Thailand Tops Australian Death List

[ginjag]

Gin let me pretend to be you for a minute and how you constantly stalk me here and reply with you usual logic ... why believe these stats in the OP when you can see things for your own eyes. I look out my window every day and have not seen an Australian tourist killed and I am good friends with a number of Australians in Thailand and none of them are dead except for the one who went to England and got killed in a car accident. So with my Ginging logic, England is much more dangerous for Australians.

But interestingly enough, you aren't taking this position this time because you embrace anything that might paint Thailand in a bad light and oppose any stat that doesn't even have to paint Thailand but simply show it is not as bad as you doom and gloomers make it out to be.

But more importantly isn't it about time you stopped obsessing on me and my posts and views?

Haha, you are a funny guy. The one obsessed is you. You show up in every thread defending Thailand and bashing everyone else no matter what the topic. I doubt any cares much about news like this, but you.

According to you, all foreigners die in Thailand due to accidents because they get drunk, jump on motorcycles and drive dangerously without helmets. They die of illnesses because they lose their mind and drink too much in Thailand. They die of natural causes because drinking, driving without a helmet and being stupid is how foreigners naturally act in vacation in Thailand. They die of unknown causes because they old and they come to Thailand to die and cause of death is not really important to them when they die in Thailand because, hey there dead already.

Come on, you gotta be a shill for some Thailand travel agency. Have to be, so fess up. No normal half way intelligent person would think this way. Has to got to be a joke or publicity stunt.

Your post is to the point, it is bad when we posters get chopped down by pointing out what improvements could be made. We do see the negatives so the only way to help bring Thailand up is to talk about them. I had the good fortune not to be born blind-deaf/dumb-therefore this gives me the right to be honest as I am aware of most things going on. this country is lovely for me but would never paint it whiter than white when it's not.

[softgeorge]

It is not surprising Thailand would lead in terms of Australian deaths given how close, cheap and easy it is to enter Thailand. I would guess that a significant number of Australian visitors, excluding retirees are young folks looking to party who may not have ever traveled outside the country are aren't used to the freedoms they perceive the have here and are not educated enough on taking care of themselves in a less developed nation be it having funds or insurance for illnesses to actually going to going to see a doctor. This might also be why there seems to be a good number of arrests reported in the news of Australians in Thailand.

I have to disagree with you Nisa, The Australian Bureau of Statistics has disclosed recently that Bali remains a Preferred Holiday Destination for Australians. Bali is closer and cheaper than Thailand. Vietnam comes in 2nd followed by Turkey.

Can you please explain the good number of arrests for Aussies in Thailand and when was the last one?

[KeyserSoze01]

I live in Thailand but have only met a few Australians - but everytime I visit Bali, Indonesia - Australians are about 80-85% of the foreigners I meet - I am surprised that there aren't more Australian deaths in Indonesia as compared to Thailand (not referring to the Bali Blast either).

You must have never visited Phuket because the place is crawling with Aussies.

[chooka]

I live in Thailand but have only met a few Australians - but everytime I visit Bali, Indonesia - Australians are about 80-85% of the foreigners I meet - I am surprised that there aren't more Australian deaths in Indonesia as compared to Thailand (not referring to the Bali Blast either).

You must have never visited Phuket because the place is crawling with Aussies.

6 Years in Chiangmai and I have only met one fellow countryman. I was thinking I was the only one in the city. Plenty of Canadians, germans, french and englishmen but aussies are more scarce than hens teeth.

[ttelise]

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)- a motor sport governing body - shows Thailand has the highest US tourist road fatality rate in the developing world, after Honduras. Britain's foreign office warns of robberies and "vicious unprovoked attacks by gangs" on the party island, Koh Phangan.

[easyas]

How come Indonesia isn't on any list? The Bali bombings in 2002 killed over 200 people including 88 Australians and there have been subsequent bombings in 2005 (Bali again) and 2009 (Jakarta) in which more Australians died.

