Is Thailand Too Dangerous

[craig]

Last night my neighbor, a Thai man about 40 years with three young daughters, was shot dead by 20 year old thug. My wife and I heard gunshots last night and this morning found out a friendly neighbor, described as a good man, and the father of friends of my wife's children was killed by a local young man. The killer who fled the scene is described by the locals as a "bad' person...his father is thought of in the same vein.

I don't know the details yet...This small village southeast of Pattaya has a large number of drug dealers and users...Yaba. The murdered neighbor is not known as a being involved at any level in the drug scene.

I read in Pattaya One this morning about a Police Volunteer being the prime suspect in shooting a man in the stomach.

Is Pattaya...or Thailand just becoming too dangerous to be in? I know there are places in my country, the US, where this stuff goes on...I am not claiming any kind of superiority here...just concerned about the violence and corruption...I just read the thread on the Airport Extortion.

I'm just kind of shaken by the event...my wife is concerned for her kids.

[TexasRanger]

No more or less dangerous than other places.

Protect and defend your family at all , if you live in an excessively bad area you must move, but this sounds like an isolated incident. Wait for the full story to emerge.

Good luck.

[SoiGirlHunter]

This is nothing, wait another 6 months to a year, when the global depression takes its toll, then you'll see dangerous

it'll be years before any recovery

[meelousee]

As a whole Thailand is not getting more dangerous.

Pattaya on the other hand is. For many reasons, one is the economic downturn and the fact that fewer tourist are visiting makes things harder. It has long been known that the Thai Mafia controls much of Pattaya, the baht buss tuck, the area on the beach to put up umbrellas, the motorcyle taxis all of walking street and so on.

In fact that is the reason I moved out Pattaya to Lad Krabang where the main stay of the economy is university students and factory workers.

I dont see Pattay getting better any time soon and may get worse as time goes by.

There are plenty of Townhouses out my way and darn cheap for 3 bedrooms few to rent several for sale.

Watch you back my friend living in a neighborhood with yaba around is plenty dangerous.

[imaneggspurt]

You will be told by all ther old die hards thats thailand is great, no worse than liverpool/los angeles etc, when in fact its 10 times worse, and will get worse while money is short and getting shorter,,gun culture is rife here and most, yes most teenagers carry guns, im talking about the pattaya area of course, but what do you expect when the dregs of thailand converge on the place and 3 generations of pimps and prostitutes offspring are the local population,..yes i know if i dont like it i can go home and we are, i do not want to remain here and bring our daughter up here and possibly become a statistic,..there is nothing to do for families anyway,for those that sing thailands praises i can only wonder where they came from !,,biggest mistake i made in my life was not realising what life is really like here and what the thais really think of us,.if you dont see it the rose color glasses are still doing their work, well done,.

Edited June 28, 2009 by imaneggspurt

[MJo]

Drugs and violent crime is going on in Thailand and has been for centuries. Just because it does not touch normal folks and even less foreigners doesn't mean it does not exist. Slums in any country can be dangerous places to live in. Some areas in Patters are propably same or worse as famous klong toey slums in bangkok.

Move to a better area if you are concerned of your kids security.

[neverdie]

You will be told by all ther old die hards thats thailand is great, no worse than liverpool/los angeles etc, when in fact its 10 times worse, and will get worse while money is short and getting shorter,,gun culture is rife here and most, yes most teenagers carry guns, im talking about the pattaya area of course, but what do you expect when the dregs of thailand converge on the place and 3 generations of pimps and bgs offspring are the local population,..yes i know if i dont like it i can go home and we are, i do not want to remain here and bring our daughter up here and possibly become a statistic,..there is nothing to do for families anyway,for those that sing thailands praises i can only wonder where they came from !,,biggest mistake i made in my life was not realising what life is really like here and what the thais really think of us,.if you dont see it the rose color glasses are still doing there work, well done,.

Yes Thailand seems to have a gun problem.

There also seems to be a problem where people go from being jai yen yen and all of that to monsters of all proportions in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds.

The world is a dangerous place, you just need to find somewhere you can feel comfortable & be careful.

Sorry to hear about your neighbour.

[tropo]

As a whole Thailand is not getting more dangerous.

