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

[soalbundy]

All i can say is that during the 12 years that i have lived here i have never felt threatened, never had anything stolen, never been involved in violence,in fact i have never ever seen a violent altercation but then i don't hang around bars or walk around the streets drunk at 3 in the morning. You can put yourself into dangerous situations anywhere.

[WhyYouTalkMeBad]

All i can say is that during the 12 years that i have lived here i have never felt threatened, never had anything stolen, never been involved in violence,in fact i have never ever seen a violent altercation but then i don't hang around bars or walk around the streets drunk at 3 in the morning. You can put yourself into dangerous situations anywhere.

I hang around bars and live lower Sukhumvit. In 10 years I have never see a punch thrown either by farang or thais.

Putting it into perspective, I'm from Sydney Australia and when the clubs and bars shut at 3am you can see up to a dozen fights either between patrons or Maori bouncers kicking the shit out of a guy who keeps getting up for more punishment.

[carlyai]

"And has reduced her twerk output from 9 to 3.... which brought happiness to the people".
And me. [emoji38]

Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk

[sandemara]

20 hours ago, Trumpish said:

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.

When did you buy the lie that any current "äuthorities" were ever elected? A coup, by its very nature, is a theft of democracy.

[The Teacher]

Just remember sometimes shit just happens, not for any apparent reason, In saying that Thai officials and Police send a lot of time getting people to say sorry and give a cash bonus to victims rather that going down the court system. But does make you wonder

[Trumpish]

56 minutes ago, sandemara said:

When did you buy the lie that any current "äuthorities" were ever elected? A coup, by its very nature, is a theft of democracy.

You're right of course, I was being diplomatic. TV is very keen to get on with everyone, no matter how obnoxious, and the mafia can come down very hard at a time when advertising is already in the toilet.

[Trumpish]

1 hour ago, WhyYouTalkMeBad said:

I hang around bars and live lower Sukhumvit. In 10 years I have never see a punch thrown either by farang or thais.

Putting it into perspective, I'm from Sydney Australia and when the clubs and bars shut at 3am you can see up to a dozen fights either between patrons or Maori bouncers kicking the shit out of a guy who keeps getting up for more punishment.

You could always watch Thai TV news, every night there's something grotesque that Thais are doing. They can't all be wrong, it's possible that you've been lucky, I've seen Thais do all sorts of crazy sh|t, many times.

[Trumpish]

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

All i can say is that during the 12 years that i have lived here i have never felt threatened, never had anything stolen, never been involved in violence,in fact i have never ever seen a violent altercation but then i don't hang around bars or walk around the streets drunk at 3 in the morning. You can put yourself into dangerous situations anywhere.

Lucky. Many people are. But give it a couple of years from now and you'll see what happens when the national psyche of a propagandised country begins to break down and the population start to understand what their pooyays have been doing to them. You'll know it's happening when senior army folk start to leave the country. Many people thought that's what Prawit was doing, or at least preparing for his exit.

 

Menieres my foot. Menieres can be treated effectively in Thailand (especially now section 44 has made Thailand an international medical hub). You don't need to go to Switzerland to get menieres treated. And... hasn't he lost a lot of weight? Must have been working out.

[DM07]

Aaaaaah, another BS- outlet for all the Thai- do- gooders!

So, let me see: I have lived in my homecountry for 40 years ...never been robbed, killed or betrayed and I have lived here for 10 years and I have been cheated out of a deposit of 30.000 THB by my landlord, once!

That makes my homecountry at least 4 times safer!

Here....I have done it!

Pulled some circumstantial evidence out of my @$$ which proves beyond a the shaddow of a doubt, that my homecountry is at least 400% safer than Thailand!

Now you come with your "nothing ever happened to me personally; so Thailand is supersafe"- bullcr@p!

What are you actually proving with this?

You haven't been murdered, personally so murder doesn't exist?!

Jeeeeeezuuuuuus!