[BookMan]

How come Indonesia isn't on any list? The Bali bombings in 2002 killed over 200 people including 88 Australians and there have been subsequent bombings in 2005 (Bali again) and 2009 (Jakarta) in which more Australians died.

It is the last 6 years mate...have a look at the stat tables.

[softgeorge]

The way that Thais totally disrepect farang victims is making news in Australia at the moment. A lot of condemnation of Thailand Police and emergency workers about how they pose for trophy shots with the bodies of farangs. Not doing Thailand any favours at all.

"Thai 'trophy shots' the ultimate culture shock"

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2012/11/12/15/45/why-thai-ambulance-workers-take-trophy-shots#gigyaComments

[hellodolly]

It is a tough job but some country had to head the list.

I wonder who heads it in Australia?

[Jim walker]

I think you could safely put most mysterious or unexplained cause of death down to Thaksin its usually his fault for most things happening in Thailand same as the leaking toilets at the airport was his fault so a few deaths it would be easy to put culpability on him.

[RogueLeader]

How come Indonesia isn't on any list? The Bali bombings in 2002 killed over 200 people including 88 Australians and there have been subsequent bombings in 2005 (Bali again) and 2009 (Jakarta) in which more Australians died.

Do you want to know a secret? Promise you won't tell anyone.

Terrorism doesn't kill many people compared to just about everything else.

[attento]

Again statistics seen in isolation. To get the correct view of Thailand versus the other countries visited you must compare the deaths as a percentage or per 100 000 visitors. The Australian death rate in Australia was 688 per 100 000 people in 2011 (CIA factbook). In 2011, 854 000 Australians visited Thailand of which 69 died, which gives you a death rate of 8,08 per 100 000 people. Thus it's better for Australians to stay in Thailand than in their own country. Unfortunately I could not get the Australian tourist info for 2011 for Vietnam to do a similar comparison.

Isn't it even more complicated than that ?

For a fair statistical comparison, one should check the similar age and gender profile of the 2 groups; Oz visitors in Thailand v. Oz residents.

Not many elderly or terminally ill Australians will be having Thai holidays in their last months.

Statistics is just too difficult ................. I think I will leave it well alone.

[meatballs]

Again statistics seen in isolation. To get the correct view of Thailand versus the other countries visited you must compare the deaths as a percentage or per 100 000 visitors. The Australian death rate in Australia was 688 per 100 000 people in 2011 (CIA factbook). In 2011, 854 000 Australians visited Thailand of which 69 died, which gives you a death rate of 8,08 per 100 000 people. Thus it's better for Australians to stay in Thailand than in their own country. Unfortunately I could not get the Australian tourist info for 2011 for Vietnam to do a similar comparison.

I think a better measure would be number of deaths as a percent of the numbers of Australians in Thailand at any given time. Because obviously most of those Australians don't live in Thailand all year around.

[gk10002000]

Britain or the USA not in the top three? Seems unlikely based on the number of visitors from those countries in Thailand.

[Beetlejuice]

It's hard to extract any meaning from these statistics. The numbers should have been normalized to the amount of visitors, or even "man-hours" spent in Thailand. And regarding the illness category, many people retire here and eventually do die here, hopefully of an age-related illness after a full, long life.

Those that retire and die would be classed as death by natural causes.

My question is: how old does a person need to be to die of old age?

60s, 70s, 80s and above?

[Daewoo]

For better statistics, the Bureau of Statistic reports opn Australian travel...

http://www.abs.gov.a...tures20Sep 2010

Thailand is number 6 short trip destination, after combining all of Europe...

Relevant to the article...

I don't think that the 'unknown' category referrs to Thai Authorities having no knowledge of the cause, but rather in not being captured by the Australian Embasy and reported to DFAT...

50% of all holiday trips from Australia are overseas born Australians, mostly returning home for a holiday... This would be less of a case for Thailand (and Indonesia) since they are relatively small emmigration countries to Australia

Then one needs to consider the demographics and activities that people are undertaking...