Pattaya on the other hand is. For many reasons, one is the economic downturn and the fact that fewer tourist are visiting makes things harder. It has long been known that the Thai Mafia controls much of Pattaya, the baht buss tuck, the area on the beach to put up umbrellas, the motorcyle taxis all of walking street and so on.

In fact that is the reason I moved out Pattaya to Lad Krabang where the main stay of the economy is university students and factory workers.

I dont see Pattay getting better any time soon and may get worse as time goes by.

There are plenty of Townhouses out my way and darn cheap for 3 bedrooms few to rent several for sale.

Watch you back my friend living in a neighborhood with yaba around is plenty dangerous.

Pattaya is more dangerous than a little village in the same way that New York City would be more dangerous than a small country town in upstate New York.

There is always higher crime in cities the world over. Pattaya is no different.

[loverboy44]

It is not only Pattaya and has nothing to do (not yet) with the current economic crisis.

It is about loosing face because of Mia Noi, drugs, and so on. This is mainly a cultural problem.

Although i must admitt that Pattaya is the worst place in Thailand with all the mafia clans.

[Rimmer]

I don't know the details yet...This small village southeast of Pattaya has a large number of drug dealers and users...Yaba. The murdered neighbor is not known as a being involved at any level in the drug scene.

I'm just kind of shaken by the event...my wife is concerned for her kids.

Hue Yai again no doubt!

I won't even drive through the place at night it has such a bad reputation.

[JR Texas]

No more or less dangerous than other places.

Protect and defend your family at all , if you live in an excessively bad area you must move, but this sounds like an isolated incident. Wait for the full story to emerge.

Good luck.

Most definitely more dangerous than many other places.......less than some.

Believe it or not, there really are cities and countries that have almost no violence.

[MeetJohnDoe]

I don't know the details yet...This small village southeast of Pattaya has a large number of drug dealers and users...Yaba. The murdered neighbor is not known as a being involved at any level in the drug scene.

I'm just kind of shaken by the event...my wife is concerned for her kids.

Hue Yai again no doubt!

I won't even drive through the place at night it has such a bad reputation.

Henny penny the sky is falling...someone was shot and killed somewhere south of Pattaya last nite! Here is a headline from the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper today:

1 dead, 2 wounded in shooting at S.F. club

( http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../MN4M18F3QG.DTL )

What are we to make of it...should all the people living in SFO move somewhere else and all tourist avoid the place as too dangerous?

Random crime is almost unknown in Thailand (as opposed to the West). I''m sure there was some beef between them...did you ever ask the dead man if he was involved in the drug trade...if not, how can you make the above statement? I wouldn't make too much out of it, except maybe upgrade to a better neighborhood.

And Rimmer, Huay Yai is a very large area (around the Chanork Reservoir and thereabouts) and I lived out there for a couple years and drove back and forth at nite to central Pattaya with never a problem. Others who lived in the same development did the same without incident.

Edited June 28, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[TexasRanger]

Believe it or not, there really are cities and countries that have almost no violence.

Not.

[loong]

Believe it or not, there really are cities and countries that have almost no violence.

Not.

Deaths by intentional violence W.H.O figures for 2002, per 100,000 population

Thailand 9.4

USA 5.4

UK 1.1

Canada 1.5

Germany 0.7

Australia 1.5

Singapore 0.8

India 5.5

Indonesia 9.4

Cambodia 17.1

Laos 5.7

Vietnam 4.2

Malaysia 8.7

Myanmar 16.7

Philippines 21.1

Colombia 72.4

Edit - Thailand also had 11.1 suicides per 100,000 population

Edited June 28, 2009 by loong

[chiang mai]

Believe it or not, there really are cities and countries that have almost no violence.

Not.

Deaths by intentional violence W.H.O figures for 2002, per 100,000 population

Thailand 9.4

USA 5.4

UK 1.1

Canada 1.5

Germany 0.7

Australia 1.5

Singapore 0.8

India 5.5

Indonesia 9.4

Cambodia 17.1

Laos 5.7

Vietnam 4.2

Malaysia 8.7

Myanmar 16.7

Philippines 21.1

Colombia 72.4

Edit - Thailand also had 11.1 suicides per 100,000 population

Please post the source of your statistics, if you want to be taken seriously that is. And whilst at that task, current numbers would be perhaps be more useful to the discussion, no?

