Arkady

Tend to agree with you. I overstayed a couple of days many years ago because it was not considered a serious offence then and I didn't have time to apply for a tourist visa in advance. In those days most Western passports got only 14 days for a transit visa, not 30 days as now. I was given a slightly scary interrogation about the reason for my overstay and then asked to join a queue of other foreigners who had to pay B100 a day for overstaying, regardless of their excuses which the officer didn't really listen to. I think that was an appropriate reaction by Immigration in those days to overstayers by less than a month, i.e. give the overstayers a slightly stern interrogation and ticking off and then fine them the standard amount. Lengthy overstays without good reason, i.e. physically or mentally incapacitated, should face the full force of the law in terms of blacklisting.

Glocks are very popular handguns in Thailand because they are relatively cheap and light and have a "cool" factor. The design has no safety as it is supposed to a heavy enough trigger pull to prevent accidental discharges. Of course it is not and there are many accidental discharges and accidental deaths as a result. The trigger pull from the factory is about 5.5lbs which is a lot lighter than the average S&W revolver that is 11-12lbs from the factory. Revolvers don't have safeties but the argument about the heavy trigger pull is more of valid there. Thais also like to lighten their Glock triggers to about 3.5lbs with after market parts which makes them easy to fire accidentally. Even if it was a gun with a safety, it would no problem with most models for a drunk to slip it off without even realising it. Anyway I guess this case is going to go away quite quickly, unless the woman was someone important to the Chinese government. Whether the owner had a proper carry permit or not, he is going to have to pay over some big bucks to quieten things down.

Only if you have a Por 12 concealed carry permit for that particular gun. These are difficult to get and have to be renewed annually but it is possible that someone like that had one. The article says the gun was properly licensed but that could just mean a regular Por 4 permit that doesn't allow carrying the gun loaded in your car. Presumably the gun owner was driving under the influence, since he had to get out of the car and urinate in the bushes. Perhaps he avoided being shot in the head by the drunken Chinese passenger as a result. A sad story.