1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

Balconies seem to be perfectly safe unless combined with item 3 in my list.

Absolutely. Or more specifically if coupled with:

 

5. Bar girls, or 

6. Ex-girlfriends

There is no such thing as safe.
Wise up old boy.

9 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

The old anecdotal chestnut of being able to walk about gassed up with brassers at 3am in Sukhumvit and not be assaulted equating to Thailand being a safe country.

 

Righto then.

Agree with your post in principle. It's the same as people who tell you tourism has plummeted, using only the example of bars in Pattaya Soi 6, 7 and 8 not doing so well. 

 

That said, a litmus test for people's personal safety is often the ability to go out after dark and not feel scared or threatened. I've never felt unsafe after dark in Thailand, even in the seediest bits, yet if I walk down the street in downtown Auckland on a Saturday night I'll almost certainly see some drunk thug behaving look a tool. However, I frequently feel unsafe on the roads as my taxi driver does 140kmh in a car with no seatbelts, and Thailand has a way higher homicide rate than  NZ, it just generally (present case aside) doesn't affect westerners. I also don't feel confident in the BIB to do a decent or impartial job if I was the victim of crime. 

 

I guess it's a tough one to make a comparison, because I've not been a victim of crime in my time here, nor do I expect that I will be at any point in the near future, but if I was, I know that I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of seeing any sort of justice. 

How reassuring for us all ????

Safe...right.

 

Marauding gangs of Thai youths.

Gangs of Thai youths racing their mopeds on public roads

Gangs of Thai youths killing disabled people

Gangs of Thai youths queuing to kick female pensioners in the face

Thais who like to kick defenceless pensioners in the face

Sinking Thai boats.

Off-duty yet still armed cop shooting a tourist.

The worst road toll in the world.

Useless police.

Useless government

Useless armed forces

Rampant and unresolveable corruption and thieving at all levels of society

Violent and sometimes fatal 'hazing' at Thai Universities and in the armed forces.

 

Safe as houses...

 

Thailand is already a laughing-stock, how safe would you like it to be?

Edited December 14, 20187 yr by HalfLight

3 minutes ago, HalfLight said:

Safe...right.

 

Marauding gangs of Thai youths.

Sinking Thai boats.

Off-duty yet still armed cop shooting a tourist.

The worst road toll in the world.

Useless police.

Yseless government

Useless armed forces

Rampant and unresolvable corruption and thieving at all levels of society

Violent and sometimes fatal 'hazing' at Thai Universities and in the armed forces.

 

Safe as houses...

 

 

I'd question why you're still here if you think it's so unsafe?

Safe...right.
 
Marauding gangs of Thai youths.
Sinking Thai boats.
Off-duty yet still armed cop shooting a tourist.
The worst road toll in the world.
Useless police.
Yseless government
Useless armed forces
Rampant and unresolvable corruption and thieving at all levels of society
Violent and sometimes fatal 'hazing' at Thai Universities and in the armed forces.
 
Safe as houses...
 
 

You paint a vivid picture! Not sure how I've managed to survive living here.

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I'd question why you're still here if you think it's so unsafe?

I would imagine he left long ago if he really believes what he posted. Thailand isn't as easy as living in your home country, so it's not entirely unsurprising if some find it too difficult or too scary.

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4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

You paint a vivid picture! Not sure how I've managed to survive living here.

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All of it garnered from newspapers and newscasts. Survival is a statistical exercise: ((number of expats)/population)*100 will give you the percentage probability, it's quite small taken as a whole, but quite large if you happen to be a victim. Accepeted, but why take the risk? Thailand is already known as being an unsafe tourist destination. Rightly.

5 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

I would imagine he left long ago if he really believes what he posted. Thailand isn't as easy as living in your home country, so it's not entirely unsurprising if some find it too difficult or too scary.

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He didn't, he just takes sensible precautions, which most don't. If you think Thailand is so wonderful, kindly point out where anything I said in that post is incorrect. Otherwise, go have another beer.

Give a regular dude a scary uniform and a big gun..

I see the tourists doing the most stupid things, just yesterday have seen one family, husband, wife, 3 small children on 2 motorbikes, i wonder if they know what are the risks.

I would bet they have no proper license and insurance.

Thailand can be safe, or very dangerous, up to you.

Safe...right.

 

Marauding gangs of Thai youths.

Gangs of Thai youths racing their mopeds on public roads

Gangs of Thai youths killing disabled people

Gangs of Thai youths queuing to kick female pensioners in the face

Thais who like to kick defenceless pensioners in the face

Sinking Thai boats.

Off-duty yet still armed cop shooting a tourist.

The worst road toll in the world.

Useless police.

Useless government

Useless armed forces

Rampant and unresolveable corruption and thieving at all levels of society

Violent and sometimes fatal 'hazing' at Thai Universities and in the armed forces.

 

Safe as houses...

 

Thailand is already a laughing-stock, how safe would you like it to be?

You have comprehension issues. You want to actually read the OP before posting nonsense

 

Hazing?

Government?

Armed forces?

Corruption?

 

How on earth will these effect tourism safety? Pathetic [emoji122]

 

1 minute ago, HalfLight said:

 

All of it garnered from newspapers and newscasts. Survival is a statistical exercise: ((number of expats)/population)*100 will give you the percentage probability, it's quite small taken as a whole, but quite large if you happen to be a victim. Accepeted, but why take the risk? Thailand is already known as being an unsafe tourist destination. Rightly.

Newspapers aren't necessarily great representations of how safe or unsafe a country is. Example: New Zealand is currently in a state of moral panic because a British tourist was murdered by someone she met online while travelling there. We've got peace marches, vigils, thoughts and prayers and people changing their facebook pictures and talking about how unsafe NZ is, meanwhile the media largely ignores our appalling domestic violence rate. 

