Friendly Thailand Stares Down The Barrel Of Rising Gun Crime

[redroo]

Welcome to the land of the happy shooter.

[a99az]

Can anyone use a gun to get rid of Chuwit or simply lock this former pimp up for a while. Chuwit should publicly apologize to all the children he forcibly put into prostitution. THe courts should take all of his money away so his mouth would become a bit smaller and distribute the money over all of the people who lost their future working in Chuwit's brothels. Chuwit is loved by the Nation Newspaper, the reason is probably because the Mafia is always looking out for their own. Stop uing Chuwit as an example unless it is a bad example. We are talking about a child trafficker here.

I like what you say And it just goes to show how sick and corrupt it is in Thailand when a pimp can become a politician.

[a99az]

The fact that many people on Thai Visa have been here for 15-20 years and say they have seen very few or no guns is no surprise. If all you do is meet up with your workers/friends, stay at home alone or with your wife/family and go out to the local bars, restaurants, shops, malls etc., you will probably see a gun once in a great while. If you get out in to the Thai community and integrate with the Thai community you would probably be amassed with what you see and experience. (if and when they attempt to accept you). Speaking Thai goes a long way (if it’s used in the right way). If you have been here for 5+ years you should be able to communicate in basic Thai. There are very few reasonable excuses for you not to. Most people don't except or like it when foreigners come to "their" country and don't learn the lingo. Why should it be different here. We are all foreigners. This is not "our" country. You have to be able to adapt, accept or compromise with the way it is here. That or you can live here feeling ostracized. Don't think that you'll be 100% accepted into the society, you should know better by now. Respecting culture can go a long way.

"We're not in kansas anymore."

What has this got to do with the price of bananas?

[marshbags]

The fact that many people on Thai Visa have been here for 15-20 years and say they have seen very few or no guns is no surprise. If all you do is meet up with your workers/friends, stay at home alone or with your wife/family and go out to the local bars, restaurants, shops, malls etc., you will probably see a gun once in a great while. If you get out in to the Thai community and integrate with the Thai community you would probably be amassed with what you see and experience. (if and when they attempt to accept you). Speaking Thai goes a long way (if it’s used in the right way). If you have been here for 5+ years you should be able to communicate in basic Thai. There are very few reasonable excuses for you not to. Most people don't except or like it when foreigners come to "their" country and don't learn the lingo. Why should it be different here. We are all foreigners. This is not "our" country. You have to be able to adapt, accept or compromise with the way it is here. That or you can live here feeling ostracized. Don't think that you'll be 100% accepted into the society, you should know better by now. Respecting culture can go a long way.

"We're not in kansas anymore."

Been here 20 years going back and forth to the UK a s and when I need to.

My reaction to your post is one of amazement at how out of touch you are with reality not only here in Thailand but overseas.

As I do not wish to go off topic to much I will decline from mentioning the U.K,s policy apart from many cannot speak our language.

While learning Thai is an asset to many, it is not essential to do so, especially with tourist areas all around the country.

You also fail to recognise that many living here no longer have the desire or the incentives to do so, that is of course providing they are still gifted with the ability to do so.

Integrating is what most of us have been doing since we first arrived. and indeed having married Thai ladies as you appreciate is a sure way of getting to know Thai culture, it,s traditions and all it incorporates.

WE are well and truly adapted and also well aware of the shortcomings that are out there, learn to live with them and also avoid most of the trouble they can cause.

We who are polite, cheerful and respectful and are appreciated by all with a similar demeanour and are warmly accepted.

WE can communicate in many ways and while speaking the language is helpful, it is not essential.

Being a decent friendly person, showing respect and understanding have always helped me and this applies to most others when out and about in the community.

Thai Visa members are well versed on the happenings both within and outside their respective places of abode and come under the above.

Those who are not soon show otherwise and swiftly fall by the wayside in one way or another as we do not suffer fools gladly, nor tolerate them, as you will know.

Yes we tend to be home loving, but this does not mean we literally stay in during our time here and do not integrate.

We are also, due to our experiences, knowledgable in how to minimise problems and in most cases as stated, avoid them.

Guns are always out there as indeed are the knives ect. but being street wise tends to keep you safe and teaches how to recognise threatening situations and how to steer clear of them.

I have learned basic words and sentences that are equal to everyday polite ones used back home, but again while they are appreciated they are not essential.

A friendly smile on the other hand is, if you wish to be accepted and can more than make up for not being able to speak Thai ( for what ever reasons.)

A genuine good heart and humility are soon noticed and never forgotten and that applies to anywhere in the outside world.

IMHO and experience.

marshbags

Edited October 23, 2012 by marshbags

[bigbamboo]

It may be a little known fact, but statistically Thailand has the worlds highest rate of "homicide by firearm". Much higher even than the USA.

Interesting how statistics work, you are 1044 times less likely to have your car stolen in Thailand than in the UK, but 114 times more likely to be killed by firearm!

That's one big difference between the UK and Thailand.

In the UK someone disappears and takes your car. In Thailand someone disappears and leaves their car behind.

