Is Thailand Safe?

[thai20144]

Mr David I think you missed the joke.

Anyway that was in the past big boy, I had a work permit for 2 years and studied Thai for the past year and now can get the elite card to continue my stay.

At the time I was just weighting up my options as I heard it was getting near impossible to renew the ED visa and am tired

of studying Thai anyways.

So I am guessing your wrong again and own me an apology.

Are you still hanging out on Ko San shoeless and clueless, swigging that warm chang?

Or are you on another Visa run?

Edited September 23, 2014 by thai20144

[AnotherOneAmerican]

It's safer here in Thailand than in Uk &Wales,In Uk & Wales there were 2310 murders from 2010/2011/2012/2013

Yet home office stats claim 500-600 murders.

How come you claim 4x more than the home office?

[petercool]

An earlier vulgar flame post was reported and removed

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I was born and brought up in Poole. There are more murders of Brits per year in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset per year that Thailand over the last 5 years.

Strangely enough that is a holiday destination too.

Why do.people keep flogging this idea inspite of numerous statistics to prove it is untrue by a massive margin?

I wondered that too.

Home office claim 500-600 murders a year in the UK.

UN claim 5000-6000 murders a year in Thailand.

Maybe those figures are inaccurate, but not that inaccurate.

Very easy to google "murders in XXX" for yourself.

[Bernard Flint]

I feel very safe in Thailand.My 12 years here have seen me visit many parts of Central and northern Thailand, never been to The south islands as every time i read about phuket, khao Samui etc, there seems to be an unsavory element there, maybe south thailand people are more aggressive, not sure.Always seems to be a bigger Mafia element and corrupt cops.

Now, aggressive westerners,thats a different topic.

I share your toughts. My only time on South side of Thailand was in Songkla area, and I didn't feel safe there. I believe that people in North Thailand are more respectful to foreigners. Even in tourist spots like Chiang Mai, perhaps because agressive foreigners do not come to cultural towns for fun.

Other than the muslim conflict,near Malaysia, I cannot think of one no-go area in Thailand, but the uk is a new ball game,as I would never go to many many areas of England.If i mentioned USA,Mexico, Brazil,then the conversation about no-go would multiply.

THAILAND IS VERY SAFE

[Tongdee]

Up to YOU.

Very up to you. Is it Safe??? Get up at 6:00 for walkabout, Breakie, get on with your days doings. Pay your bills. Smile ,Be polite,

dress in a respectable manner appropriate to the enviorment. Be patient, and not to crazy cheap charlie.

Stay away from ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS. DO NOT RENT JET SKI, Understand zebra crossings are work for road painters, nothing more.

Don't go with girls that used to be guys. Watch & understand the seemingly chaotic "rules of the road " before driving anything on the roads.

If your intuition is telling you something, Listen, For girls dress modestly & do not go anywhere without a trusted friend or 2.

One drink is fine, 2 is likely ok, 3 is already pushin it. Your own room by 10:00. Sleep.

Under that program likely safe.

[Bernard Flint]

Up to YOU.

Very up to you. Is it Safe??? Get up at 6:00 for walkabout, Breakie, get on with your days doings. Pay your bills. Smile ,Be polite,

dress in a respectable manner appropriate to the enviorment. Be patient, and not to crazy cheap charlie.

Stay away from ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS. DO NOT RENT JET SKI, Understand zebra crossings are work for road painters, nothing more.

Don't go with girls that used to be guys. Watch & understand the seemingly chaotic "rules of the road " before driving anything on the roads.

If your intuition is telling you something, Listen, For girls dress modestly & do not go anywhere without a trusted friend or 2.

One drink is fine, 2 is likely ok, 3 is already pushin it. Your own room by 10:00. Sleep.

Under that program likely safe.

What a boring life lol.

[chiang mai]

You can't simple ask the question "is Thailand safe", you have to ask, safe for whom. Statistically for Brits Thailand is very safe, less so for native Thai's when compared to the safety of the UK for native Brits. But we knew that all along, simply trying to compare murder rates in Thailand versus murder rates in the UK is counter productive and not helpful.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

You can't simple ask the question "is Thailand safe", you have to ask, safe for whom. Statistically for Brits Thailand is very safe,

Apart from the FCO mentioning Brits are 17x more likely to die travelling in Thailand, than any other country.

I believe the Australian government suggest similar stats for Australians travelling in Thailand.

Here we go,

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/thailand-can-be-a-deadly-destination-for-australian-tourists/story-e6frf7kx-1226564566461?nk=f8327ae2a1d967e4b57867a22effb326

Edited September 23, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[Thai at Heart]

I was born and brought up in Poole. There are more murders of Brits per year in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset per year that Thailand over the last 5 years.

Strangely enough that is a holiday destination too.

Why do.people keep flogging this idea inspite of numerous statistics to prove it is untrue by a massive margin?

Tell me what is not true in this post.