 

To the outsider looking in, you'd think that tourists get killed all the time, but it's just a panic created by vulture and sensationalist media outlets. 

 

Case in point: the road toll. Yes, Thailand's roads are unsafe. Yes, westerners die on Thailand's roads. But the majority of those deaths are Thais on motos not wearing helmets (something like 60% from memory). Also, the homicide rate - while homicides happen, my observations are that they tend to be domestic in nature and involving the Thais again. 

 

I don't know many expats over here who have fallen victim to burglaries or violent assaults. While that's not a statistically sound survey, I know plenty of people back in NZ who have been burgled or beaten up this year in random violence. 

Sen. Sgt. Maj. Somchai Wisetsingh says, "Hi!" and fully understands the totally excusable response of Sen. Sgt. Maj. Kantapong Huadsri. 

Thailand is safe except the roads, fruit and vegetables, walking street, beach road, markets, swimming pools, buses, mini-vans, boats......for the rest it's all safe...please do have safe sex as well...

 

 

11 minutes ago, HalfLight said:

 

He didn't, he just takes sensible precautions, which most don't. If you think Thailand is so wonderful, kindly point out where anything I said in that post is incorrect. Otherwise, go have another beer.

I think the point is if you hate the police, the military, the youths, the people and the government of a country that you have chosen to adopt as your home, why not go elsewhere to a place where you like all of the above. 

Perhaps insurance companies should simply list visiting Thailand along with other dangerous sports such as cave or sky diving. 

1 minute ago, fruitman said:

Thailand is safe except the roads, fruit and vegetables, walking street, beach road, markets, swimming pools, buses, mini-vans, boats......for the rest it's all safe...please do have safe sex as well...

 

 

Good thing the majority of expats and tourists don't feel the need to frequent Walking Street and Beach Road then? That's two risks on your list mitigated

2 hours ago, madmen said:

The safest place in the world not to get shot would be the north pole

But then you have polar bears.

There is no "safe" anywhere

South Pole - no bears.

2 hours ago, Psimbo said:

Nowhere in the world is 'safe'- look at the Thai tourist who was killed in Strasbourg having decided not to visit Paris due to the unrest. This was a random act which can happen anywhere. I do take umbrage at 'trusting the Thai police' though- but that is in general, not based on the actions of an off duty cop.

 

it doesn't stop the knee-jerk Thaigeezer reactions though.

Strasbourg hasn't been safe since they built the tram line from Neudorf to Place Kleber. I soon became the criminality highway. The Arab criminals who were too lazy to walk the 5k to the center, just jumped on the tram, and never paid any fares. The conductors being too scare to demand payment. 

But this shouldn't be an excuse to pretend that Thailand is safe, unless on accepts to be a fool.

"only one man was involved" What about the guy who handed him the gun?

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

The victim wasn't a tourist. He had been drinking with the murderer whom he knew. They both "knew" the girl involved. Not exactly a situation likely to happen to many tourists.

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Excuse me that's correct I should have said: "wasn't too safe for that foreigner".

Been here nine years and I haven't been killed yet.

3 minutes ago, zydeco said:

Been here nine years and I haven't been killed yet.

Are you sure? Could you be posting from heaven then?

"He admitted that the crime was grave and apologized to the family of the victim on behalf of the Royal Thai Police," yep, I'm sure that will make them feel a whole lot better, but hey, this isn't the first time Thai cops have shoot someone, out of jealousy... or loss of an argument/fight.

Silly me. Thought that guns are the problem. Maybe too many guns and cops with guns even off duty. Surely both can be tightened with laws and regulations respectively. 

22 minutes ago, SammyT said:

I think the point is if you hate the police, the military, the youths, the people and the government of a country that you have chosen to adopt as your home, why not go elsewhere to a place where you like all of the above. 

In my post, I did not use the word 'hate', you use it as a foolish and uninformed overlay on what you think I meant. Try not to think what I mean, you don't know enough and you don't know me well enough. Read what I said, there aren't any great hidden mysteries in there.

 

 

 

33 minutes ago, SammyT said:

Newspapers aren't necessarily great representations of how safe or unsafe a country is. Example: New Zealand is currently in a state of moral panic because a British tourist was murdered by someone she met online while travelling there. We've got peace marches, vigils, thoughts and prayers and people changing their facebook pictures and talking about how unsafe NZ is, meanwhile the media largely ignores our appalling domestic violence rate. 

 

To the outsider looking in, you'd think that tourists get killed all the time, but it's just a panic created by vulture and sensationalist media outlets. 

 

Case in point: the road toll. Yes, Thailand's roads are unsafe. Yes, westerners die on Thailand's roads. But the majority of those deaths are Thais on motos not wearing helmets (something like 60% from memory). Also, the homicide rate - while homicides happen, my observations are that they tend to be domestic in nature and involving the Thais again. 

 

I don't know many expats over here who have fallen victim to burglaries or violent assaults. While that's not a statistically sound survey, I know plenty of people back in NZ who have been burgled or beaten up this year in random violence. 

 

Well, most of what you say is your own way of justifying what you already know is unacceptable, but which you can't ignore unless you find a sensible reason to ignore it. So you make one.

 

Effective, in an unthinking kind of a way.

 

 

 
He didn't, he just takes sensible precautions, which most don't. If you think Thailand is so wonderful, kindly point out where anything I said in that post is incorrect. Otherwise, go have another beer.

I'm entertaining my 3 year-old at Kidzoona so no beer yet! I certainly don't think Thailand is so wonderful, it's just where I've happened to have worked for 14 years and now live with my non-Thai wife and kid. Do I think living here is dangerous? Absolutely not, although as I posted earlier, driving here has many risks.

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