Dangerous Thailand: Authorities’ denial a ‘smoke and mirrors’ exercise

[rooster59]

Dangerous Thailand: Authorities’ denial a ‘smoke and mirrors’ exercise 

By Daniel Maxwell 

 

Tourists walk on Khao San Road, a popular backpacker hangout in Bangkok. Source: AP.

 

THAILAND’s reputation as a dangerous destination for holidaymakers has been reinforced by a recent report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), which ranked the kingdom as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for travellers and tourists.

 

The report highlighted Thailand’s high rates of crime, violence and the low reliability of the country’s police services as reasons for the country’s poor ranking, which placed it in 118th place among 136 countries.

 

After the WEF report made headlines in Thailand’s national media, the country’s Foreign Ministry moved quickly to criticise the report.

 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Busadee Santipitaks said the information used by WEF’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report was outdated and biased, and did not reflect the recently improved situation.

Full story: https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/06/dangerous-thailand-authorities-denial-smoke-mirrors-exercise/#sz07sD4coZqJHpkG.97

 

ASIAN Correspondent: 2017-06-17

 

[ezflip]

Very well written report. Worth the time to read. Unfortunate that no Thai in a position of power will ever read it.

[scorecard]

... recently improved situation.... 

[Misterwhisper]

As long as I have been living in Thailand, it's consistently and without fail been the same lame excuse the authorities brought forth whenever a controversy came to light or a problem was exposed - and regardless what the topic or accusation was. They have always (always!) hinted at obscure and ambiguous "recent improvements" that somehow slipped under the radar or were overlooked by researchers when they compiled their studies or reports. Everything is either swept under the carpet from the start or waved off and dismissed with the flimsy argument of "recent improvements" - although there were in fact none. Stubborn denial is an ugly and unsavory component of "Thainess," and nothing's going to change in that regard anytime soon.

[mduras01]

What is it about such a beautiful country that breeds such contempt in expats? I've been held at gun point twice in the US. Danger is everywhere - police here may not be Sherlock Holmes, but we are guests free to leave any time :)


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[darksidedog]

I can't really argue with any of the points made in this well written article. I thought an excellent point made, was that by denying that Thailand is dangerous is irresponsible. People who are informed and prepared are less likely to fall victim to such dangers. Those of us who live here know the truth, and all the denials imaginable, will not change that. Clearly the Government are so desperate to maintain face, they are ignoring reality. Again!

[NCC1701A]

Government elites treat tourist just like they do everyone who is not part of their group.

 

Everything in Thailand is about your status.

 

 

[NCC1701A]

"While the Foreign Ministry seems perplexed by Thailand’s poor ranking in WEF report, the prevalence of gun crime, road deaths, violent crime, sexual assault, rival college violence, motorcycle gang culture, road rage confrontations, tourist scams, drunken assaults and psychotic net-idols are no secret to most of the country’s residents. Simply watch one of Thailand’s morning TV news shows on any given day, and you’ll see enough to shatter the idyllic imagery projected by the Tourism Authority of Thailand."

 

Did they miss anything?

[NCC1701A]

On second thought,

 

The WEF’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report is outdated and biased, and does not reflect the recently improved situation.

 

country singer ‘Lamyai’ is now covered up.

[Trumpish]

1 hour ago, Misterwhisper said:

As long as I have been living in Thailand, it's consistently and without fail been the same lame excuse the authorities brought forth whenever a controversy came to light or a problem was exposed - and regardless what the topic or accusation was. They have always (always!) hinted at obscure and ambiguous "recent improvements" that somehow slipped under the radar or were overlooked by researchers when they compiled their studies or reports. Everything is either swept under the carpet from the start or waved off and dismissed with the flimsy argument of "recent improvements" - although there were in fact none. Stubborn denial is an ugly and unsavory component of "Thainess," and nothing's going to change in that regard anytime soon.

 

Fully agree, though, of course, this dishonest behaviour is not limited to Thailand.

 

The exercise is as follows:

 

1. Hire a paid professional liar. Preferably male, in their 30's, tall, slim and good-looking (for info as to why these factors are important, check our instinctive reactions to various body types).

2. Evaluate his ability to suggest that a downright lie is somehow plausible.

3. Evaluate his ability to claim untruths without giving any detail which might betray their untruthfulness.

4. Evaluate his ability to create a facial and body expression that is highly sincere without going OTT

5. Ensure he wears audience-friendly clothes that suggest authority.

6 Train him to automatically adopt benign and viewer-friendly, non-aggressive gestures and poses (eg, no finger-pointing).

7. All set, tell him what lies to tell and set him loose.

 

Sad really, where the people we elect to represent us are more expert in the art of lies than the art of truth. Next time you see Sansern or Prayuth lecturing us all, dig a bit deeper into their techniques for telling lies in such a way that they sound like they *might* be true.

 

Thais are natural liars, in Thailand, the truth is always subservient to what is useful to say.

[Tropez]

i feel and am safer in thailand then any country i ever visted inc my own country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Borzandy]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

the information used by WEF’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report was outdated and biased

That's all!!!!

[OmarZaid]

3 hours ago, mduras01 said:

What is it about such a beautiful country that breeds such contempt in expats? I've been held at gun point twice in the US. Danger is everywhere - police here may not be Sherlock Holmes, but we are guests free to leave any time :)


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

It's called chauvinism

[OmarZaid]

10 minutes ago, Tropez said:

i feel and am safer in thailand then any country i ever visted inc my own country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me too . . .

