This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 000602 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PM/DTCC FOR JSTITZIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC KOMC TH BLUE LANTERN
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3:  PRE-LICENSE END-USE CHECK 
ON APPLICATION 05-985147 
 
REF: SECSTATE 2096 
 
¶1.  Per reftel request, POL FSN made inquiries into the bona 
fides of Siphya Arms Limited Partnership and Bureau of 
Territorial Defense Volunteers Administration.  Results 
follow. 
 
SIPIHYA ARMS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP 
 
¶2. According to the official website for the Thai Department 
of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce, which 
supervises business establishments and registration, the 
Siphya Arms Ltd, Part. is registered under Registration No. 
¶0103501003543.  Registered Date: 30 July 1958. 
 
Capital Registration: 3,700,000 Baht 
 
Business Partners: 
¶1. Mrs. Somdet Detdamrong -- investment of 1,550,000 Baht 
¶2. Mr. Ditsathat Detdamrong -- investment of 1,600,000 Baht 
¶3. Mr. Surachai Tangthawon -- investment of 50,000 Baht 
¶4. Mr. Piyarat Detdamrong -- investment of 500,000 Baht 
 
Manager of the business is Mr. Ditsathat Detdamrong. 
Address: 27 Burapha Road, Wang Burapha Phirom Sub-District, 
Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok. 
The business has submitted annual financial reports for 1999, 
2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004. 
Purpose of Company: To import and sell guns and ammunition. 
 
According to the Telephone Directory Center, Siphya Arms 
Ltd., Part. is listed in 4 different locations as the 
following addresses and telephone numbers: 
27 Burapha Road, Wang Burapha Phirom Sub-District, Phra 
Nakhon District, Bangkok, Tel.02-224-0824,02-224-4616 
29 Burapha Road, Wang Burapha Phirom Sub-District, Phra 
Nakhon District, Bangkok, Tel. 02-222-6777 
68 - 70 Burapha Road, Wang Burapha Phirom Sub-District, Phra 
Nakhon District, Bangkok, Tel. 02-622-3588-9 
73 Burapha Road, Wang Burapha Phirom Sub-District, Phra 
Nakhon District, Bangkok, Tel. 02-222-6767 
 
POL FSN made an unannounced visit to Siphya Arms Ltd., Part. 
on January 18, 2006.  The shop at No. 27, which also connects 
to the shop No. 29, is located in a 4-story concrete 
building.  The first floor serves as the show room.  It is 
located in a part of Bangkok where many similar businesses 
can be found. 
 
FSN met Ms. Chanitsara Sawatdi, the shopkeeper, who answered 
all queries and presented the related documents willingly. 
The Manager, Mr. Ditsathat, was not in. 
 
On January 19, FSN met Mr. Ditsathat at another office. He 
eagerly answered all inquiries. 
 
Ditsathat's answers to reftel questions are: 
 
¶Q.  How long has Siphya Arms Limited Partnership been in 
business and who are its principals? 
¶A.  Siphya Arms has been in business since 1958. He confirmed 
the accuracy and legitimacy of the company,s business 
registration that FSN obtained from Ministry of Commerce as 
stated above. All business partners are family-related and 
Thai nationals. Siphaya Arms also runs seven other gun shops. 
 
 
¶Q.  Who are its typical customers and where are they located? 
¶A.  Siphya Arms, typical customers are either members of the 
general public or government officials--both civilians and 
Armed Force officers, living nationwide, with proper permits 
issued by the Ministry of Interior. 
 
(Background.  Members of the general public living in Bangkok 
must submit an application to the General Registration 
Division of the Department of Provincial Administration, 
Ministry of Interior, for a gun purchase permit. The MOI then 
examines the applicant's qualifications to determine whether 
to permit him to buy a gun. Once approved, the customer must 
bring the to a gun shop to buy a firearm.  Customers living 
upcountry must submit the application through the District 
Chief (the MOI,s representative), who will examine the case, 
consider the request, and issue the permit.  For government 
officials, in addition to beside the above process, they must 
additionally obtain the approval of their superiors.  Siphya 
Arms officials were well versed in Thai law about weapons 
sales and assured FSN that they only sell weapons to those 
meeting the MOI,s qualifications and who possess an MOI 
permit. End Background.) 
 
Siphya Arms also sells guns to the UN security guard force in 
Bangkok as permitted by the government. 
¶Q.  Does the company have an established, legitimate customer 
base? 
 
¶A.  Yes.  The company has legitimate customers -- both 
civilians and members of the Armed Forces. The customer data 
base, as well as sales records and contracts, are maintained 
both at the company and at the MOI,s General Registration 
Division. 
 
At the company, they are in paper form, not computerized. Ms. 
Chanitsara showed FSN the logbooks/records.  Mr. Ditsathat is 
currently working to put the customer base and records into 
the computer system, starting from the list of Armed Forces 
personnel buying guns from his company. He provided a 
printout of that list. 
 
Ditsathat said that paper documents are normally be kept for 
5 years. 
 
¶Q.  Does the company have adequate on-site security? 
¶A.  Generally, yes.  The company is located in a 4-story 
building. After hours, all guns are stored in a safe -- a 
small concrete, windowless, room with a large iron gate and 
numeric combination lock.  There is no security guard, CCTV, 
or iron bars on the show-window. 
 
For the contracted 523 pistols mentioned in reftel, they will 
be transported into Thailand by a commercial airplane, and 
then stored at the Customs House at Bangkok International 
Airport for tax clearance and inspection by the Customs 
Department, Bureau of Territorial Defense Volunteers 
Administration, Siphya Arms, and the shipping agency. 
 