[loong]

Please post the source of your statistics, if you want to be taken seriously that is. And whilst at that task, current numbers would be perhaps be more useful to the discussion, no?

I gave the source - The World Health Organisation.

These are the latest figures that I know of.

I posted to show that there are more and less violent deaths in other countries. Noticeably more in the Philippines and Cambodia and a lot less in the west.

[chiang mai]

Please post the source of your statistics, if you want to be taken seriously that is. And whilst at that task, current numbers would be perhaps be more useful to the discussion, no?

I gave the source - The World Health Organisation.

These are the latest figures that I know of.

I posted to show that there are more and less violent deaths in other countries. Noticeably more in the Philippines and Cambodia and a lot less in the west.

Great, perhaps you could now point readers to the exact WHO URL that relates to the stats you posted?

[loong]

http://www.who.int/entity/healthinfo/globa...timates2004.xls

It wasn't easy to find as my previous link was broken. It seems that there are now figures for 2004. The above link should enable you to download the excel file. It's actually quite interesting. Gives figures for road deaths as well as other injuries and diseases.

The Death Rate worksheet is the relevant one.

The main webpage is

http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burde...y/en/index.html

Edited June 28, 2009 by loong

[JR Texas]

Believe it or not, there really are cities and countries that have almost no violence.

Not.

Go here: http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/home.php

Also check out rankings.........Thailand is worse than Cambodia when the measure of broader (i.e., peace). And you can read about the methodology.

The fact is that some countries are peaceful relative to others.

That implies less violence.

I lived in such a country......did not hear one word raised in anger for the entire time I was there (about seven months)........totally amazing country and people.

It took me less than five minutes to see and hear people angry in Thailand after my stay in that country.

[neverdie]

Believe it or not, there really are cities and countries that have almost no violence.

Not.

Deaths by intentional violence W.H.O figures for 2002, per 100,000 population

Thailand 9.4

USA 5.4

UK 1.1

Canada 1.5

Germany 0.7

Australia 1.5

Singapore 0.8

India 5.5

Indonesia 9.4

Cambodia 17.1

Laos 5.7

Vietnam 4.2

Malaysia 8.7

Myanmar 16.7

Philippines 21.1

Colombia 72.4

Edit - Thailand also had 11.1 suicides per 100,000 population

Interesting stats, thanks loong.

[dudemeister]

C'mon JR - tell us please, what country was that?

[loong]

Interesting stats, thanks loong

You're welcome Neverdie.

I appreciate that I should have explained that these stats were from a file already downloaded onto my computer and that I couldn't locate the original link. But there really was no need for the sarcastic responses from ChiangMai.

Still at least it made me search and so I've now provided the URL with slightly newer stats. Thank you ChiangMai

Of course these are stats re deaths, not violence etc that does not result in death, but they certainly paint the picture that you are more likely to meet a violent death in SE Asia than in the west. Mind you USA is pretty bad.

[JR Texas]

C'mon JR - tell us please, what country was that?

Some of us like remaining anonymous. If I tell you, it can be looked up in my passport.

[some of us are a bit paranoid about the police state that Thailand appears to be on the road to becoming.]

I can tell you it is in the Middle East....wonderful place.

I can tell you it is on the list of peaceful countries.

It shattered my preconceived perceptions about Islam.

There was, to the best of my knowledge, virtually no crime at all.

Leave your doors unlocked (no theft).

Drop a money bag and it would be returned it to you (with the money in it).

Stranded in the hot desert......somebody would pick you up and take you way out of their way to your villa (and expect nothing in return).

True Islam.......not the twisted kind you see on TV.

And before you say it, I am not a believer in Islam.

Let me add something........if you are a short time tourists, don't worry about Thailand being dangerous.........it is not like that.

Most of us don't feel threatened by anything here.........well, maybe the ever changing immigration rules and regulations are an exception to that.

[anothertorres]

the answer to this thread is... yes. but momma always said, if you aren't under the bomb, run to it...