Lots of 'gap year' type travellers, undertaking risky activities - drugs, riding motorbikes, partying, adventures... this probably isn't so much the case for people going home to the UK to visit family...

More older men, drinking and riding motorbikes, partying like they haven't for 30 years... Also, more older men staying for longer periods on Tourist Visa's (because you can not get other visas or citizenship)... so their deaths are going to be captured as 'tourist deaths' rather than expat deaths...

Also, when an accident happens in Thailand, chances of quick access to good medical care is significantly less...

Then there is the simple fact that somewhere has to be Number 1, and I would be surprised if it wasn't Thailand...

[osiboy]

Results have to be understood in the context that many people come here to retire (and die). But even so, the vehicular accident rate in Thailand is ridiculous.

I would consider the US annual road death toll of 40,000/year to be more ridiculous considering much more strigent and high tech law enforcement, less corruption and supposedly better standards of driver testing etc.

40,000 ! , should send some thais over there to give them driving lessons !

[NamKangMan]

An old thread but with new statistics.

The 2012 statistics for Australian citizen deaths whilst abroad.

Thailand tops the list again.

http://www.smh.com.au/data-point/why-thailand-and-greece-spell-tragedy-for-travellers-20130326-2gs9s.html

[cycloneJ]

^ stats, stats, ststs

from that report, of the 111 Australians to die in Thailand

50 - IIllness

12 - Natural

11 - Accident

38 - Unknown

but really this means nothing unless the number of tourists/long-term expats is provided for the same timespan.Shocking if only 112 people, but less dramatic if it were 250,000. But we don't know.

19 Australians died in Lebanon; 48 Indonesia . . - perhaps those places 'more dangerous' based on percentage of tourists/long-term expats? Equally, Syria looks a safe place to visit, with just 1 death.

There were '8 million overseas trips' but no breakdown of destination - and of course many of those trips will have involved several countries.

Who knows? in which case, stats prove very little.

and a statement like this doesn't make it any clearer unless deaths are also broken down by age-groups

‘‘The number of Australian travellers under 25 has more than doubled in the past decade and the number of over-55’s has tripled,’’ the report says.

[justathought]

what these statistics do not show is the illegal activities and the lowly lifestyles that many aussies lead in Asia in particular Thailand

[justathought]

How come Indonesia isn't on any list? The Bali bombings in 2002 killed over 200 people including 88 Australians and there have been subsequent bombings in 2005 (Bali again) and 2009 (Jakarta) in which more Australians died.

yeah these aussies cause a lot of mischief in Asia, don't they just?

[justathought]

It is a tough job but some country had to head the list.

I wonder who heads it in Australia?

the true Australians (aborigines)

[cycloneJ]

a minor correction to post #139

unknown should be unknown/other - other would I presume cover eg the murder of the woman from Perth, in Phuket about July 2012, and any suicides

from that report, of the 111 Australians to die in Thailand

50 - IIllness

12 - Natural

11 - Accident

38 - Unknown/Other

Edited March 27, 2013 by cycloneJ

[Mousehound]

Countries listed by chance of dying as a tourist: (Thailand doesn't appear in the top 20).

e.g: Australia kicks in at 18 because:

"When you visit Australia, you may find yourself facing one of the ten most poisonous snakes in the world, one of many different types of deadly spiders or even deadly sea creatures. In fact, most consider Australia to be the place where you are most likely to get attacked by wildlife in one way or another."

What a load of hogs wash ? Here are some facts. And please consider that these are not figures for tourist fatalities alone. Truth of the matter is that most Australians will go there entire lives without seeing, let alone having an encounter or being attacked / bitten by snakes, spiders, Great Whites or Cape Crocs.

Snakes :Since 1980 there have been 43 deaths (27 involving brownsnakes) Australia-wide attributed to snakes (the most recent, 42 year old woman on 2nd November 2011 in Queensland). Several of these could not be confirmed as resulting directly from snakebite.