After that, Bureau of Territorial Defense Volunteers 
Administration and Siphya Arms will together take them out 
and transport them on a private agency,s truck to the 
warehouse inside the Bureau,s compound. 
 
The guns will then be re-examined, closely inspected, tested, 
and signed off upon delivery by the Bureau, Siphya Arms, and 
the General Registration Division. Then, the GRD will 
register and mark the guns into its system, and the guns will 
be stored in the Bureau,s warehouse.  These guns will not be 
stored at the company at all. 
 
¶Q.  Does the company keep proper, detailed records of its 
sales and customers? 
 
¶A.  Yes, as described above. 
 
¶Q.  Does the company understand the restrictions of USML 
articles, particularly regarding re-exporting? 
 
¶A.  Both Ms. Chanitsara--the shop custodian and Mr. 
Ditsathat--the Manager and Owner firmly stated that they well 
understand the USML articles. 
 
Mr. Ditsathat presented copies of various documents mentioned 
in reftel, namely the Siphya Arms,s BUSA001/05; Form DSP-83, 
dated October 28, 2005; Gun Import Permit, No. 749/48, dated 
October 20, 2005, to expire October 19, 2006, numbering 523 
pieces, and he Gun Purchase Contracts between Siphya Arms and 
Bureau of Territorial Defense Volunteers Administration; all 
details match those stated in the cable. 
 
BUREAU OF TERRITORIAL DEFENSE VOLUNTEERS ADMINISTRATION 
 
POL FSN confirmed that the Bureau is a state agency under the 
Department of Provincial Administration, Ministry of 
Interior, of the Government of Thailand. It is located on 
Phaholyothin Road, Phaya Thai District, Bangkok, next to the 
Border Patrol Police General Headquarters. 
 
During an unannounced visit to the Bureau on January 18, POL 
FSN met Mr. Chatpong Chatphoem--Director of Bureau of 
Territorial Defense Volunteers Administration, who ordered an 
immediate small meeting with the officials in charge of the 
contract. The meeting included Mr. Charan Khayan--Director of 
Personnel and Logistics Division, and Mr. Somchai--Chief of 
Welfare Section of the Bureau. They cooperated fully with our 
inquiries. 
 
Below is the list of questions raised by the cable and the 
answers: 
 
¶Q.  Did the Bureau order all 523 semi-automatic pistols 
listed on the license application? 
¶A.  Yes.  They confirmed the purchase and the Bureau,s 
purchase contracts with Siphya Arms. There are two signed 
contracts. The first is No. 1/48, dated February 22, 2005, 
ordering 326 Beretta pistols and the second is No. 2/48, also 
dated February 22, 2005, ordering another 197 Beretta pistols 
(together, 523 pieces). 
 
Persons allowed to buy these guns are the government 
officials and state employees. They have been approved to buy 
guns by their superiors, have met the MOI,s requirement and 
qualifications, and been granted the MOI,s gun purchase 
permits. 
 
The first contract is solely for the employees of the State 
Railway of Thailand working in the troublesome, violent-hit, 
southernmost region of Thailand whereas the second contract 
is mostly for the MOI,s officials and other officials, such 
as state teachers, police, soldiers, village heads, 
sub-district heads, District Officers, medical service 
employees, and the Bureau,s territorial defense volunteers, 
working in the same area. They have already paid the down 
payment of 10% at the time of order their pistols, and they 
have to pay the rest on the day they receive their guns. 
 
¶Q.  Does the Bureau have a legitimate need for all of the 
pistols? 
¶A.  Yes.  This lot of guns is approved because of the 
worsening situation in the southernmost region of Thailand. 
They will be imported and distributed to state employees and 
government officials who are working in the trouble-hit deep 
south as the personal guns to protect their lives, public 
safety, and state properties from the insurgency/separatist 
movement. 
 
¶Q.  Does the Bureau have adequate plans and resources to 
track and secure the weapons? 
¶A.  Yes.  The pistols will be recorded and issued to the 
contracted buyers, who are government officials/state 
employees and hold Thai nationality.  These guns will and 
always belong to the purchasers only. MOI will stamp in their 
gun registration and possession permits that the guns cannot 
be resold, or transferred, or exchanged, except as the 
inheritable item.  The District Office at the locality will 
be tasked to monitor and track the weapons.  These guns will 
only be carried while the officials are on duty or in the 
violent-prone area. 
 
Director Charan and Chief Somchai showed POL FSN the 
Bureau,s gun storage room, where this lot of pistols will be 
stored.  It is a large room with two connecting small rooms 
inside (about 6 meters long by 3 meters wide by 3 meters high 
each), locating on the first floor of a 3-story concrete 
building. FSN observed two guards in front of the storage 
room.  It requires keys used by two other officials to open 
the storage room,s door. Each door opening is recorded in a 
logbook. The door is wooden with two sets of padlocks covered 
by sealing wax. There is no CCTV inside the room. There are 
no fire or smoke alarms inside the room, but there are fire 
extinguishers nearby. 
 
Inside the storage facility, FSN observed hundreds of pistols 
and revolvers well kept in cases. 
 
Director Charan and Chief Somchai stated that there are 
always four guards and one supervisor posted at the Bureau,s 
compound at all time. They are unarmed by day but armed at 
night. 
 
¶Q.  Does the Bureau understand the restrictions of USML 
articles, particularly regarding re-exporting? 
¶A.  Yes. 
 
They presented the related documents described in reftel. 
The documents conform with those Mr. Ditsathat provided. 
They confirm the import procedure, route of gun 
transportation, and purchase procedure as stated above by Mr. 
Ditsathat. 
 
 
BOYCE