[Squeegee]

23 hours ago, darksidedog said:

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!

 

There's no helping them.

They don't deserve anything.

Let them fail.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, sandemara said:

When did you buy the lie that any current "äuthorities" were ever elected? A coup, by its very nature, is a theft of democracy.

 

Is it really democracy if all you're voting for is the public face of the deeply entrenched Elite who always pull the strings under the silver or lead incentive program?

 

Edited June 18, 2017 by impulse

[WhyYouTalkMeBad]

You could always watch Thai TV news, every night there's something grotesque that Thais are doing. They can't all be wrong, it's possible that you've been lucky, I've seen Thais do all sorts of crazy sh|t, many times.

A lot of that has to do with the thai obsession of showing every gory detail of every single stabbing shooting or fight.  The West just doesn't go there Could you imagine if CNN showed every incident? They are flat out just showing school and UPS and other massacres.. So many massacres it's hard to keep tabs

 

So there is an illusion created of a deadly dangerous country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trumpish]

5 minutes ago, WhyYouTalkMeBad said:

A lot of that has to do with the thai obsession of showing every gory detail of every single stabbing shooting or fight.  The West just doesn't go there Could you imagine if CNN showed every incident? They are flat out just showing school and UPS and other massacres.. So many massacres it's hard to keep tabs

 

So there is an illusion created of a deadly dangerous country.

 

I suspect there's a bit more to it than that. However comforting the thought may be, it seems like complacency to me.

 

I believe you'll find that Thai-Government-Statistice will have been used. Trying to gauge the crime rate of a nation by looking at the TV doesn't seem like a very reliable method to me.

[Trumpish]

17 minutes ago, Squeegee said:

 

There's no helping them.

They don't deserve anything.

Let them fail.

 

At last, a sensible comment. Well done sir! My hat is off to you!

 

I agree. Let them fail, let them reap what they have sown, they'll get sod all sympathy from me.

 

Suppose that a few of the 'Thais are gentle and wonderful and there is no crime in Thailand' brigade get mugged and end up getting their head kicked by a few of the advanced Buddhist lifestyle yobos who are out there. Does anyone seriously expect them to have a change of heart and come to TV to announce they got smacked around?

 

I don't, not when they can live in their own pleasant delusion. People are people, Thais will behave in the next 2 years just the same as any other country's population would. Which makes it predictable.

[Na Lee]

Me too . . .

Me not......anymore
[emoji30] [emoji30] [emoji30] Mommy[emoji45] [emoji45] [emoji45]

Sent from my BLL-L22 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Chongalulu]

23 hours 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 a poll sample of two produces reliable statistics?

[wabothai]

On 6/17/2017 at 0:47 PM, 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

Guests?

[Trumpish]

16 minutes ago, wabothai said:

Guests?

 

A fair question to a dumb BS comment. Fairer I believe, than it really deserved.

 

I'm sorry but the whole 'if you don't like it, you can leave' argument is the stuff of idiotic fantasy. If you decide to move to a different country, for whatever reason (mine was mainly health-related but I also wanted out of what I considered was a rat-race), then it's not so easy to up sticks and leave. The least you can expect from somewhere that wants the tourist and ex-pat dollar is that it's a safe place to live, it's the 20th century in Thailand too, even if their society sometimes seems like it's locked into some mediaeval time.

 

To have to listen to some clown who then says 'duh, if you no like, go home' is a crass vexation that nobody should have to put up with. That reply got right up my nose for it's I'm alright Jack, so sod you' attitude. What a tosser.

 

Guests indeed... grrrr.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Trumpish

[stephen tracy]

2 minutes ago, Trumpish said:

 

A fair question to a dumb BS comment. Fairer I believe, than it really deserved.

