Australians Advised: Do Not Travel To Southern

[peter991]

The Australian Government last night raised it's Travel Advice for Australians either in Thailand or intending to travel to the country regions of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla from the second highest level: Reconsider your need to travel to Do Not Travel.

Thailand now joins Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Iraq, Somalia and Sudan - countries which the Australian Government says is not safe for its citizens.

Peter

[jingjoe]

Well, it's only the deep south that they're warning about so strenuously (rightly so).

Hardly fair or accurate to suggest the Australian Government considers it's citizens safety in "Thailand" is on a par with Afganistan, Iraq and Sudan, in fact it's just plain wrong.

[donna]

i live in phuket, and whilst i know thats not in the hot spot, i do still take notice of what is going on around me. i think thats necessary in these days of terrorism and all that rubbish. i choose who i mix with and dont make trouble.

i would take these same precautions in australia too, so its nothing extraordinary for me to do.

[Jai Dee]

Well, it's only the deep south that they're warning about so strenuously (rightly so).

Hardly fair or accurate to suggest the Australian Government considers it's citizens safety in "Thailand" is on a par with Afganistan, Iraq and Sudan, in fact it's just plain wrong.

I'd have to agree with the above.

Peter991, would you like your poll modified to reflect "Restive Southern Thailand" instead of the whole country?

Or did you mean the whole of Thailand?

[Jimjim]

Ya, they're advising them not to go to a small region of Thailand. Some Aussies say they started being extra careful once the Bali bombings happened. Anyway, I myself may never go down to those three provinces at all.

[Tattoo180sx]

Well, it's only the deep south that they're warning about so strenuously (rightly so).

Hardly fair or accurate to suggest the Australian Government considers it's citizens safety in "Thailand" is on a par with Afganistan, Iraq and Sudan, in fact it's just plain wrong.

^^^ what he said

i could never life my life by being afraid of going to places i really want to visit, its just letting terror win.

everytime ive been to thailand ive felt more safe than australia.

siam, soi cowboy, phuket, sumui, pattaya - ive wandered around these places untill the sun comes up, each time feeling soooo much safer and more free than Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney. no doubt about it. obviously the aboved mentioned are not in the areas with the aust gov warnings though.

[paulie2277]

i feel the same safer walking around phuket than in australia i think the aus government overreact

[jingjoe]

The Aussie government are damned if they do, damned if they don't...

Their travel warnings should be interpreted subjectively and they always carry the silent by-line "yes this travel advice is probably an over-reaction, but when it turns to shit, don't say we didn't warn you".

P.S. No Thai holiday south of Songkhla for me, thanks very much. (Same goes for Bali).

[Nignoy]

Of course you have to be careful if you travel to or through southern thailand!! but methinks more warnings should be given about the dangers of violence in some tourist resorts at home, the gold coast is a no go area for tourists after 10pm,our sleepy little sunshine coast hamlet has had 2 gun battles, 4 murders not counting a policeman being shot todeath,multiple stabbings, I wont attempt to count the muggings,sex crimes on the beaches are common place, feel safer as a pensioner when we are in thailand, at least you see the odd policeman in thailand ,here from 1700hrs till 7am the nearest manned police station is 27kms away, you have to be careful everywhere you go , these days no where is 100% safe!!I am very lucky have Mrs Nignoy as a bodyguard Nignoy

[jingjoe]

The travel warnings simply act as a source of basic public awareness for travellers, providing limited information about every other country on the planet.

We need to accept the travel warnings for what they are, i.e. a simplistic situational overview of country "X".

Interestingly Nignoy, you are well informed about your local community through the media, yet that looks to have increased your anxiety.

Understandable on that score alone why the Government doesn't go into too much detail regarding other countries. If we were subjected to the local news events of our intended destination day after day, week after week before departing, I doubt we'd be quite so keen on that Carribian Beach Holiday or catching a stageshow in London.

If anything the travel warning issued should carry links to more comprehensive descriptions and reports upon which the warning was based. At least then, those of us that wish to understand the situation better, have a ready resource at our fingertips.

[Nignoy]

The travel warnings simply act as a source of basic public awareness for travellers, providing limited information about every other country on the planet.

We need to accept the travel warnings for what they are, i.e. a simplistic situational overview of country "X".

Interestingly Nignoy, you are well informed about your local community through the media, yet that looks to have increased your anxiety.

Understandable on that score alone why the Government doesn't go into too much detail regarding other countries. If we were subjected to the local news events of our intended destination day after day, week after week before departing, I doubt we'd be quite so keen on that Carribian Beach Holiday or catching a stageshow in London.

If anything the travel warning issued should carry links to more comprehensive descriptions and reports upon which the warning was based. At least then, those of us that wish to understand the situation better, have a ready resource at our fingertips.