[sunshine51]

Remember that MP who brought a "uzi" to a dinner table and "accidentally" killed his wife? I mean, if that's the kind of examples politicians set then what do you expect kids to do?

There is a thread on this topic:

Immunity For Thai Senator Who Shot Ex-Wife

http://www.thaivisa....o-shot-ex-wife/

I was just going to post the same link Scott...

As with other thoughts & rants on this thread

the gun talks and if backed up by heaps of dosh

the "Rule Of Law" no longer applies.

Sad isn't it?

[sunshine51]

My guess is that knives will continue to be very popular in petty crimes. Knives don't make noise; guns do. Thailand is a little too crowded and too warm, with people outside and windows open to be shooting guns without being noticed.

A pistol is the ultimate ''you back off'' weapon.

If you want quiet, silencers are easy, but you need a deep pocket to conceal it.

Mind you I prefer a 12 guage pump...SPAZ 12 to be exact...if it comes

down to using a weapon who cares about stealth. Now if you wanna

"hit" a target quietly a suppressor is the way to go. Note...there is no

such thing as a "silencer". The only weapon ever to be silenced was

the Ruger .22 calibre pistol which looks the infamous German Luger

with a very fat barrel...this made zero noise...not even the hammer

striking the firing pin. Suppressors are commonly called a silencer

because, although they do not actually "silence" a weapon they do

a wonderful job of greatly reducing the blast pressure at the muzzle,

hence the loud crack (or bang if you prefer) becomes more of a

subdued FFFFFuuuuuttt kinda sound. And contrary to Hollywood

...revolvers cannot be suppressed as the explosion takes place within

the revolving cylinder that holds the ammo....just some sip satang

FYI stuff from an old war dog.

[technologybytes]

You are correct JimJim, Thailand is actually the third highest murder by firearm, South Africa is the highest and Columbia is next.

I think I meant highest in Asia, but I conceed that my post was incorrect. I'm not talking about murder rate overall, just murder by firearm.

SOURCE: The Eighth United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention)

It may be a little known fact, but statistically Thailand has the worlds highest rate of "homicide by firearm". Much higher even than the USA.

Interesting how statistics work, you are 1044 times less likely to have your car stolen in Thailand than in the UK, but 114 times more likely to be killed by firearm!

Sorry I think you're wrong. I believe those stats come from that site Nation Master and have been shown many times to appear completely unreliable. Not to mention outdated. The stats that have been cited here many times from that site show Thailand having a way, way high murder by firearm rate that's higher than the actual murder rate in Thailand. Now how can you have more murders by firearm than actual murders? Cite your source. See my previous post for a more accurate murder rate.

[rbrooks]

Looks like according to the stats the Filipinos are better shots than the Thais no worries then.

[McMagus]

Went to the local Bun Fie recently and loved watching the rockets go high into the sky. Yep a few were drunk as skunks but generally everybody in the village was having a happy time. But then, some out of town guys in their late teens and early 20's got into a bit of a rumble. They went off their faces, smashing beer bottles over each others' heads etc etc. Now I come to my point. These youngsters like a lot of Thais a) cannot bear losing face and don't know how to modulate their anger. This combination + availability of guns is a recipe for disaster. Had there been any guns available that day I am certain that people would have been shot. There have been a couple of times when I have wanted to just deck a pissant little Thai who had it coming to him BUT ... one day when you least expect it.... BAMM ...I am very mindful of things going on around me and know that things here can get very ugly very quickly.

[BigC]

"Thailand has become a Wild West movie," says politician Chuwit Kamolvisit,

I have been thinking this for some time now but without the guns.

I have seen and experienced so many situations recently where people have taken the law into their own hands. Not serious issues but enough to remind me of the Wild West.

If guns become more and more common in crime then I fear for the future of Thailand.

I like guns

[Basil B]

Thailand has a self-imposed impression that it is a first world standards country.

It doesn't realise it is still a third world country.

It is 80 years behind everywhere else it likes to compare itself to.

Those reasons alone, despite the widespread corruption, that it also likes to believe is ineffectual in the long term aspects of events, are evident of a gun-toting lot that is only just beginning.

When Thailand wakes up and realises that laws are there for reasons, and laws have to be imposed, then there's a possibility of some developments which may permit Thailand to start to take control of its own real assets.

Until then, things will just deteriorate - as they have been for the last 10 years.

Sad - but true.

-mel.

It doesn't realize it is still a third world country.

It is actually a developing country! Developing into a third world country!

Developing ???

I would have thought "regressing" to be a more appropriate word.

[masaomi]

I was driving back from Cha'am to Bangkok nearing Samut Sakhon when a reckless 30 years old scrap Toyota swerved into my lane cutting directly in front of me thus almost hitting my brand new BMW 528i, blaring my horn at him seems like a pretty good idea at that time but that aggravated the situation. He deliberately did it again to frustrate me and then slowed down to stare me down. Without warning he whipped out his pistol and pointed at my window.

What a jugass, intellectually moron! He said "tham mai wah" in Thai. I gave him the finger and dared him to shoot than sped off! Let's see his pathetic old cranker can keep up with my car.

What goes around comes around, one day he will be staring down the barrel of another person's gun. Mark my word.