[johnlexo]

Crime in Pattaya has increased dramatically the last few years. Especially violent crime against foreigners. With the downturn in revenue we can expect much more trouble. Just check out the "prime" location Pratumnak Hill, more and more buildings and villages resort to barbed wire, high voltage security wires and more. Hardly a building that has not been burglarized at least once, more often several times. Values of real-estate are falling fast and we have not reached bottom yet.

No question that more and more people will leave, also no questions that the die-hards will keep defending their territory and paint it in pink! JL.

[NanLaew]

I don't know the details yet...This small village southeast of Pattaya has a large number of drug dealers and users...Yaba.

I'm just kind of shaken by the event...my wife is concerned for her kids.

Hue Yai again no doubt!

And Rimmer, Huay Yai is a very large area (around the Chanork Reservoir and thereabouts) and I lived out there for a couple years and drove back and forth at nite to central Pattaya with never a problem. Others who lived in the same development did the same without incident.

So MJD managed to literally dodge the bullet for 'a couple of years'. Well done. You mention 'the same devlopment' so assume this was some sort of 'gated' community in the boonies.

Huay Yai features in very high percentage of local (ie. Thai on Thai) crime stories, whether it be this unfortunate incident or the numerous young gangbangers shooting at each other on Sukhumvit (they invariably flee towards Huay Yai) or tales of disputes with local headmen (there's some pretty impressive local government buildings for such a 'rural' location).

It's also home to several farangs who probably note with dismay how their dreams of a quiet country retreat, just beyond the city lights, has been slowly eroded; the reality being guard dogs, high walls, cctv systems and the home HAVING to become a castle... or a prison.

There's no statistics that I know of that indicate farang fatalities in the municipality but the increased risk is undeniable. Most innocent victims in western world ghetto shootings never know where the bullet came from or who it was really meant for. For me, that kind of takes the edge off sitting out beside the pool in the evening gloaming, relaxing with a cocktail, flinching when you hear the random gunfire. Sorry, that was a bike backfiring... this time. If there was ever a ghetto in the country, Huay Yai is it.

I know exactly how the OP feels when such a tragedy hits very close to home. Witness how crime never visited my home in the Pattaya area for 23 years. Then 3 burglaries in as many months. It changes your mind and attitude when it get's this close, this frequent. I will never accept that the criminals have won but I will be first to admit that I have lost something when I lock myself and family IN every night.

[BSJ]

1/ Life is what you make it.

2/ Don't believe everything you hear on TeleVision.....or the net!

3/ Avoid travel in places less hospitable.

4/ And from my long departed Great Uncle who was a policeman in South Africa: Alway carry a loaded revolver on your person plus a back-up hidden in your vehicle with a sawn off 12 gauge shotgun.

[midas]

No more or less dangerous than other places.

Protect and defend your family at all , if you live in an excessively bad area you must move, but this sounds like an isolated incident. Wait for the full story to emerge.

Good luck.

Most definitely more dangerous than many other places.......less than some.

Believe it or not, there really are cities and countries that have almost no violence.

2 places i have been where i saw no violence .......Pyong Yang North Korea and

Cuba.

Edited June 28, 2009 by midas

[MeetJohnDoe]

Also check out rankings.........Thailand is worse than Cambodia when the measure of broader (i.e., peace). And you can read about the methodology.

Yeah I'm sure it is if you leave out that little bit about the 1 million+ people were wiped-out in the Killing Fields!

[MeetJohnDoe]

Crime in Pattaya has increased dramatically the last few years. Especially violent crime against foreigners. With the downturn in revenue we can expect much more trouble. Just check out the "prime" location Pratumnak Hill, more and more buildings and villages resort to barbed wire, high voltage security wires and more. Hardly a building that has not been burglarized at least once, more often several times. Values of real-estate are falling fast and we have not reached bottom yet.

No question that more and more people will leave, also no questions that the die-hards will keep defending their territory and paint it in pink! JL.

Pratumnak Hill was never considered "prime" buy anyone who has lived in Pattaya for any length of time...it was only market as such to newbies and other clueless buyers by the the Pattaya real estate pimps. It has always been know as a high crime area...despite the presence of a notable residence.