 

I'm sorry but the whole 'if you don't like it, you can leave' argument is the stuff of idiotic fantasy. If you decide to move to a different country, for whatever reason (mine was mainly health-related but I also wanted out of what I considered was a rat-race), then it's not so easy to up sticks and leave. The least you can expect from somewhere that wants the tourist and ex-pat dollar is that it's a safe place to live, it's the 20th century in Thailand too, even if their society sometimes seems like it's locked into some mediaeval time.

 

To have to listen to some clown who then says 'duh, if you no like, go home' is a crass vexation that nobody should have to put up with. That reply got right up my nose for it's I'm alright Jack, so sod you' attitude. What a tosser.

 

Guests indeed... grrrr.

Well played Sir.

[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

[YetAnother]

Thailand is not only a dangerous place to visit it's a dangerous place to live

look at the statistics on the highway Carnage and look at the daily carelessness of almost all the people here which results in unnecessary exposure

[mfd101]

Having spent most of my adult life in Canberra, it's very hard for me to think of anything at all in Thailand being 'safe'.

 

(For those of you who don't know, Canberra is a kind of mini-Singapore, except that the winter months kill all the bugs as well. The petit bourgeois dream come true: clean, orderly, nanny state, lovely roads, rich and SAFE.)

 

My point is that we judge 'safety' relative to our experience of the alternatives. If you spent much time in some of Usofa's less desirable neighborhoods, you might think Pattaya's not too bad ...

[Trumpish]

28 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Having spent most of my adult life in Canberra, it's very hard for me to think of anything at all in Thailand being 'safe'.

 

(For those of you who don't know, Canberra is a kind of mini-Singapore, except that the winter months kill all the bugs as well. The petit bourgeois dream come true: clean, orderly, nanny state, lovely roads, rich and SAFE.)

 

My point is that we judge 'safety' relative to our experience of the alternatives. If you spent much time in some of Usofa's less desirable neighborhoods, you might think Pattaya's not too bad ...

Sorry in advance for a long, perhaps rambling post.

 

I know exactly how you are feeling. Having spent some time in Australia myself (though that was some time ago) and a number of years in England, I agree it is very difficult to take a reasoned view that anything anywhere in Thailand is safe. It's not even safe for Thais,  let alone foreigners, who have for a long time  being considered fair game for Thais. Thais  think that we are stupid and gullible, and this is the reason (and it's the only reason) why Thais think that they are free to lie to, cheat, and steal from foreigners. People (and there may be. many of them) who dispute this view have not in my opinion been paying attention, and it took me some years to dispel the notion that Thailand is some kind of. Shangri-La and not (which I. now believe) some kind of sh|thole, which appears mostly to be populated by. what you would find in most sh|tholes  I suppose.

 

We have to remember (and I suppose, make allowances for the fact) that Thais a very primitive society that has only managed to master a primitive language, and have been fed a diet of being kept stupid and ignorant and indoctrinated for the sole benefit of making money for the baronial classes. This has been the tradition in Thailand for many, many years. In addition to this they have been fed a constant diet of propaganda that they are in fact superior to everybody else, and this naturally shows itself in their behaviour.  I do not propose to. talk about the origin of this, or its purpose, which is likely obvious to all, or should be. Try as I might, I can find no other explanation for what you and I and everybody else who lives here, sees every day. I believe that Thailand, whilst it has the natural advantage of weather  (and they only still have that advantage because the weather is probably the only thing that Thais can't manage to spoil).  Thailand as a dirty and lazy country, most Thais are dirty and lazy people  when compared to people in your country and mine. Thailand doesn't have a great deal of natural beauty, but all Thais  share a contempt for foreigners and a willingness to exploit them wherever possible,  and in this, they are only following the example that they've been set, and are only following the education that they been given. In my view it's a crying shame. A tragedy

 

