Thai Officials Investigate a 54% Increase in Foreign Tourists Deaths

[Tolley]

I cant believe the figure is only 84 in a year.

Heck there seems to be a foreigner dying every second day in Pattaya.

So I am calling the figures rubbish.

Maybe expats aren't counted or something and only people on entry visas.

I don't know but there is more than 1.5 foreigners dying in Pattaya every week I reckon.

And then there is the rest of Thailand....

[henry15]

Too many losers see LOS as the perfect place to end their life. It can be simply like that.

[dageurreotype]

It will be interesting to see how TAT spins this one! No doubt they will find some positive upside.

Too late. It's already all over the international press.

[dageurreotype]

British foreign office statistics show 300-400 Brits dying in Thailand every year.

Only 83 foreigners died last year?

Sounds more like the numbers of deaths in one month to me!

read again the title :

" Foreign Tourists Deaths "

To them, we are tourists. Not 'expats'. How many times this is repeated and yet still many labour under the delusion they are anything BUT 'tourists'. When at a police station/government office I am still designated 'tourist' on any report/form. Simply with an 'O' visa. And this after 18 years here.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

maybe they should keep the Chinese away from the water???

[BB24]

Some of you need help - some of you are just having (another) bad day. Read the OP - tourist deaths - not expats/residents/etc.

Anything negative about Thailand and the usual BTEWs (you know who you are) have to jump on board and say their negative and nasty comments about Thailand and Thais. I have been avoiding the TV news OPs and sticking to the 'light' side of TV. But I wondered if the 'dark' side would be so low as to take advantage of tourist deaths - and yes they did.

The OP was about short term tourists - not those who are here long term. But even if you include all deaths - check this out:

Revealed: The country with the highest proportion of British deaths is the Philippines

......more than 4,000 deaths among British travellers annually, according to figures from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

In 2013-2014, 856 of the 4,110 deaths of British citizens happened in Spain.

The second most common place to die after Spain is Thailand, which saw 362 deaths and France with 346 (FRANCE !! +2)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3086453/The-country-highest-proportion-British-deaths-Philippines-cost-17-000-repatriate-body.html#ixzz401cPUZAY

I am not going to tell you to go home, nor to get a life, but I will say "be careful". You may need help - or one day you may get so depressed that you do more than say mean nasty things about where you live/lived - you may end up doing something seriously stupid. Check out these and other sites - help is out there - you only have to ask. Thailand IS a fantastic country for Expats - but one man's meat is another man's poison.

https://www.counseling-office.com/pt-blog/burnout-expat-asia-thailand/

http://www.globalbusinessnews.net/story.asp?sid=1574

http://www.suicide.org/depression-and-suicide.html

[madmitch]

I've just had a quick look at the Phuket Gazette for this year so far. Several foreigner deaths reported of which at least ten are tourists, not expats. And that's in six and a half weeks.

That's one province, albeit one of the most popular for tourists, and in peak season, but extrapolate that figure and you'll see why the figure produced by the Government is almost certainly vastly understated.

[PaPiPuPePo]

7 Foreigner deaths per month!!??

Seems to me that there are death(s) reported nearly every day.

I don't believe that the figure is as low as 83

Maybe they only count those with tourist visas

I think a couple of islands in the south alone account for that many, but, you know, no body no death.

[Snackbar]

BB24

A white night.

[Caveat Emptor]

How many of these ' suicides ' would be different if there had been a proper professional investigation ?

[ratcatcher]

It will be interesting to see how TAT spins this one! No doubt they will find some positive upside.

It's entirely possible TAT will come out with an even more interesting set of statistics than these by MOTS.

[PaPiPuPePo]

Some of you need help - some of you are just having (another) bad day. Read the OP - tourist deaths - not expats/residents/etc.

Anything negative about Thailand and the usual BTEWs (you know who you are) have to jump on board and say their negative and nasty comments about Thailand and Thais. I have been avoiding the TV news OPs and sticking to the 'light' side of TV. But I wondered if the 'dark' side would be so low as to take advantage of tourist deaths - and yes they did.

The OP was about short term tourists - not those who are here long term. But even if you include all deaths - check this out:

Revealed: The country with the highest proportion of British deaths is the Philippines

......more than 4,000 deaths among British travellers annually, according to figures from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

In 2013-2014, 856 of the 4,110 deaths of British citizens happened in Spain.

