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Thailand getting more dangerous?

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  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by drumbrake:
    Kinch - Does this mean you don't go to Thailand?
    I worked there four years as an expat. I have a pretty good idea what is safe and what is not - I think more so than most tourists.

    These days I might go there once in any given year.

    I'm not saying it's insanely dangerous all the time and everywhere. But tourists do need to be a lot less naive.

    Nothing wrong with the Okura, Mandarin, Peninsula, and a few others for sure!

    PS: In my list above, I forgot to mention that a large chunk of the younger population and taxi drivers, bouncers, etc. are out of their brains on amphetamines washed down with plenty of Red Bull. The roads are carnage at night time when they're all drinking as well.
    Last edited by Kinch; 08-05-2016 at 10:09 PM.
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  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kinch:
    Several years ago in Bangkok an American businessman was stabbed to death in Sukhumvit road by his taxi driver because he queried a 100 Baht overcharge.

    It is not unheard of for the sons of powerful people to just pull out guns in high end night clubs and whack someone who looked the wrong way at their girlfriend(s). You'll never hear about it. Still happens.

    You work for a major accounting firm and get retained to go do an audit of a Thai firm on behalf of a foreign shareholder and find something fishy. You might get whacked. It's happened.

    You go to Koh Samui for a nice break in a 5-star resort. The last time the Bangkok government tried to send an official down there to regularise land records, he got whacked.

    You complain about your plastic surgeon after the fact. He'll probably have you whacked too. It's cheap. The surgery and the hitman.

    It goes on and on and on. Don't flatter yourself that you are safe because you don't patronise hookers. You're probably in less danger than the kind of retard goes to Pattaya or hangs around sleazy bits of Huahin after dark... but you're not safe and you have zero legal rights. Yes. Zero.

    People are fooled by the apparent modernity and the Thai smile. It's all surface. You can have good times there, but any time you see a crack in the surface, run like hell.

    Aside about Thais and smiles and being Wai-ed all the time. Unless you have actually lived there for some time and gotten to understand the culture a bit, you're not qualified to have an opinion about their manners and friendliness. This is a totally alien culture. A smile can mean many different things. Only one version of it means 'happy to see you'. Similarly a wai can be reverential, polite, neutral, or even contemptuously dismissive. Guess which one most tourists get

    Presenting random anecdotal reports means very little. Thailand is a huge international tourist destination with millions (25 million +) of visitors each year. Generally speaking it is a very safe place. We go there every year and I have never felt unsafe at all, but I suppose a lot depends on where you go and what you do. If you wander around parts of East St. Louis at night, I suppose you could sumise that the USA is an unsafe place to visit too.

  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kinch:
    PS: In my list above, I forgot to mention that a large chunk of the younger population and taxi drivers, bouncers, etc. are out of their brains on amphetamines washed down with plenty of Red Bull. The roads are carnage at night time when they're all drinking as well.
    This is a huge problem. Drugs, drugs and more drugs being consumed by people who have very little to loose.

  4. #14

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    I don't doubt there there are some strange astrological phenomena making East St Louis an unsafe place to be. I really can't imagine what complex and nuanced set of circumstances might have some causal bearing on this intractable problem. I guess I'd better not research it. Time to go play with my Hello Kitty collection.

    Frankly speaking, it's relatively easy to visit the USA and feel safe. One just needs to read the FBI crime statistics doing the breakdowns in the right (unapproved manner) and then choose places with the appropriate demographics. Hardly rocket science. Whereas with Thais it's more endemic.

    However, your point taken. Plenty of people visit Thailand and survive. I still recommend not scratching the surface too deeply. Don't get too involved. Just enjoy it as a vacation - seems you're doing it right.

    Last edited by Kinch; 09-05-2016 at 09:01 AM.

  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by shri:
    This is a huge problem. Drugs, drugs and more drugs being consumed by people who have very little to loose.
    Proudly manufactured in PLA pharmaceutical factories and shipped down the Mekong to Thailand.

  6. #16

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    I have not lived or worked in Thailand, but I have been visiting for 20 years, and I have friends who have worked there / bought property there.

    When I am on holiday in Thailand I don't get into arguments. First, because I'm on holiday - why worry about a few hundred Baht that a taxi driver might have cheated me out of. Also, I know Thai men especially have a bad reputation for reacting badly to a supposed loss of face. It's easy to just walk away and avoid confrontation.

    I'd also caution strongly against getting involved in a business in Thailand, or even buying property in the country. I've heard too many bad stories.

    But, as a holiday destination? Highly recommended, and I don't stay in 5-star places.

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  7. #17

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    Buying things like villas is problematic. If once can afford to just pretend the money no longer exists, then why not? It's a good asset to enjoy while it lasts. But Thai land tenure is a messy corrupt thing. The lawyers, land offices, everybody involved is crooked. Foreigners can't own land in freehold of course... the Thais believe that this would pollute their sacred earth. One can mess around with leases and usufructs, but there are no guarantees. Condos are better. Foreigners can't own anything below about the third floor (stops the land being polluted by proximity haha + stops them owning a shophouse) in buildings with foreign ownership permits and can still only own 49% of the building or less. The secondary market for condos is pretty illiquid.

    Kind of gels with my view that enjoy the surface stuff in Thailand. Don't attempt to dig in too far.

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  8. #18

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    Just a small part of the story on how Thailand has been screwed over (drugs is a small part of a complex story that often plays out in poorer countries ..)

    Worth watching the entire episode if you can find it on torrent / online streaming (I think I've seen this one on Hulu or netflix )

    Yaba Daba Do - Drugs, Inc. Video - National Geographic Channel

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  9. #19

  10. #20

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    This travel warning as been in place for years and only relates to three provinces in the deep south on the Malay border. They arent tourist destinations.
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