Why you shouldn't fear violence in Thailand

[teatree]

Good that he feels so safe walking around the street late at night. That is, until it happens to him.. Then his tune will change. Personally, my experience has shown that in most cases a foreigner can smile his way out of most tense situations. I say most because there are times when Thai men simply want to exert some violence. Case in point: I was with my Thai family talking about the water supply using my wife to translate to her father. Out of the blue, the father picked up a large knife used for cutting bananas of the tree and he came at me with blood in his eyes. It was intervened only by my wife and her mother who jumped in front of him. As it turned out, he got angry simply because he didn't like that a foreigner was telling him a more sufficient and modern way to supply water to the house and thought that I should be doing it his way regardless. It didn't matter if I was in the right about it. He was losing face because I would not back down and because he was looking like he was ignorant about this to his family.

If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right.

Instant psycho...just add lose of face.

[NongKhaiKid]

One of the things I learned early on is that when asked a question, depending on the issue, Thais don;t want an answer, comment, opinion other than the one they want to hear.

[Bernard Flint]

IMO it depends on where you are, what you are doing and who you are with at the time.

There are certainly some places in Thailand that are more dangerous than others.

From what I read and get from my wife and friends places like Pattaya, Phuket, Bangkok and now Hua Hin are worse than others but only in places. During the normal day it is usually fairly much OK but at night with a belly full of booze and a bad attitude it can quickly change.

I live in rural Khampaeng Phet and mostly the only violence that I see and hear about is at the annual fair in November when the local boys, usually fueled by alcohol fight each other. Now for the 5 nights of the fair there is a heavy police and army presence,.

One has far more chance of getting into a fracas with westerners than thai, in Pattaya.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Bring back the curfew!

That will just generate more domestic violence!

[BlindMagician]

Good that he feels so safe walking around the street late at night. That is, until it happens to him.. Then his tune will change. Personally, my experience has shown that in most cases a foreigner can smile his way out of most tense situations. I say most because there are times when Thai men simply want to exert some violence. Case in point: I was with my Thai family talking about the water supply using my wife to translate to her father. Out of the blue, the father picked up a large knife used for cutting bananas of the tree and he came at me with blood in his eyes. It was intervened only by my wife and her mother who jumped in front of him. As it turned out, he got angry simply because he didn't like that a foreigner was telling him a more sufficient and modern way to supply water to the house and thought that I should be doing it his way regardless. It didn't matter if I was in the right about it. He was losing face because I would not back down and because he was looking like he was ignorant about this to his family.

If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right.

Kwality in-laws.

[cumgranosalum]

Even in the full article he makes no explanation as to WHY one "shouldn't fear violence in Thailand" in fact all he seems to say is that HE doesn't feel frightened and you can get attacked elsewhere.

Not good enough.......

As Thailand industrialises and the nation becomes wealthier, the gap between haves and have-nots gets bigger and bigger. Thailand is a bourgeoning entering a consumer society where no-one can vote, no-one can speak out and in general, only the rich have recourse to a legal system which usually works in their favour If you are at the bottom of the heap the only way to empower yourself is to take the “law” or “justice” as you see it into your own hands. This often means to take to crime and gangs - create your own mini fiefdoms where your voice is at least heard.

As the OP states, we see this sort of thing all over the world, but Thailand is still playing catch-up when it comes to the benefits and ills of modern society. This kind of problem is inevitably on the increase, especially in a society whose set-up is ill equipped both physically and intellectually to deal with this growing problem.

What is different in Thailand? Quite apart from the lack of rule of law - and in least at part stemming from that, gun ownership is widespread, illegal guns are common as are homemade firearms and a range of other deadly weapons that would be illegal in UK and most of Europe. Couple all this with a police force that is simply not trained in modern crime and has no idea how to deal with street violence, or enforce any laws that do exist you have a recipe for disaster.

If you do have the misfortune to be attacked you then have a whole new set of problems to deal with. The laisser-faire attitude of the public at large, the emergency services and Thailand’s legal system.

Thailand’s ambulance and emergency services are completely ineffective. If you get to the hospital what kind of treatment you get is at best a lottery - and the odds of getting good quick effective treatment are stacked hugely against you.

Finally if you do recover, and get safely home - wherever that may be - any chance of the law helping further - e.g. prosecution or compensation will be fudged beyond belief and will take years to come through; and compensation will be a pittance.

Of course if you try to publicise your misadventure, then you may find yourself being prosecuted yourself - for brining the reputation on the nation into disrepute.

