspended import permits after a 2023 shooting at a Bangkok mall — one of several mass shootings, including at a school and a childcare centre, that have periodically pushed the country to tighten its gun laws.
It was only in the past five months that the shop pivoted to baking bread to stay afloat.
“I don't want to leave anyone behind and so because I have a bakery school as well, I slowly trained them. I told them that we will work together to change our jobs. So I let them learn it and today, my staff are very good at making sourdough," Warintorn said.
Nearly three years on, the industry that generated about 2 billion baht ($60 million) annually faces another blow after a 14-year-old gunman killed at least eight people at a school outside Bangkok this month.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul vowed a new law that suspended the issuance of new firearm purchasing permits and new gun ownership permits — a measure that could further squeeze both sellers and prospective buyers out of the market.
In the capital's historic gun district, where some shops have operated for more than 70 years, 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 the ban on the public purchasing legal guns through legal means may force some people to turn to the black market.
Although the baked goods are flying off the shelves, Warintorn said she has been renewing her firearm shop's licence every year in the hope that gun sales will eventually resume.
"I do still have hope (for gun imports to be lifted) because like I've said, selling guns is less tiring than selling bread," she said.
"Although I'm happy with what I'm doing now, I'm happy that I can take care of my staff and my family. Do I have hope to sell guns again? I do have hope. I want us to be able to legally import guns again."