Despite the wailings and gnashing of teeth from the tourist (fairy dust in their eyes) classes, Thailand is not a safe country in my judgment. I do not ever recall seeing news accounts in England or Australia of old age pensioner tourists being punched and kicked in the head by a gang of youths. I do not recall seeing news reports of disabled people being attacked and killed with swords, and then mounting an argument of self-defence.  in my culture, and probably in yours, men hitting women is anathema and yet  only yesterday a video clip on the news showed a young girl being repeatedly kicked in the head by two or three young Thai men. On three separate occasions  since I arrived in Thailand I've had to pile in and defend my wife who was being assaulted by Thai men. Interestingly  on two of those occasions it was by three or more Thai men. These people have no honour other than to exploit anyone and everybody else for their own benefit. I do not recall news reports in England or Australia where a major city tourist centre had developed a reputation which means that it is not sensible to walk down the street at night on your own, for fear of being approached and then assaulted by transgender men, whose only objective is to steal your money. All of this may exist in my own country, but I never heard of it. I can only comment on America on the strength of a single visit lasting one month, however I have no problem believing that things  similar to what I've described above happen more routinely in America, and it took me only one month to decide never to go back under any circumstances. But that is the only exception I'm aware of in the first world.

 

It's natural to regard a places safe if you personally experience it as being safe, but for the life of me I cannot understand the stupidity of ignoring so many TV news items and so many English press news items demonstrating (certainly to my satisfaction) that Thailand is not a safe place, and I my current opinion is that it is not a fit place to live for much longer, not for me anyway. Ironically I may well find myself in the position of following the advice of a previous poster, and just leaving. For my money, and in my current frame of mind, it would be much more sensible to just walk away and let these  horrid people stew in their own chilli-sodden juice. That, after all appears to be the attitude of Thailand's neighbours in ASEAN towards Thailand.  With good reason.

 

Well, that was a good rant,  I feel better now.

[YetAnother]

any thai official admitting thailand is a mess would lose face

[MobileContent]

On 6/17/2017 at 0:47 PM, 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

Tell this to the Thais.

 

1) Aug 2015 - Armed Robbery at our home. One Bike stolen 45,000 Baht but Insurance paid.

2) Mar 2016 - Gold stolen from my in-laws 50,000 Baht

3) Sep 2016 - Armed robbery of my father in law at gun point and loosing 140,000 Baht

 

Between Jan 2011 - July 2014 nothing happens.

 

Oh yes, I didn't loose anything but for Thais not easy to leave the country. Its the Thais in our area that are saying the country is going down the toilet. Never mind about the farangs.

[ta158]

21 hours ago, spiderorchid said:

Then read the US statistics, the comparison makes Thailand almost crime free.

Just heard that a US court found not guilty to a policeman who shot and killed a dark skinned chap, all the while by being taped by the deceased girlfriend.

The US is possibly the most dangerous, uneducated country in the world. The upholders of truth, justice and democracy. What a joke

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Thailand/United-States/Crime

[mommysboy]

On 17/06/2017 at 4:06 PM, 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

I reckon Thailand is lot safer in those respects too, but when you take to the roads, or join in a Songkran festival that's another matter- the minute you start doing active things really.  Clearly there is a lot more gun crime too.

[anon4546543]

On 2017-6-18 at 10:12 PM, mommysboy said:

I reckon Thailand is lot safer in those respects too, but when you take to the roads, or join in a Songkran festival that's another matter- the minute you start doing active things really.  Clearly there is a lot more gun crime too.

There is a lot more gun crime in Thailand than US.? Bless me and pass the bong

[holy cow cm]

Is BS. Danger lurks everywhere. Unsuspecting or ignorant is the factor here. Way less dangerous here if you are in-tune or travelor savvy.  

[ta158]

19 minutes ago, spiderorchid said:

There is a lot more gun crime in Thailand than US.? Bless me and pass the bong

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/08/11/asia-pacific/crime-legal-asia-pacific/gun-murder-rate-thailand-par-united-states/

 

https://asiancorrespondent.com/2016/02/thailand-gun-crime/