The reason I am well informed is at the moment we are in home in Ningi , while my wife is having treatment in a Brisbane Hospital, the 2 gunbattles that I mentioned both happened in our little village not 100metres from my front door,as far as anxiety goes the only things that we worry about are the Knee Jerk reactions of the Australian Authorities!! Nignoy

PS we return to the peace and quiet of thailand next month

[bendix]

If the Australian foreign office is to be believed, it seems the only SAFE travel destinations are in Australia itself, which is kinda ironic considering Al Queda has regularly stated that Australia is a key target, that Australia (along with Britain) is the US's greatest supporter in its decision to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, and given it's rather bizarre lack of any meaningful security at most likely terror targets.

Frankly, I feel a lot safer walking in Jakarta than I do in Sydney. At least when I go into a Jakarta hotel or office building, I'm searched. In downtown Sydney? Nothing. It's a soft target which WILL be hit one day.

No doubt the Aussies will then place themselves on their travel advisories.

[Pink Mist]

If the Australian foreign office is to be believed, it seems the only SAFE travel destinations are in Australia itself, which is kinda ironic considering Al Queda has regularly stated that Australia is a key target, that Australia (along with Britain) is the US's greatest supporter in its decision to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, and given it's rather bizarre lack of any meaningful security at most likely terror targets.

Frankly, I feel a lot safer walking in Jakarta than I do in Sydney. At least when I go into a Jakarta hotel or office building, I'm searched. In downtown Sydney? Nothing. It's a soft target which WILL be hit one day.

No doubt the Aussies will then place themselves on their travel advisories.

are you ever going to post something positive?

[bendix]

are you ever going to post something positive?

What does being positive or negative have to do with that post, or this thread? It's an opinion. What's your point?

That post could be read as highly positive in the sense that I am saying the Aussie Foreign Office's warnings about Thailand are over-stated, similar to all their warnings which invariably are issued with the blinding clarity of hindsight.

If you would like a postive post, I wax lyrical about Norwich market's bacon sandwiches in the 'What Food do you Miss?" thread. Go read it and cheer yourself up.

[bkkandrew]

If you would like a postive post, I wax lyrical about Norwich market's bacon sandwiches in the 'What Food do you Miss?" thread. Go read it and cheer yourself up.

But surely that has a negative slant, as you are missing it...?

[jingjoe]

In downtown Sydney? Nothing. It's a soft target which WILL be hit one day.

Your omnipotent forecast of doom is 30 years late, n.b. Hilton Hotel Sydney 1978.

[Pink Mist]

maybe that didnt count

[bendix]

Obviously it didnt count. It was a domestic incident and, anyway, the global geopolitical system was very very different then.

My point is simple. We live in a new world these days. Australian interests are obviously a target to islamic terrorists - cf Bali. How long before it reaches the mainland? Yet, i see no signs of any security measures, no checks at hotels, no security in office buildings.

All the time, though, the authorities sit back smugly, watch another bomb explode in some distant part of the world and say "ooooops, we better use the benefits of hindsight and add that to the no-go list."

Edited July 25, 2007 by bendix

[Nignoy]

It doesnt matter where we live folks, we have to adjust to the changing attitudes where ever we go, higher standards of security everywhere, more stringent identity checks, we are lucky up to now, there have not been any serious incidents here in australia, but one still has to be alert!!things were very relaxed in the US before 9/11 the IRA Bombers in UK were openly supported and funded by charities such as Noraid and the Shamrock league, but after 9/11 the whole attitude towards terrorism changed worldwide at last!!so whether we live in Toowoomba, sleepy Huahin or even downtown Wigan, we most practise the same degree of vigilance, it can happen anywhere anytime, its a situation we all have to live with Nignoy

[jingjoe]

Be alert, not alarmed... when your number's up (you know the rest).

[lazeeboy]

Be alert, not alarmed... when your number's up (you know the rest).

problem is the trouble in the south does not affect resorts like phuket and samui (yet) but in the western world there both in the south of thailand ,and will ,are affecting the tourist industry ,the government has to sort it as we dont want another bali

[fred2007]

So, all of you voted I am on the next plane out of here you are still here complaining

[roamer]

I'm always reminded of the fact that a not unsimilar campaign for independence from the ruling power, the IRA in Northern Ireland, only really took off when they bombed London. I do travel through the affected provinces albeit carefully, If you believe in fairy tales you will believe that the terrorist/freedom fighter campaign will always stay in the deep south, forget it , not going to happen, only a question of when not if.

[ozsamurai]

well put Bendix, agree 100%....maybe you grow on me....

Oz

[ballzafire]

That the deep south is a problem is nothing new. Just transiting thru there to the border is safe via train. Done that a number of times now. Never a concern.

But extending it to all of Songkhla is just plain ridiculous.

Fear-mongering, actually...

[ballzafire]

Hey, I just noticed this topic is two years old!

Why are you bozos bumping these? Stick to more recent events...

Edited October 13, 2009 by ballzafire