why I no longer live in the US...

[goreme]

Too much random violence that does not occur in any other developed country:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/18/us/thrill-kill-teen-convicted/index.html

Granted incidents like these are few and far between compared to drving fatalities but there are simply too many shootings that happen in US due to road rage, arguments, misunderstandings, kids picking up guns, cops gunning down innocent citizens, on and on...

[CharlieH]

NOT Thai related

MOVED to Home Country

[GuestHouse]

You left the US to escape random violence and you chose Thailand ?

[goreme]

You left the US to escape random violence and you chose Thailand ?

Yes, by and large much less of it here than in the US. I find Thais to be much more civil than many in the US where there are just too many with sense of entitlement and me, me, me attitude.

[Loptr]

You much less likely to be shot by a policeman in Thailand than in the US...

[rijb]

Canada is closer than Thailand.

[goreme]

Canada is closer than Thailand.

True but not much different culturally than the US and too much gray, rainy weather much of the year.

[GuestHouse]

You left the US to escape random violence and you chose Thailand ?

Yes, by and large much less of it here than in the US. I find Thais to be much more civil than many in the US where there are just too many with sense of entitlement and me, me, me attitude.

Out of curiosity, how long ago was it that you moved to Thailand from the US?

[danmarnj]

Hmm,,,I've live in the US over 60 years, Philadelphia, Washington, DC area and now Wilmington, NC. I've not once been held up, shot at, or attacked...Maybe just lucky.

When I am in BKK, I try to shy away from the police trying to extort money form me when driving, riding in a taxi or walking the soi.

[Lukecan]

You left the US to escape random violence and you chose Thailand ?

ha

hahahahahhahahahahaa

[goreme]

You left the US to escape random violence and you chose Thailand ?

Yes, by and large much less of it here than in the US. I find Thais to be much more civil than many in the US where there are just too many with sense of entitlement and me, me, me attitude.

Out of curiosity, how long ago was it that you moved to Thailand from the US?

Long enough

[goreme]

Hmm,,,I've live in the US over 60 years, Philadelphia, Washington, DC area and now Wilmington, NC. I've not once been held up, shot at, or attacked...Maybe just lucky.

When I am in BKK, I try to shy away from the police trying to extort money form me when driving, riding in a taxi or walking the soi.

That's nice though your anecdotal experience doesnt disprove the high rates of violence documented in the US - particularly shootings.

[HeijoshinCool]

"Long enough," huh?

Come back and post when you have been in LOS at least five years, have made unbiased observations along the way, and can make unbiased statements backing them.

"Random violence?" What difference does it make if violence is random or systematic?

Fact: Thailand has more gun deaths, per capita, than the US.

Fact: Thailand is number two in the world for the most traffic fatalities per capita, which, considering the manner in which many drive, would qualify as your "random violence."

[GuestHouse]

Out of curiosity, how long ago was it that you moved to Thailand from the US?

Long enough

Perhaps not, hence the dodge of a simple and direct question.

[BKKSnowBird]

The US is safe. Sounds like the OP is just trying to justify the move.

It is OK to say you moved for women. Its why we are all here.

[bendejo]

If you want to move to another country, sure, your decision, go for it.

Using articles like in the link you posted, well, that could just as easily have been "Bored teenagers pick fight with and kill farang." Somchai, leader of the pack said "we didn't mean to kill him, we just wanted to have some fun."

[turk56]

"Long enough," huh?

Come back and post when you have been in LOS at least five years, have made unbiased observations along the way, and can make unbiased statements backing them.

"Random violence?" What difference does it make if violence is random or systematic?

Fact: Thailand has more gun deaths, per capita, than the US.

Fact: Thailand is number two in the world for the most traffic fatalities per capita, which, considering the manner in which many drive, would qualify as your "random violence."

Where did you get your source of Thailand having more gun deaths than the US?