The second most common place to die after Spain is Thailand, which saw 362 deaths and France with 346 (FRANCE !! +2)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3086453/The-country-highest-proportion-British-deaths-Philippines-cost-17-000-repatriate-body.html#ixzz401cPUZAY

I am not going to tell you to go home, nor to get a life, but I will say "be careful". You may need help - or one day you may get so depressed that you do more than say mean nasty things about where you live/lived - you may end up doing something seriously stupid. Check out these and other sites - help is out there - you only have to ask. Thailand IS a fantastic country for Expats - but one man's meat is another man's poison.

https://www.counseling-office.com/pt-blog/burnout-expat-asia-thailand/

http://www.globalbusinessnews.net/story.asp?sid=1574

http://www.suicide.org/depression-and-suicide.html

Per the article:

But proportionally, compared to the number who travel, British nationals are most likely to be die in the Philippines, which is due to the high number of elderly expats, with 82 cases during that period.

Countries 1, 2, and 3 are Spain--856, Thailand--362, France--346. You can bet the number of British visitors to F&S far exceeds those going to Thailand.

So your first point is poorly made, at best.

The second part is just concern trolling and deflection: if you criticise Thailand, it must be your problem, you're burned out or suicidal; your thoughts have no merit.

Wish I could say "nice try" but it doesn't rise to that.

[Snackbar]

The Daily Mail operates in a country with press freedom. They can say whatever they like about whom ever they like.

Listen to the Two Mikes. British jurnos. Most of its content is made up.

Intelligent people don't read it for facts, it's for entertainment. Quantity over quality.

It's blocked in Thailand. If you look at it. It's all T&A. (female body parts)

Get a grip man.

[clockman]

More for this web site www.farang-deaths.com

[elgordo38]

It will be interesting to see how TAT spins this one! No doubt they will find some positive upside.

They already have the death count was countered by the fact that injuries were down an amazing 160% Time to pass the silver tray again.

[elgordo38]

It will be interesting to see how TAT spins this one! No doubt they will find some positive upside.

[/quote

They already have injuries were down by 160%.

[PaPiPuPePo]

BB24

A white night.

Or Thai, but you're probably right.

[Alwyn]

83? How does that work? Seems be I read about 2 or 3 a day just on TV

[MaeJoMTB]

Some of you need help - some of you are just having (another) bad day. Read the OP - tourist deaths - not expats/residents/etc.

The OP was about short term tourists - not those who are here long term. But even if you include all deaths - check this out:

Revealed: The country with the highest proportion of British deaths is the Philippines

In 2013-2014, 856 of the 4,110 deaths of British citizens happened in Spain.

The second most common place to die after Spain is Thailand, which saw 362 deaths and France with 346 (FRANCE !! +2)

26M Brits visit Spain every Year, 800,000 Brits visit Thailand.

30M Brits visit France every year ...........

So

30x more Brits visiting Spain but only 2x dying, making Spain 15x safer than Thailand.

45x more Brits visiting France but the same number dying, making France 30x safer than Thailand.

Now you want to talk about only tourists being included .... so who are they counting as tourists?

1. People arriving with a Tourist VISA?

2. People arriving with VISA waiver on entry?

3. Every foreigner entering Thailand, even if only changing flights at BKK?

Usually TAT use Item 3. as the number for counting Tourists.

Long term foreign residents in Thailand are here in very small numbers, only about 300,000-500,000, compared to the 25,000,000-35,000,000 foreigners who visit Thailand every year as Tourists.

Thailand is a very dangerous place compared to most of the civilized world.

[MaeJoMTB]

^^

http://www.farang-deaths.com/statistics/

(Note average age at death = 45, with the oldest being 82 and the youngest 4)

List 38 foreigner deaths in the last month.

And they have nowhere near the total death count.

Found this in another thread,

it looks like the TAT is going to flip out with the 2016 tourist death rate, there has been approx 9 in Krabi province alone in the past 2 weeks!!!!, I will never set foot in this place again it is manic the worst holuday i've ever had in thailand, the roads/speed are insane, not to mention the sea with all the HUNDREDS of speedboat tours blasting around at full speed (it is like all the thais here are on a death wish)

sad for the familys of all the Deceased but i will just says something ....THIALAND IS NOT SAFE, whatever you are told by tour agents (or what many on here believe)

Edited February 13, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[Snackbar]

On a roll this week 6 dead in 6 days in Phuket & Phang nga. Way to go.