1 I was born and brought up in Poole

2 There are more murders in that area of Brits than in the last 5 years in Thailand

3 The area IS a holiday destination

Now given those 3 facts please prove me wrong and I will apologise

If you cannot prove me wrong will you then apologise to me?

I will apologise if its proven.

I cannot find any statistics for specifically murders of British in Thailand. Deaths yes. But not murders. Hospitallisations a plenty, but not murders.

Please feel free to educate.......

http://www.citizensreportuk.org/reports/murders-fatal-violence-uk.html

Poole returns none for 2013

A few for 2012,

Edited September 23, 2014 by Thai at Heart

[ldnguy]

Most incidents I read about in Thailand revolve around alcohol. The incidents almost always seem to happen between midnight and 6am. And more often than not it's in the dodgiest areas of the city.Get drunk and wander around at 3 am in a dodgy area of any city in the world and you're more likely to end up in trouble than if you stay away from alcohol and dodgy areas. There are horrific crimes all over the world. Don't forget that Thailand gets 20-25 million visitors a year and most of these never encounter any problems at all. I've been here for almost 5 years and can't even remember seeing a fight. I feel as safe here as anywhere I've been.

[chiang mai]

If we are comparing murder rates than Thailand remains very safe for visiting Brits. But is we look at total number of deaths from all causes then the picture changes and I think it would be very difficult to make any sort of meaningful comparison with the UK. Certainly, road traffic deaths are higher, simply because people who have never ridden a motorcycle in their life chose to do so when they come here on holiday, often when drunk. Another aspect of course when looking at total deaths from all causes is that Thailand is the home to over 50,000 British expats, many of them retirees, I would guess that deaths in old age represent a higher than expected proportion of the total.

But I think the intent of this thread was to ask the question, is Thailand safe, on the back of the recent murders in the islands, turn the question around slightly and ask, what are the chances of a visiting or resident Brit. getting murdered in Thailand, the answer is extremely low, 13 murders in almost 5 million person visits (800k visitors per year x 6 years).

[Lukecan]

Very safe if you use common sense.

[thai20144]

Very safe if you use common sense.

[Nemesis7]

Is it safe? Depends...

[AnotherOneAmerican]

But I think the intent of this thread was to ask the question, is Thailand safe, on the back of the recent murders in the islands, turn the question around slightly and ask, what are the chances of a visiting or resident Brit. getting murdered in Thailand, the answer is extremely low, 13 murders in almost 5 million person visits (800k visitors per year x 6 years).

We will have to disagree,

I don't care about my cause of death, accident, murder, suicide, etc, I'm still dead.

I think the intent of this thread is to ask the question, am I likely to die in Thailand?

Forget the murders, Thai police don't bother investigating foreigner deaths unless forced.

And the final answer has to be more likely than in any other foreign country.

(British deaths 10% of all Brits overseas, Australian deaths 12.5% of all Ozzies overseas)

[SoiBiker]

Considering how many of the Brits here seem to be overweight old men leading unhealthy lifestyles, I'm not surprised so many of them die here.

[bkkgooner]

I have lived here for seven years and can't ever remember feeling intimidated by a gang of Thais or a single Thai bloke. I have been in dodgy areas and very drunk and never had any trouble at all. In fact the only problem I have had in seven years were from run ins with foreign tourists - Bangkok and other Thai cities are safe to me but I will not say much about the islands as I have a feeling that there is a very distinct culture of greed in those areas that preys on foreigners and treats them with little respect. Full moon parties are insane and should be properly policed.

[Robert2006]

The land of smiles is safe, but what's behind the smiles a xenophobic race that only wants your hard earned cash

I would agree with your statement but I feel it can be looked at as a positive not only a negative situation for us farang.

We all know the negatives but in my opinion the positives are that currently because of their xenophobia the Thai’s have never been exposed to the first world or influenced by our western ways of thinking. If Thailand opened up and the population was exposed to how we live and do things in the West, the Thai’s would learn very quickly from us and advance into a first would economy. If they become a first world economy there goes our cheap living destination with the beautiful girls that see a benefit to being with older men who are not there equal in attractiveness.

Some days I get frustrated and don’t like the jealous and restrictive environment presented in Thailand to us farang but I can see there are benefits to me because of the situation.

[inwardglee]

A car bullies you on your motorbike, you give him a little short hoot in response, and that may be enough that the driver plus others will beat you up at the next red light when you are stopping … Happened to me. And many more things … more severe.

Walk past a bar with some transvestites, holding a camera, not even trying to take pics of anything, just holding the cam, and they beat you half dead … and everybody looking on.

So, I have heard on this forum to just follow the rules to not have problems. I say: Following the rule is not enough.

You need basically to be non-existent to not potentially getting into problems sooner or later. The guys smile, yet are explosive with aggression.

If an aggression starts going, then anything bestial can happen the next moment.

Survival may more depend then whether some other Thais stop the aggressors or not. There are some that tell him to stop, and that's it. Just need to be lucky to have someone around who is able to stop the killers. If, then mostly a woman who goes screaming … guys find that fun.