According to The Business Insider, The Guardian, The UNODC, The Washington Post, Guns & Ammo, and Ammo Land: The USA is second to every country in the developed world regarding Gun Ownership/Deaths per capita, With exception to Mexico (Rightfully So).

According to World Life Expectancy. com, The WHO, Thailand is Ranked 6th in traffic fatalities per capita. Whereas, India has the top spot in the accident stats. In some of the studies, Thailand is not even ranked.

I think it is safe to say that you would have to do your homework before you post your "Suspected" unbiased statements.

[turk56]

If you want to move to another country, sure, your decision, go for it.

Using articles like in the link you posted, well, that could just as easily have been "Bored teenagers pick fight with and kill farang." Somchai, leader of the pack said "we didn't mean to kill him, we just wanted to have some fun."

A life sentence in Klong Prem Prison for the bored teens does wonders.

[NeverSure]

Where did you get your source of Thailand having more gun deaths than the US?

Son, gun deaths are irrelevant. If one is handy someone might choose a gun instead of a rope or a balcony leap to commit suicide. Watch out for ropes and balconies, OK?

You're looking for a gun murder rate per capita. You didn't provide any links to back up your nonsense so let me give you an education.

The Guardian

"The key facts are:

• The US has the highest gun ownership rate in the world - an average of 88 per 100 people. That puts it first in the world for gun ownership - and even the number two country, Yemen, has significantly fewer - 54.8 per 100 people.

• But the US does not have the worst firearm murder rate - that prize belongs to Honduras, El Salvador and Jamaica. In fact, the US is number 28, with a rate of 2.97 per 100,000 people

• Puerto Rico tops the world's table for firearms murders as a percentage of all homicides - 94.8%. It's followed by Sierra Leone in Africa and Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean."

The US has the world's third largest population and a lot of everything happens in the country but not per capita.

Carry on with your nonsense.

[HeijoshinCool]

"Long enough," huh?

Come back and post when you have been in LOS at least five years, have made unbiased observations along the way, and can make unbiased statements backing them.

"Random violence?" What difference does it make if violence is random or systematic?

Fact: Thailand has more gun deaths, per capita, than the US.

Fact: Thailand is number two in the world for the most traffic fatalities per capita, which, considering the manner in which many drive, would qualify as your "random violence."

Where did you get your source of Thailand having more gun deaths than the US?

According to The Business Insider, The Guardian, The UNODC, The Washington Post, Guns & Ammo, and Ammo Land: The USA is second to every country in the developed world regarding Gun Ownership/Deaths per capita, With exception to Mexico (Rightfully So).

According to World Life Expectancy. com, The WHO, Thailand is Ranked 6th in traffic fatalities per capita. Whereas, India has the top spot in the accident stats. In some of the studies, Thailand is not even ranked.

I think it is safe to say that you would have to do your homework before you post your "Suspected" unbiased statements.

.

Murder rate (by any means) per capita (reported by The Guardian, per the UNDOC):

Thailand 5.3/100,000

USA 5.0/100,000

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/10/world-murder-rate-unodc

Murders by firearm per capita:

Thailand 313/million

USA 33/million

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Murders-with-firearms

Murder rate by any means, per UNDOC, 2012:

Thailand 5/100,000 (2011)

USA 4.7/100,000 (2012)

Gun homicide article:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jul/23/facebook-posts/the-us-is-no-in-gun-violence-is-it/

Traffic deaths per capita:

Thailand # 2

USA #97

http://global.umich.edu/2014/02/thai-roads-ranked-no-2-for-traffic-deaths/

Traffic deaths per capita; WHO 2013 report:

Thailand 38/100,000

USA 11.6/100,000

You wrote:

According to World Life Expectancy. com, The WHO, Thailand is Ranked 6th in traffic fatalities per capita. Whereas, India has the top spot in the accident stats. In some of the studies, Thailand is not even ranked.

You neglected to mention the USA is listed in the same report as 107th in fatalities. And these numbers do not reflect Thailand's fudging the figures on both gun deaths and traffic deaths. Many, many, go unreported. In the area where I lived, I know of five murders in three years that went unreported. The village headmen simply buried the bodies.

