45 Murders In Phuket In 2009

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45 murders in Phuket in 2009

A drug suspect arrested earlier this week, together with evidence seized in the case by police.

PHUKET: Crime statistics compiled by the Phuket Provincial Police reveal 45 murders and 310 cases of manslaughter on the resort island in 2009.

Based on the official population of just over 320,000, the figures put the total number of instances of murder and manslaughter at an alarming rate of more than one victim per 1,000 residents over the year.

However, the official population figure is highly inaccurate as it fails to take into account the number of migrants workers, expat residents, tourists and illegal aliens on the island.

There were two fewer recorded murders in Phuket last year than in 2008, a 4.4% fall.

In 2009 charges were filed in 66.7% of the murder cases and 59.4% of manslaughter cases.

The statistics, though official, are unaudited and do not necessarily include all actual cases or either crime.

There were 1,588 people arrested for prostitution, up 13.3% year-on-year.

To put this in context, some estimates have put the number of prostitutes working on the island at around 7,000.

There were 723 reported theft cases, down 13.4% year-on-year. Arrests were made in 500 cases, a success rate of 69.2%.

There were 111 reports of motorbike theft, with arrests in 78 cases, a rate of 70.3%.

Fraud cases numbered 102, with arrests in 31, just under one-third. There were 200 embezzlement cases, with arrests in just 18.

There were 2,043 people arrested for gambling in 684 cases, and 289 arrests for involvement with the illegal lottery, cases of which are tabulated separately.

A total of 278 guns were seized, down 14.9% on the previous year, while there were six seizures of military weapons.

Drug cases were up 30.5%, from 2008, with 2441 cases and 2,720 arrests.

Among the controlled substances seized in 2009:

Heroin: 217.4 grams

Opium: 61.25g

Dry marijuana: 7,602g

Kratom leaves: 94g

Ya bah (methamphetamine): 86,820 pills

Ecstacy: 531 pills

Cocaine: 28.2g

Alprazolam (Xanax): 253 pills and 8g

Diazepam (Valium): 9 pills.

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-01-15

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[alfbondi]

shocking.

[thefalang]

It would interesting to compare details of the 45 reported murders with those of the murders that have been reported in the media. That might indicate the accuracy of the crime statistics compiled by the police.  

Are details (victims names, etc) available from the police statistics?

No statistics regarding rape, attempted rapes...

1,588 arrests for prostitution in 1-year... That's particularly amusing. No explanation required here. Good work "Sherlock"!

I read these statistics with skepticism, to say the least. They are compiled by the police dept and most probably provide the main source of data used to determine the effectiveness of the police dept. Need I say more? 

[chiang mai]

Scepticism, for the love of dear God it's pure unadulterated fabrication and propaganda, we note with interest however inclusion of the 9 pills of Valium found on a 17 year old Australian last week, lucky to have found that or the numbers would look really bad! Wot, sarcastic, moi!!

Edited January 18, 2010 by chiang mai

[thefalang]

Scepticism, for the love of dear God it's pure unadulterated fabrication and propaganda.

Eloquently stated! I was attempting to be diplomatic but I couldn't have said it any better than you have...

[ScubaBuddha]

Scepticism, for the love of dear God it's pure unadulterated fabrication and propaganda, we note with interest however inclusion of the 9 pills of Valium found on a 17 year old Australian last week, lucky to have found that or the numbers would look really bad! Wot, sarcastic, moi!!

I believe he was a Kiwi .

[billythehat]

....mmmm...only 28.2 grams of coke...yeah, right, Somchai...

Hard to see why Xanax and Valium are on that list as these can be bought over the counter as ‘prescription’ items in Lalaland. No need to put yourself above the radar by associating with Somchai the dealer. Better still, don’t do drugs in LLL.

[Jimjim]

This brings an interesting point. I know Phuket is special and some would say more murder and crime happens there because it's a tourist island, bringing more bad types. But you meet many who even live in Thailand as expats and say Thailand is the safest place in the world, etc. Most realize the truth is far different from perception.

So Phuket has over 320,000 people (unofficially we could say it's a bit more, probably, but we must go by the official statistics). There were 45 murders in 2009, officially. I will contrast with where I was living last year, in Portland, Oregon (USA). Portland has over 582,000 inhabitants. There were 21 murders in 2009. Quite a contrast.

So, Phuket, at least, is nowhere near being the safest place in the world. Duh. But I don't think it's completely isolated. Other places in Thailand certainly have their fair amount of murder and crime. Thailand has far too much violent crime for my liking. Can't see myself staying in Thailand forever.

Be safe out there...