[cumgranosalum]

Good that he feels so safe walking around the street late at night. That is, until it happens to him.. Then his tune will change. Personally, my experience has shown that in most cases a foreigner can smile his way out of most tense situations. I say most because there are times when Thai men simply want to exert some violence. Case in point: I was with my Thai family talking about the water supply using my wife to translate to her father. Out of the blue, the father picked up a large knife used for cutting bananas of the tree and he came at me with blood in his eyes. It was intervened only by my wife and her mother who jumped in front of him. As it turned out, he got angry simply because he didn't like that a foreigner was telling him a more sufficient and modern way to supply water to the house and thought that I should be doing it his way regardless. It didn't matter if I was in the right about it. He was losing face because I would not back down and because he was looking like he was ignorant about this to his family.

If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right.

You might be right about your case, and your water system idea is much better than the way your FIL is using. BUT - sometimes it is best to be "smart", and not "right".

This is Thailand, and Thai people - like it or not - are Thai and have their own way of dealing with issues. In your case, you probably should have noticed that by going on with your explanations and arguments, you somehow agonize your FIL. So although you might be right about your way of thinking, you should have been smart and just stop. If it's his house - let him do what he wants and live with the consequences. If it is your house, just wait till he goes back to his home and implement whatever system you want without rubbing it in

the point made about loss of face is a very good one - the full significance of which is something that many visitors to

THailand are unable to fully appreciate. But as a VISITOR to Thailand this is something you are unlikely to be aware of - and I think that the overall changes in society in Thailand make this kind of behaviour even more common and dangerous to visitors - who are perceived as being wealthy and, often rightfully, ignorant. All the more reson to fear violence.

[torpedo1970]

Good that he feels so safe walking around the street late at night. That is, until it happens to him.. Then his tune will change. Personally, my experience has shown that in most cases a foreigner can smile his way out of most tense situations. I say most because there are times when Thai men simply want to exert some violence. Case in point: I was with my Thai family talking about the water supply using my wife to translate to her father. Out of the blue, the father picked up a large knife used for cutting bananas of the tree and he came at me with blood in his eyes. It was intervened only by my wife and her mother who jumped in front of him. As it turned out, he got angry simply because he didn't like that a foreigner was telling him a more sufficient and modern way to supply water to the house and thought that I should be doing it his way regardless. It didn't matter if I was in the right about it. He was losing face because I would not back down and because he was looking like he was ignorant about this to his family.

If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right.

But you should always fear violence in Thailand!

IMO there is a 80/20 split on reasons to this

80% of the times it is all down to loosing that face

"If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right."

A Thai don't like that a foreigner is telling him a more sufficient and modern way to do anything after all Thailand is best place in the world and they know best.....

As long as you know that, keep your opinions to yourself, only share it when asked.

You should be ok, unless you are among the 20% meeting up with a drug crazed person.... then all bets are off

[BlindMagician]

Yeah, guys got hacked up with a machete right outside my front door, so sure, I feel safe...cos..eerrr..it wasn't me who got hacked up...see?

[reggaebkk]

Wondering the whos and the whys of that pretty useless article, basically it says that thailand is safe because you can avoid violence by being a pussy. But you can also give free blow jobs in the most violent jails and you will avoid violence...

[MadDog2020]

"Generally Safe". This OP is an idiot. Being a safe country does not mean that you have follow a set of specific rules that in many cases are only known to the Thai person and changes bases on the amount of drugs and liquor they have had that day. Using normal commonsense does not make you safe in Thailand. As a foreigner you are a target in most situations.

Edited May 2, 2016 by MadDog2020

[JDGRUEN]

I don't FEAR violence in Thailand but like many other places I know that it is real - it really exists and I do not let my guard down... Only fools believe it is a totally safe world and "We should all just get along".... Naivete will only get you to the hospital emergency room

[biplanebluey]

Good that he feels so safe walking around the street late at night. That is, until it happens to him.. Then his tune will change. Personally, my experience has shown that in most cases a foreigner can smile his way out of most tense situations. I say most because there are times when Thai men simply want to exert some violence. Case in point: I was with my Thai family talking about the water supply using my wife to translate to her father. Out of the blue, the father picked up a large knife used for cutting bananas of the tree and he came at me with blood in his eyes. It was intervened only by my wife and her mother who jumped in front of him. As it turned out, he got angry simply because he didn't like that a foreigner was telling him a more sufficient and modern way to supply water to the house and thought that I should be doing it his way regardless. It didn't matter if I was in the right about it. He was losing face because I would not back down and because he was looking like he was ignorant about this to his family.

If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right.

Who's house? His or yours?

Who was paying for the water? Him or you?

If it was his house you should have just said your piece and left the man to his error.

If he was paying and you were not going to be hit with the costs of his error at some point, you should have just said your piece and left the man to his error.

If this was your house you should have told him to piss off and not set foot on the property ever again.

If you were paying the bill or supporting the man, you should have cut off the funds and told him to never contact you again.

That is how you deal with these situations. The man's behaviour was unacceptable and he should have been dealt with accordingly. As soon as you show any weakness, they will keep behaving in this manner.

