The Royal Thai Police plan to destroy 13,559 firearms, which have been seized from criminals whose court cases have been concluded, according to Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittipraphat, the national police chief.

The guns will be destroyed in a giant crusher, turned into scrap and then smelted. They are a portion of the 20,735 firearms seized by police from criminals.

7,176 firearms have already been destroyed, between last October and the end of January this year.

Pol Gen Damrongsak thanked a foundry in Rayong Province, which has offered to destroy the weapons.

The firearms are being stored at the Police Ordnance Division and a “ceremony” will be held ahead of their destruction. Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the national deputy police chief, has been assigned to oversee the process.

The national police chief said that the firearms must be destroyed, to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands and to ensure public safety, adding that he has instructed the police to crack down on illegal arms sales, including those online.