I'm genuinely surprised that it is so low to be honest. I would have thought that many of the types of people that go to Thailand, along with the behaviours they indulge in and the people they fraternise with would lead to many more murders.
Thailand is an extremely safe country for tourists.
Posts: 1190 | Location: London | Registered: 24 March 2003
Maybe, but according to the stats, as a Brit, you have more chance of being murdered as a tourist there than most other places!
Most of the cases were not tourists Plus if as a tourist you head for the Mafia controlled delights of Pattaya that increases the risk factor significantly especially after a few bevies.
ash
We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon.- Konrad Adenauer
Posts: 3486 | Location: Alsace - France | Registered: 11 May 2004
I thought it was poor reporting with very few facts in it and nothing new.
They announce that Thailand is among the most dangerous destinations in the world but have no comparative figures to back it up. There is a long section on Tony Charnaud who was killed in 2005, onto Katherine Horton in early 2006, then questions in Parliament in 2006.
They then make a big jump to Pattaya to spice the story up a bit and introduce Thailands huge sex industry, which has nothing to do with the story.
BigRed
Posts: 1380 | Location: Hope Valley nr Sheffield | Registered: 27 April 2004
Maybe, but according to the stats, as a Brit, you have more chance of being murdered as a tourist there than most other places!
The chap murdered was not a tourist. The murderer was not an opportunist. I fail to see why stats about tourists in Thailand are being used to enforce an opinion about an entirely individual and pre-meditated murder.
Bosnia, Kirsk, Moscow, Miami, anywhere in Haiti, Kenya, South Africa..... There are dozens and dozens of places that are available for tourists. Places where we do not frequent in large numbers because they are dangerous. Far more dangerous than Thailand. Pointing out that more Brits have died in Thailand since 2003 than most other places is not a statistic. It is barely a fact, so to put this in its correct context..... The most dangerous place in the whole world for a Brit is Great Britain because you are more likely to be murdered in the UK than anywhere else in the world!!!!
sorry but this issue of danger in Thailand is the stupidest thing I have ever read. It is a suggestion that if you holiday in Thailand, pretend you are American or Australian....
Rich and Danii
Posts: 48 | Location: Stourbridge | Registered: 22 December 2007
I thought the story about the guy from Hua Hin, which was well publicised at the time, just padding for the bigger story, with the exception of the family asking the question they did - about more warnings.
Still, most people seem to view it as a load of rubbish. Fair enough, but I thought the (dual) role of the Embassy interesting.
I think the trick is to use the same common sense you would in the UK, which for a lot of us, sadly, conditions us to be wary. Don't get into a row with drunken Police, don't go for a stroll on the beach alone at night and as I did when staying about 10/15 minutes walk from the centre of Hua Hin once, stroll into town for a night out and take a tuk-tuk back.
As for Pattaya, does seem a lot of stories of farang falling from balconies are reported (and one from Bkk recently), usually with their g/f(?) still in the room? Hmmm.
Posts: 1601 | Location: SW London | Registered: 07 September 2005
You need to be aware and in control at all times, in any situation and any country. It's one of the primary things taught to people whose lives are at risk for a profession.
Many people are just naive, relaxed, ignorant or just too arrogant to care or notice what is happening around them.
As I mentioned before, with the amount of reprobates, drunks and drug takers that frequent Thailand I'm genuinely surprised that the rates aren't higher. I think it shows just how much tolerance many of the Thais have.
Posts: 1190 | Location: London | Registered: 24 March 2003
As for Pattaya, does seem a lot of stories of farang falling from balconies are reported (and one from Bkk recently), usually with their g/f(?) still in the room?
Actually I think one of the latest stories is of a chap who fell off the balcony with his girlfriend
Steve aka Rolyshark
Posts: 4706 | Location: Derby UK | Registered: 18 September 2002
Originally posted by SteveR: I think it shows just how much tolerance many of the Thais have.
But clearly not to each other, with one of the highest pro-rata murder rates in the world, especially with guns.
I feel okay there, but I'm not blinded about the reality, as others appear to be. Even had a shooting in the wifes village - well, out in the fields - murder or accident? Who knows, but the surviver eventually left.
Posts: 1601 | Location: SW London | Registered: 07 September 2005
We had 2 stabbings at our wedding party in the village
Indeed Colin, I have also heard of stabbings at funerals. All day drinking starting at 7 am by people who cannot handle their liquor does not help. Add in the 'loss of face' thing and its a recipe for disaster.
Anyone visiting Thailand or SE Asia in general needs to understand about loss of face, and its serious implications.
As for the odd glance at other females, I have nearly been a murder victim myself a number of times but of course my glances have always been accidental
Posts: 117 | Location: Kent | Registered: 29 October 2007
Plus if as a tourist you head for the Mafia controlled delights of Pattaya that increases the risk factor significantly especially after a few bevies.