Sharks : Although Australia is ranked the second highest in terms of global shark attacks with 877 attacks, it is ranked the highest in terms of shark fatalities, with 217 fatalities total.

Spiders : In Australia, only male Sydney Funnel Web Spiders and Redback Spiders have caused human deaths, but none have occurred since anti venoms were made available in 1981. Each year in Australia as many as 4,000 people are bitten. Of these 200 require anti venom treatment and one bite was fatal.

Actually as far as wildlife killing people the introduced honey bee is easily the most dangerous creature in Australia.

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/bees-the-sting-in-the-tale.htm

[OZEMADE]

Countries listed by chance of dying as a tourist: (Thailand doesn't appear in the top 20).

e.g: Australia kicks in at 18 because:

"When you visit Australia, you may find yourself facing one of the ten most poisonous snakes in the world, one of many different types of deadly spiders or even deadly sea creatures. In fact, most consider Australia to be the place where you are most likely to get attacked by wildlife in one way or another."

What a load of hogs wash ? Here are some facts. And please consider that these are not figures for tourist fatalities alone. Truth of the matter is that most Australians will go there entire lives without seeing, let alone having an encounter or being attacked / bitten by snakes, spiders, Great Whites or Cape Crocs.

Snakes :Since 1980 there have been 43 deaths (27 involving brownsnakes) Australia-wide attributed to snakes (the most recent, 42 year old woman on 2nd November 2011 in Queensland). Several of these could not be confirmed as resulting directly from snakebite.

Sharks : Although Australia is ranked the second highest in terms of global shark attacks with 877 attacks, it is ranked the highest in terms of shark fatalities, with 217 fatalities total.

Spiders : In Australia, only male Sydney Funnel Web Spiders and Redback Spiders have caused human deaths, but none have occurred since anti venoms were made available in 1981. Each year in Australia as many as 4,000 people are bitten. Of these 200 require anti venom treatment and one bite was fatal.

Actually as far as wildlife killing people the introduced honey bee is easily the most dangerous creature in Australia.

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/bees-the-sting-in-the-tale.htm

You have to keep a look out for the drop bears though. The high Dollar is why Australians are travelling all over the world, we are now getting a bang for our buck. As stated passports for overseas travelers has doubled, so you might expect more deaths, by any means, old age or accident etc. Aussies seem to take more risks, this is also a factor. Edited March 30, 2013 by OZEMADE

[barrybankruad]

There is an interesting article in today's Melbourne Age about the DFTA and travel. It's somewhat off topic but does confirm Thailand as being top of the list for deaths (111 for 667,000 travellers to Thailand. Gives other stats as well.

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/the-trouble-with-travelling-20130329-2gz2d.html

[Scott]

An off-topic exchange has been removed from view. Please stay on topic and post in a civil manner.

[spidermike007]

Thanks for sharing that.

Interesting reading. 430 deaths over a 5 year period.

A lot of 'Accidental' and 'Illness'

about 2 austrialian die every week here in thailand

Im sure at least 1 a week on ko Samui,Thailands most dangerous place to visit,im sure.

Recently there have been a spate of pedestrians being mowed down by careless drivers on Samui. Some say as many as 60 traffic deaths a month on Samui alone. By far, the most dangerous place in Thailand, if you are within 5 meters of the death trap known as the ring road. Zero enforcement. The Samui police continue their reputation as the world's least effective crime fighting, and traffic control force, in the entire world. Congratulations to the Samui police captain, and the entire force for such a distinguished RECORD!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[chooka]

Thai Police on Phuket have now apparently set up safety zones for aussies and requested an extra 5,000 police for the island to protect tourists.

ABC news last night.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-01/phuket-safety-zones-introduced-to-protect-tourists/4603562?section=australianetworknews

[simple1]

Thai Police on Phuket have now apparently set up safety zones for aussies and requested an extra 5,000 police for the island to protect tourists.

ABC news last night.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-01/phuket-safety-zones-introduced-to-protect-tourists/4603562?section=australianetworknews

Safety zones for tourists, not dedicated areas for Australians