Yes that's right---- and after he had stabbed you to death ---he would have sincerely apologised

[tuanku]

When a proportion of the population welcome, and the rest make no protest, over the take-over of the country by the Army, an organisation dedicated to violence, then I think that indicates an acceptance of the use of force and weapons which pervades the whole society.

And this has happened over and over again in the recent history.

Many, even most, of the people are comfortable with the level of violence, death and mayhem in the country and accept that men with guns can prevail over elected governments on the shakiest of pretexts.

Like most dysfunctional families the blame is mostly with the parents.

[JDGRUEN]

I have always found trouble here to be avoidable and never have I witnessed anything which was unprovoked. If you provoke someone and then things go south, it is your fault and you should have known better.

Yes - it was horrible how that British family provoked the thugs by simply existing ...

Only Naive Fools would believe such tripe propaganda ...

[Lupatria]

JAMES the NEW MAN at the TAT.

[bander]

The govt should get this guy on the payroll, they are desperately in need of a spin doctor.

From the headline, he sound like he is on the governments payroll already.

[wvavin]

Its worthy to note that the collateral damage is always the British.

[Mook23]

Most farlangs aren't made to live here. They don't have the skills to avoid frustration or problems. They want the Thai to be like them which will never happen. But at same time they want foreigners coming to their homelands to assimilate or get out. Yes face is an issue here. Accept it and stop whining. It's part of Thai culture which a couple of geriatric farlangs aren't going to change. I dont discuss with Thai cuz its not worth it. If I want a good intellectual discussion I do that at home with educated, experienced people who speak my mother tongue, and who can appreciate a quality beer or glass of wine or single malt and not Spy or Chang or Hong.

[cumgranosalum]

Most farlangs aren't made to live here. They don't have the skills to avoid frustration or problems. They want the Thai to be like them which will never happen. But at same time they want foreigners coming to their homelands to assimilate or get out. Yes face is an issue here. Accept it and stop whining. It's part of Thai culture which a couple of geriatric farlangs aren't going to change. I dont discuss with Thai cuz its not worth it. If I want a good intellectual discussion I do that at home with educated, experienced people who speak my mother tongue, and who can appreciate a quality beer or glass of wine or single malt and not Spy or Chang or Hong.

"Most farlangs aren't made to live here." - OK can I stop you there? with a premise like that, everything that follows will be complete nonsense.

[thesetat2013]

Good that he feels so safe walking around the street late at night. That is, until it happens to him.. Then his tune will change. Personally, my experience has shown that in most cases a foreigner can smile his way out of most tense situations. I say most because there are times when Thai men simply want to exert some violence. Case in point: I was with my Thai family talking about the water supply using my wife to translate to her father. Out of the blue, the father picked up a large knife used for cutting bananas of the tree and he came at me with blood in his eyes. It was intervened only by my wife and her mother who jumped in front of him. As it turned out, he got angry simply because he didn't like that a foreigner was telling him a more sufficient and modern way to supply water to the house and thought that I should be doing it his way regardless. It didn't matter if I was in the right about it. He was losing face because I would not back down and because he was looking like he was ignorant about this to his family.

If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right.

Who's house? His or yours?

Who was paying for the water? Him or you?

If it was his house you should have just said your piece and left the man to his error.

If he was paying and you were not going to be hit with the costs of his error at some point, you should have just said your piece and left the man to his error.

If this was your house you should have told him to piss off and not set foot on the property ever again.

If you were paying the bill or supporting the man, you should have cut off the funds and told him to never contact you again.

That is how you deal with these situations. The man's behaviour was unacceptable and he should have been dealt with accordingly. As soon as you show any weakness, they will keep behaving in this manner.

Yes that's right---- and after he had stabbed you to death ---he would have sincerely apologised

And he would not have gone to jail for it because he felt remorse either...

Hehee

[crazydrummerpauly]

Good that he feels so safe walking around the street late at night. That is, until it happens to him.. Then his tune will change. Personally, my experience has shown that in most cases a foreigner can smile his way out of most tense situations. I say most because there are times when Thai men simply want to exert some violence. Case in point: I was with my Thai family talking about the water supply using my wife to translate to her father. Out of the blue, the father picked up a large knife used for cutting bananas of the tree and he came at me with blood in his eyes. It was intervened only by my wife and her mother who jumped in front of him. As it turned out, he got angry simply because he didn't like that a foreigner was telling him a more sufficient and modern way to supply water to the house and thought that I should be doing it his way regardless. It didn't matter if I was in the right about it. He was losing face because I would not back down and because he was looking like he was ignorant about this to his family.

If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right.

Who's house? His or yours?

Who was paying for the water? Him or you?

If it was his house you should have just said your piece and left the man to his error.

If he was paying and you were not going to be hit with the costs of his error at some point, you should have just said your piece and left the man to his error.

If this was your house you should have told him to piss off and not set foot on the property ever again.