[gamini]

We left Thailand for Australia. But after two years came back to Thailand. I had my car broken into 3 times. My wife had her shopping trolly stolen at the supermarket. Our house broken into twice and my teen age daughter could not go out alone after 7 pm. and we lived in an upmarket area in Perth! The crimes were mostly commited by teenagers. Australia has the second highest juvenile crime rate in the developed world.

Ive been robbed in Spain and the UK. And confronted in Los Angeles by muggers., 30 years living in Thailand and never a single of the above mentioned incidents has ever happened to us. I think Thailand is one of the safest places to live. Maybe the tourist resorts of Pattaya and the like have safety problems. But other places none.

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

Only if you have your wits about you and understand their culture.

Btw I have warned my family not to visit Thailand as I couldn't guarantee their safety.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

Personally I feel safer in Thailand than the UK, this has been my feeling for years, just had a quick look at these figures which back up my feeling, which country do you come from?

Regards

As I have mentioned before I also feel safe in Thailand but I understand their culture.

What country I am from is irrelevant as I have lived in many countries around the world.

Anyway I m speaking from experience as my Sisters husband on the first night in Ko Samui crashed the rented motorcycle into the hotel wall where minute's before had rented it from reception, I know idiotic.

He is a big dirty Cheap Charlie and started complaining in his naïve western manner that he was not going to pay for the damage of the motorcycle as the hotel staff didn't offer / tell him about the Insurance that can be bought for a 100 B.

Of course he started to shout at the little receptionist and caused him to lose face and he flipped and started chasing the big Cheapo around the car park and this is a guy that teaches self defense classes at home.

You couldn't made this up I laughed at the taught of the nice little smiling reception guy running after the big scared Farang

Next in his fear of death he jumps over a 12 foot wall to escape and left my sister their to follow, what a meathead.

He didn't even stay the night and ran from the island back to Bangkok and got the next flight home, saying his life was in danger.

I couldn't believe it and they never even called me till they arrived home.

After this episode I just ignore peoples request from home to visit and tell them to go to Spain or Italy

Would you blame me?

Embarrassing to say the least.

And the bad mouthing of Thailand to my Family was unrealistic.

I hope you enjoyed this story and learned something too, as I did, and it was very funny at the time

Funny story, we'll sort of....I have long said that people should have to take a test before they are allowed to leave their own country let alone enter another one, kind of like an idiot assessment, sorry if your brother in law falls into their category

[indo247]

The land of smiles is safe, but what's behind the smiles a xenophobic race that only wants your hard earned cash

You mean society? If its in a more civilized and PC way most counties people are the same.

I spent 2 years in Thailand and i met a lot of Thai people some i would call friends but as friends there always seemed to be an ulterior motive.

[chiang mai]

Safety in Thailand is down to personal choice which is determined by an individuals behavior. Eliminate death by natural causes from the equation and I calculate my risk is far far lower than that of a younger tourist. I drive a truck, I don't drive a motorbike; I don't drink, do drugs, jet ski or para-sail or similar; I don't do the bar/disco scene and I'm rarely out past 9pm; I live in a conservative part of Thailand which is not known for high levels of crime against westerners. Given those things are correct, it can't be said that my risk of death is 17 x greater, risk from what?

The high level statistics that are bandied around are meaningless, 10% of all overseas deaths, 17 x more likely to die etc, without understanding the detail. We know these people are not murdered but we can guess with some certainty that a large proportion of them are RTA related, many are alcohol related whilst a another chunk is death by natural causes. Statistically that could mean that any 70 year old visitor who rides a motorcycle on holiday here whilst drunk is what, 100 times more likely to die in Thailand whilst a 35 year old who takes taxi's and doesn't drink has no risk at all.

You see the absurdity of the statistics.

[thrilled]

You need to watch your back everywhere.But for the most part the average thai isn't the violent sort.Don't set yourself up.Don't get stupid drunk.I always carry some kind of weapon ,maybe knife etc.I will have A a fighting chance.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I spent 2 years in Thailand and i met a lot of Thai people some i would call friends but as friends there always seemed to be an ulterior motive.

Don't worry, they treat their Thai friends the same.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I live in a conservative part of Thailand which is not known for high levels of crime against westerners. Given those things are correct, it can't be said that my risk of death is 17 x greater, risk from what?

You have CMs largest Soapy massage within 200m of your home (Siyuri entertainment and coffee shop).

Hardly the most salubrious area of town.

[chiang mai]

One more time, for those low on reading and comprehension skills:

"I live in a conservative part of Thailand which is not known for high levels of crime against westerners".

[howzat]

Yes!!

[khwaibah]

I live in a conservative part of Thailand which is not known for high levels of crime against westerners. Given those things are correct, it can't be said that my risk of death is 17 x greater, risk from what?

You have CMs largest Soapy massage within 200m of your home (Siyuri entertainment and coffee shop).

Hardly the most salubrious area of town.

Outstanding location.