[WhyYouTalkMeBad]

So you think high rates of crime, violence and the low reliability of the country’s police services reported by World Economic Forum are lies?

Yes. 10 years oh roaming all the back streets of thailand cities without incident nor even a concern tells me the truth.

It's absolutely false news. But they need to keep pumping out reports fact or fiction, it's there job

[Redvic]

26 minutes ago, Tropez said:

i feel and am safer in thailand then any country i ever visted inc my own country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say what!!! Where do you live Syria. 

[stephen tracy]

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

On second thought,

 

The WEF’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report is outdated and biased, and does not reflect the recently improved situation.

 

country singer ‘Lamyai’ is now covered up.

And has reduced her twerk output from 9 to 3.... which brought happiness to the people

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

3 minutes ago, WhyYouTalkMeBad said:

Yes. 10 years oh roaming all the back streets of thailand cities without incident nor even a concern tells me the truth.

It's absolutely false news. But they need to keep pumping out reports fact or fiction, it's there job

So you been in Thailand for 10 year and think the Police force here is OK, Is your home country Somalia or Afghanistan? 

[impulse]

3 hours ago, mduras01 said:

What is it about such a beautiful country that breeds such contempt in expats? I've been held at gun point twice in the US. Danger is everywhere - police here may not be Sherlock Holmes, but we are guests free to leave any time :)

 

Maybe the numbers?  According to the linked article:

 

With 7.48 registered violent gun deaths per 100,000 people, the rate in Thailand is actually twice as high as that of the US, which had 3.55 deaths per 100,000 people.
and 

This “fervent gun culture” has even been confirmed by Thailand’s Interior Ministry, which says that there are more than six million registered guns in the country, meaning that about one in 10 people in Thailand legally own a gun.
 

Thailand has one gun per 10 people.  America has one gun per 1.3 people (270 million guns), yet Thailand's violent gun death rate is 2 x the USA's. 

 

It's not contempt.  It is what it is.

 

 

[williamgeorgeallen]

32 minutes ago, Tropez said:

i feel and am safer in thailand then any country i ever visted inc my own country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

i feel just as safe in thailand as i do in new zealand. just dont do anything that may get you involved with the cops, good advice for both countries actually.

[WhyYouTalkMeBad]

So you been in Thailand for 10 year and think the Police force here is OK, Is your home country Somalia or Afghanistan? 

You just answered your own question buddy  

Police Force don't do much because of the super low crime rate.

 

So they laze around playing with smart phone or collecting tea money

 

Even the USA cops were corrupt as hell 50 years back.. It's just transition.. Takes time in developing country

 

If every single neck chain grab was reported in western news papers they would run to a thousand pages.

 

That's proof that Pattaya news for example are obsessed with it because bugger all else crime happens

. She will be right in about 50 years just like the good old USA cops eventually [turned the corner.. The bib will as well.. Just 50 years to go

emoji16]

 

 

 

 

 

[Rimmer]

A troll post and one reply have been removed

[stephen tracy]

8 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

i feel just as safe in thailand as i do in new zealand. just dont do anything that may get you involved with the cops, good advice for both countries actually.

Or get caught reading 1984 on the BTS.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

10 minutes ago, WhyYouTalkMeBad said:

You just answered your own question buddy  

Police Force don't do much because of the super low crime rate.

 

So they laze around playing with smart phone or collecting tea money

 

Even the USA cops were corrupt as hell 50 years back.. It's just transition.. Takes time in developing country

 

If every single neck chain grab was reported in western news papers they would run to a thousand pages.

 

That's proof that Pattaya news for example are obsessed with it because bugger all else crime happens

. She will be right in about 50 years just like the good old USA cops eventually [turned the corner.. The bib will as well.. Just 50 years to go

emoji16]

 

 

 

 

 

Turn on the TV news in the morning and watch all the "the super low crime rate" reports that they show, its an eye opener if you understand Thai language. 

[CGW]

3 hours ago, mduras01 said:

What is it about such a beautiful country that breeds such contempt in expats? I've been held at gun point twice in the US. Danger is everywhere - police here may not be Sherlock Holmes, but we are guests free to leave any time :)


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Paying guests! doubt any are here on a free ride, should we not expect some protection from crime & a functioning police force?

Many of us have lived here a long time and have wives and families your glib feel "free to leave" comment is frankly pathetic!

[Rc2702]

4 hours ago, mduras01 said:

What is it about such a beautiful country that breeds such contempt in expats? I've been held at gun point twice in the US. Danger is everywhere - police here may not be Sherlock Holmes, but we are guests free to leave any time :)


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Given the comment you submitted I hazard a guess that was written with a 3rd gun pointing at your head.

 

 

[soalbundy]

Those two farang women in the pic look seriously dangerous

[YetAnother]

Thai authorities are in a permanent state of denial and ultra-nationalism and at the same time they think we are all ultimately stupid

[yardrunner]

4 hours ago, mduras01 said:

What is it about such a beautiful country that breeds such contempt in expats? I've been held at gun point twice in the US. Danger is everywhere - police here may not be Sherlock Holmes, but we are guests free to leave any time :)


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

but if we wish we can stay and are still entitled to express an opinion

[stephen tracy]

1 minute ago, yardrunner said:

but if we wish we can stay and are still entitled to express an opinion

You can stay but expressing opinions can land people in trouble these days.