And yes, all three were about Face.

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/road-traffic-accidents/by-country/

EDIT: spell chicken

Edited April 19, 2015 by HeijoshinCool

[NanLaew]

Ohhhhhhh noooooooooooooo..... not the gun and traffic statistic thread already????!!!!!!!

[Loptr]

The US is safe. Sounds like the OP is just trying to justify the move.

It is OK to say you moved for women. Its why we are all here.

As for your first sentence, it depends on where you live, just like in Thailand... When more US citizens were killed by police in the month of March, 2015 than by the UK police in the last 100 years, I don't know how you can say the US is safe, especially death by police...

Speak for yourself on the second sentence...

You folks that have lived in Thailand and left for various reasons should identify yourselves on this thread, because it is pertinent to the discussion, like Guesthouse and Heijoshincool... Perhaps those of us that still live here and enjoy it have no mandate to justify our decision to you or anyone else for that matter... Case in point, I have never been a victim of violent crime in either the US or Thailand, but have seen it happen in both places... Does that rule out both countries due as a good place to live... No it does not...

[HeijoshinCool]

The US is safe. Sounds like the OP is just trying to justify the move.

It is OK to say you moved for women. Its why we are all here.

As for your first sentence, it depends on where you live, just like in Thailand... When more US citizens were killed by police in the month of March, 2015 than by the UK police in the last 100 years, I don't know how you can say the US is safe, especially death by police...

Speak for yourself on the second sentence...

You folks that have lived in Thailand and left for various reasons should identify yourselves on this thread, because it is pertinent to the discussion, like Guesthouse and Heijoshincool... Perhaps those of us that still live here and enjoy it have no mandate to justify our decision to you or anyone else for that matter... Case in point, I have never been a victim of violent crime in either the US or Thailand, but have seen it happen in both places... Does that rule out both countries due as a good place to live... No it does not...

.

You certainly have no mandate from me, I wish you the best wherever you chose to live.

And I agree with you about what has become the most dangerous animal in America in recent years: out-of-control police.

[NovaBlue05]

I realize the stats can look a bit out of control, especially to those from countries where private gun ownership isn't commonly accepted . I've lived in the US over half a century and don't know of a single acquaintance who has been involved in a violent altercation involving a weapon and\or cop. I was planning to move to Thailand this year but daughter starts primary school and couldn't imagine her receiving an education in Thailand remotely comparable to the public school system here.

Edited April 20, 2015 by NovaBlue05

[BKKSnowBird]

No need to justify where you live to anyone.

I currently live in the US but have lived in Thailand for 5 years and plan to return.

Both places have their pros and cons but saying you are at great risk of being shot in the US is just plain stupid. Some people are just prone to finding trouble. I avoid those types.

[jerojero]

Canada is closer than Thailand.

True but not much different culturally than the US and too much gray, rainy weather much of the year.

You obviously don't know much about Canada. Neighboring countries, but rather far apart culturally. Lived in both countries. USA violence 1000x that of Canada.

[goreme]

"Long enough," huh?

Come back and post when you have been in LOS at least five years, have made unbiased observations along the way, and can make unbiased statements backing them.

"Random violence?" What difference does it make if violence is random or systematic?

Fact: Thailand has more gun deaths, per capita, than the US.

Fact: Thailand is number two in the world for the most traffic fatalities per capita, which, considering the manner in which many drive, would qualify as your "random violence."

Whether i said 5 or 10yrs is irrelevant considering your view that anyone living here that long can make unbiased observations. I have yet to see evidence to suggest that based on the plethora of biased posts from long time TV members.

Random vs systematic violence - really makes no difference one or the other except one doesnt expect random violence to happen with such frequency in a rich developed country vs a poor one barely emerging from 3rd world status.