Another dead today. Sat 13th

There'll be another meritorious crackdown ASAP

[manhood]

Does anyone believe statistics, and in Thailand there is not any statistic that is not manipulated for the reason they want to use it!

So no evidence in anything in this country!

[Bluespunk]

Another 166 were injured, down 160% from the previous year.

wow not only was noone injured but 60% who came here injured where miraculously cured hence the 160% figure.

Brilliant, just brilliant.

[Jonmarleesco]

Well, it would be useful for the TAT to avoid having to re-evaluate its oft dubious stats. But it's of little use being concerned with tourist safety when Thais in general demonstrate such a poor grasp of safe behaviour, as it affects them.

[PaullyW]

British foreign office statistics show 300-400 Brits dying in Thailand every year.

Only 83 foreigners died last year?

Sounds more like the numbers of deaths in one month to me!

I suppose they meant unnatural deaths but didn't want to say murders and such for loss of face

[PaullyW]

We all know Thais are prone to not only incompetence but also dishonesty. So, take any numbers with a grain of salt

[berybert]

54% We must do better. Next year we must get this up to 100%.Must be number 1.

[Shadychris]

Some of you need help - some of you are just having (another) bad day. Read the OP - tourist deaths - not expats/residents/etc.

The OP was about short term tourists - not those who are here long term. But even if you include all deaths - check this out:

Revealed: The country with the highest proportion of British deaths is the Philippines

In 2013-2014, 856 of the 4,110 deaths of British citizens happened in Spain.

The second most common place to die after Spain is Thailand, which saw 362 deaths and France with 346 (FRANCE !! +2)

26M Brits visit Spain every Year, 800,000 Brits visit Thailand.

30M Brits visit France every year ...........

So

30x more Brits visiting Spain but only 2x dying, making Spain 15x safer than Thailand.

45x more Brits visiting France but the same number dying, making France 30x safer than Thailand.

Now you want to talk about only tourists being included .... so who are they counting as tourists?

1. People arriving with a Tourist VISA?

2. People arriving with VISA waiver on entry?

3. Every foreigner entering Thailand, even if only changing flights at BKK?

Usually TAT use Item 3. as the number for counting Tourists.

Long term foreign residents in Thailand are here in very small numbers, only about 300,000-500,000, compared to the 25,000,000-35,000,000 foreigners who visit Thailand every year as Tourists.

Thailand is a very dangerous place compared to most of the civilized world.

I'd agree that Thailand CAN be a dangerous place - equally so CAN other countries such as the South Americas and South Africa, even the US and UK.

It is too simplistic just to look at numbers by themselves. Especially as in the case of your post above where the numbers are not even correct. 15M Brits and 12M Brits visited Spain and France respectively in 2014, not 26M and 30M as you state. If you are going to quote figures at least quote accurate ones!

Perhaps then it also necessary to look at the type of tourists the 2 countries attract. Spain seems mainly to be a resort of choice for middle class families and retirees who do little more than walk down the path from their hotel to the beach and back each day, or the younger 18-30 types whose every night is spent in a nightclub and the days mostly asleep recovering in their rooms. Thailand on the other hand would seem to attract a different type of tourist completely, more of the younger backpacker brigade, the thrill seekers and of course not forgetting the multitude of sex tourists. I would put all of those at a much higher risk of encountering dangerous situations than the typical Costa del Sol visitor. A lot of how safe you are going to be in ANY foreign country depends entirely on the situations you are going to put yourself in.

Your later post interestingly notes the average age of the tourist death in Thailand as 45. I'm not a big fan of 'average' numbers as they can be badly skewed and thus unrepresentative by the inclusion of an exceptionally extreme number at either end. In this case however it would seem that even with a 4 year old being included the average of 45 would indicate a lot of people of more senior years. With the situation of many so called 'expats' in Thailand actually being on short term visas I suspect that the natural deaths of these mostly elderly people are also being included as 'tourist' deaths.

