To extend the life of electric discharge and enhance the characteristic of electric discharge in the life test in a gas filled switching electric discharge tube. A gas filled switching electric discharge tube comprises: a cylindrical body (1) made of insulating material; two electrodes (2, 3) for airtightly closing both ends of the cylindrical body; an electric discharge gap, an airtightly closed space formed in the cylindrical body including the electric discharge gap being filled with gas; metalized faces formed on both end faces of the electrodes of the cylindrical body; first trigger wires (10a, 10b) formed on an inner wall face of the cylindrical body, connected with the metalized faces; and second trigger wires (10c) formed on the inner wall face of the cylindrical body, not connected with the metalized faces, wherein a number of the second trigger wires is larger than a number of the first trigger wires, an interval (t) of the electric discharge gap is made to be larger than a distance (d) from the second trigger wires to the electrode faces, and a plurality of recess portions (23) are formed on the electrode faces.