Gun violence - why dont you look up stats for US compared to other developed countries and come back with your findings. Arguing that a developing country has worse gun violence than richest country in the world by 1% pt per capita is not very compelling argument.

Traffic fatalities - yes there are more in Thailand because it's still developing country. If it had the same level of enforcement and infrastructure as US, you and many retirees who benefit from low cost of living here would no longer be able to afford it.

Lastly, if you want to imply that traffic fatalities in Thailand are random acts of violence(which is a stretch of the imagination) then you should also contemplate the frequency of road rage and resulting acts of senseless violence in the US, UK and Australia which rarely if ever occurs in Thailand.

[goreme]

Canada is closer than Thailand.

True but not much different culturally than the US and too much gray, rainy weather much of the year.

You obviously don't know much about Canada. Neighboring countries, but rather far apart culturally. Lived in both countries. USA violence 1000x that of Canada.

It also has a much smaller population than single state of California. Aside from Quebec, how are Canadians as a whole far apart culturally than the US?

[goreme]

If you want to move to another country, sure, your decision, go for it.

Using articles like in the link you posted, well, that could just as easily have been "Bored teenagers pick fight with and kill farang." Somchai, leader of the pack said "we didn't mean to kill him, we just wanted to have some fun."

Difference being those kinds of incidents(shootings) happen on a regular/frequent basis in the US.

[Orac]

"Long enough," huh?

Come back and post when you have been in LOS at least five years, have made unbiased observations along the way, and can make unbiased statements backing them.

"Random violence?" What difference does it make if violence is random or systematic?

Fact: Thailand has more gun deaths, per capita, than the US.

Fact: Thailand is number two in the world for the most traffic fatalities per capita, which, considering the manner in which many drive, would qualify as your "random violence."

Where did you get your source of Thailand having more gun deaths than the US?

According to The Business Insider, The Guardian, The UNODC, The Washington Post, Guns & Ammo, and Ammo Land: The USA is second to every country in the developed world regarding Gun Ownership/Deaths per capita, With exception to Mexico (Rightfully So).

According to World Life Expectancy. com, The WHO, Thailand is Ranked 6th in traffic fatalities per capita. Whereas, India has the top spot in the accident stats. In some of the studies, Thailand is not even ranked.

I think it is safe to say that you would have to do your homework before you post your "Suspected" unbiased statements.

.

Murder rate (by any means) per capita (reported by The Guardian, per the UNDOC):

Thailand 5.3/100,000

USA 5.0/100,000

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/10/world-murder-rate-unodc

Murders by firearm per capita:

Thailand 313/million

USA 33/million

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Murders-with-firearms

Murder rate by any means, per UNDOC, 2012:

Thailand 5/100,000 (2011)

USA 4.7/100,000 (2012)

Gun homicide article:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jul/23/facebook-posts/the-us-is-no-in-gun-violence-is-it/

Traffic deaths per capita:

Thailand # 2

USA #97

http://global.umich.edu/2014/02/thai-roads-ranked-no-2-for-traffic-deaths/

Traffic deaths per capita; WHO 2013 report:

Thailand 38/100,000

USA 11.6/100,000

You wrote:

According to World Life Expectancy. com, The WHO, Thailand is Ranked 6th in traffic fatalities per capita. Whereas, India has the top spot in the accident stats. In some of the studies, Thailand is not even ranked.

You neglected to mention the USA is listed in the same report as 107th in fatalities. And these numbers do not reflect Thailand's fudging the figures on both gun deaths and traffic deaths. Many, many, go unreported. In the area where I lived, I know of five murders in three years that went unreported. The village headmen simply buried the bodies.

And yes, all three were about Face.

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/road-traffic-accidents/by-country/

EDIT: spell chicken

As has been pointed out by several ppl over the last few years, I would be very wary of the murder by firearm statistic from Nationmaster you are quoting. If the overall murder rate is either 5 or 5.3 per 100,000 ppl then how can the murder rate by firearms be 313 per million ppl which is six times more.