Let's not forget also, as some people seem rather fond of quoting numbers, that the number of 'tourist' deaths in Thailand annually, assuming a rough figure of 300, is actually just 0.001% of the total rough number of 30M visitors each year. So that means there is a 'one in a thousand' chance of being the unlucky foreigner who dies in Thailand each year. Given that I frequently cross the road, and drink and smoke, I think that an extra 'one in a thousand risk' isn't really worth me losing sleep over.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Shadychris

[tomacht8]

Some of you need help - some of you are just having (another) bad day. Read the OP - tourist deaths - not expats/residents/etc.

The OP was about short term tourists - not those who are here long term. But even if you include all deaths - check this out:

Revealed: The country with the highest proportion of British deaths is the Philippines

In 2013-2014, 856 of the 4,110 deaths of British citizens happened in Spain.

The second most common place to die after Spain is Thailand, which saw 362 deaths and France with 346 (FRANCE !! +2)

26M Brits visit Spain every Year, 800,000 Brits visit Thailand.

30M Brits visit France every year ...........

So

30x more Brits visiting Spain but only 2x dying, making Spain 15x safer than Thailand.

45x more Brits visiting France but the same number dying, making France 30x safer than Thailand.

Now you want to talk about only tourists being included .... so who are they counting as tourists?

1. People arriving with a Tourist VISA?

2. People arriving with VISA waiver on entry?

3. Every foreigner entering Thailand, even if only changing flights at BKK?

Usually TAT use Item 3. as the number for counting Tourists.

Long term foreign residents in Thailand are here in very small numbers, only about 300,000-500,000, compared to the 25,000,000-35,000,000 foreigners who visit Thailand every year as Tourists.

Thailand is a very dangerous place compared to most of the civilized world.

I'd agree that Thailand CAN be a dangerous place - equally so CAN other countries such as the South Americas and South Africa, even the US and UK.

It is too simplistic just to look at numbers by themselves. Especially as in the case of your post above where the numbers are not even correct. 15M Brits and 12M Brits visited Spain and France respectively in 2014, not 26M and 30M as you state. If you are going to quote figures at least quote accurate ones!

Perhaps then it also necessary to look at the type of tourists the 2 countries attract. Spain seems mainly to be a resort of choice for middle class families and retirees who do little more than walk down the path from their hotel to the beach and back each day, or the younger 18-30 types whose every night is spent in a nightclub and the days mostly asleep recovering in their rooms. Thailand on the other hand would seem to attract a different type of tourist completely, more of the younger backpacker brigade, the thrill seekers and of course not forgetting the multitude of sex tourists. I would put all of those at a much higher risk of encountering dangerous situations than the typical Costa del Sol visitor. A lot of how safe you are going to be in ANY foreign country depends entirely on the situations you are going to put yourself in.

Your later post interestingly notes the average age of the tourist death in Thailand as 45. I'm not a big fan of 'average' numbers as they can be badly skewed and thus unrepresentative by the inclusion of an exceptionally extreme number at either end. In this case however it would seem that even with a 4 year old being included the average of 45 would indicate a lot of people of more senior years. With the situation of many so called 'expats' in Thailand actually being on short term visas I suspect that the natural deaths of these mostly elderly people are also being included as 'tourist' deaths.

Let's not forget also, as some people seem rather fond of quoting numbers, that the number of 'tourist' deaths in Thailand annually, assuming a rough figure of 300, is actually just 0.001% of the total rough number of 30M visitors each year. So that means there is a 'one in a thousand' chance of being the unlucky foreigner who dies in Thailand each year. Given that I frequently cross the road, and drink and smoke, I think that an extra 'one in a thousand risk' isn't really worth me losing sleep over.

Assuming a rough figure of 300 death tourist a year?

Where you get this number from?

Or you mean 300 death tourist from Uk a year?

If you factored the traffic accidents with motorcycles, buses, minivans and boats it is certainly more than 300 dead tourists a year.

There are apparently no official statistics in Thailand, which include all the circumstances.

[MJP]

Figure look very low. I'm sure I must have read of at least 30 tourists killed in bus accidents alone last year. And the injury figure is unbelievable. They must have left a couple of zeroes off.

I stubbed a toe there last year. Not sure that was recorded.

It depends upon their definition of "injured".