If you were paying the bill or supporting the man, you should have cut off the funds and told him to never contact you again.

That is how you deal with these situations. The man's behaviour was unacceptable and he should have been dealt with accordingly. As soon as you show any weakness, they will keep behaving in this manner.

Probably dangerous advice. In LoS, it is almost never worth 'saying your piece', unless you like playing with fire. But your advice makes perfect, principled sense to western minds though. It is how i'd behave back home, but i can't risk it here.

Edited May 2, 2016 by crazydrummerpauly

[rebelplatoon]

Don't see any reasoning which shows one should not be afraid. On many occasions I have seen unprovoked violence, mainly because there were more of them. Pack mentality.

[Henryford]

Why you shouldn't fear violence in Thailand

But you should

If you don't it can very well happen to you for the smallest of reasons.

Better to be aware of your environment rather than blindly stumble through...

A Thai motorist once threatened to shoot me because i beeped my horn at his bad driving !! Obviously he lost face. I was shocked, not so much at the possible loss of my life, but that someone would consider, or commit, murder for so trivial a thing.

[sanukjim]

More people were shot in Thailand per population then in The United States in 2015.The violence here often occurs because of the violent temper of Thais with no thoughts of reprisal or penalties to them self's. The courts and police are corrupt and often on the take.Outside of Chicago Illinois The US is calm compared to Thailand.

[Kasset Tak]

I lived in a village in North West Thailand,i moved into my girlfriends house and her older son did not want to work so one day i said to him do not think i am going to support you,next thing he gone crazy( HE WAS ALREADY ON JABA) he came at me i shut the door so i could get out into the street,thats when i see a crash helmet thrown into the street next minute he had 2 machets in his hands saying i want to kill you,i hid in a house down the road, my girlfriend called the police i was told by the police i must move out of the house,which i have done.

Try doing the same to any drug (including alcohol) fueled person around the world and you would get a similar reaction. So basically what you did was just looking for trouble!

[Mook23]

Most farlangs aren't made to live here. They don't have the skills to avoid frustration or problems. They want the Thai to be like them which will never happen. But at same time they want foreigners coming to their homelands to assimilate or get out. Yes face is an issue here. Accept it and stop whining. It's part of Thai culture which a couple of geriatric farlangs aren't going to change. I dont discuss with Thai cuz its not worth it. If I want a good intellectual discussion I do that at home with educated, experienced people who speak my mother tongue, and who can appreciate a quality beer or glass of wine or single malt and not Spy or Chang or Hong.

"Most farlangs aren't made to live here." - OK can I stop you there? with a premise like that, everything that follows will be complete nonsense.

You didn't stop me there. in fact u even bothered to reply... I am not here to make friends, on this forum, with anonymous elderly. I repeat, most farlangs here are not of the genius type and hang out with people who cant even tell the names of the continents.

[Plutojames88]

Thais swatting eating bugs in the noon sun cussing a westerner who hadn't sent the daughter

Western union .repeatedly slamming the machete into the ground on the rural property.

Then the conversation turned to ghosts because they had noticed me buying the litre of petrol, at the

Small store on blood red dusty road.

Thais are largely not respectful of us outside of money considerations.

Nor are they our equal in reasoning or worldly affairs.

The ones that claim to be are usually caught up in insidious elitism and repugnant

[DaveinAsia]

Good that he feels so safe walking around the street late at night. That is, until it happens to him.. Then his tune will change. Personally, my experience has shown that in most cases a foreigner can smile his way out of most tense situations. I say most because there are times when Thai men simply want to exert some violence. Case in point: I was with my Thai family talking about the water supply using my wife to translate to her father. Out of the blue, the father picked up a large knife used for cutting bananas of the tree and he came at me with blood in his eyes. It was intervened only by my wife and her mother who jumped in front of him. As it turned out, he got angry simply because he didn't like that a foreigner was telling him a more sufficient and modern way to supply water to the house and thought that I should be doing it his way regardless. It didn't matter if I was in the right about it. He was losing face because I would not back down and because he was looking like he was ignorant about this to his family.

If a Thai is losing face by you or anyone. Run! Violence is the only thing they seem to understand.. Their is no compromise with them and as a foreigner, you are always going to be wrong. Even when you are right.

Is this a matter of Thainess or is this more a matter of having a backward father-in-law? 555 I've been in many similar cases and the Thais I was dealing with never got angry, lost face or became violent. One should also be able to defuse threatening situations while living in LOS. I never needed to RUN while I've been in many dodgy situations. I'm not saying it's possible to defuse every situation but it does help to have a Colt under your seat, especially during road rage occurrences, lol

[DaveinAsia]

The argument of this article goes something like this: although I have witnessed much violence, it has not happened to me, therefore you should not be worried.

The Thai assimilation is complete.

555! Funny comparison