deaths

[hutchings1909]

is thailand a safe place to live last week 2 sisters poisoned,today aussie lady murdered,prhaps its time to move on.

[Song_Si]

It's a big country; I feel quite safe where we currently live. No thoughts to move/leave.

We left Phuket over two years ago, my partner never wants to go back she just generally 'didn't feel safe' there if on her own.

Re the two Canadian women who died - prefer to keep an open mind on the circumstances of that one.

The woman murdered in Phuket last night - a 60yr old travel agent from Perth, West Australia. Tragic, a handbag theft gone wrong. There was also another incident last night a British tourist was stabbed in a failed robbery attempt 3.30am this morning while riding home from a bar.

[stednick]

Originally Posted by hutchings1909

is thailand a safe place to live last week 2 sisters poisoned,today aussie lady murdered,prhaps its time to move on.

Let common sense prevail.

Crime happens everywhere. Use common sense. Be aware of your surroundings. Don't flash money. Drink in moderation. Use the buddy system, travel in pairs, never solo. Do not venture into unfamiliar scenario's. Stay in public places. Use public transportation. Carry ID on you. Do not let yourself be separated from friends. Do not let yourself be setup. Take nothing for granted. Do not carry large sums of cash on you. If you become a victim of robbery; Do NOT resist! and, Do not be a hero. Several cases of good Samaritans being robbed exist (false crimes to set the Samaritans up). Do not fall for con artists.

In closing, I have found Thailand to be a "very" safe place in comparison to most countries. Don't let a few "bad" incidents ruin your freedom. Common sense will keep you safe. Remember, your greatest weapon against becoming a victim of crime is between your ears.

[TomC]

Don't flash money. Drink in moderation. Use the buddy system, travel in pairs, never solo. Do not venture into unfamiliar scenario's. Stay in public places. Use public transportation. Carry ID on you. Do not let yourself be separated from friends. Do not let yourself be setup. Take nothing for granted. Do not carry large sums of cash on you. If you become a victim of robbery; Do NOT resist! and, Do not be a hero. Several cases of good Samaritans being robbed exist (false crimes to set the Samaritans up). Do not fall for con artists.

Excellent advice that worth repeating. Crimes in Thailand is usually of the theft/robbery in nature due to the disparity of income. Criminals rarely plan to kill or hurt someone. This is still a strong Buddhist country that teaches that killing is bad. Even monks are told not to step on insects on the principle of not killing living things. Temple dogs are also a good example of not killing principle. Violent crimes are usually theft/robbery gone wrong or the attackers were drunk. Never get into a fight with Thais, my guess is 9 out of 10, they're drunk. And when they do, watch out! This is when Mekong whiskey took over their religious beliefs. It's probably the cause of more deaths than anything in Thailand if one cares to keep statistics.

[cooked]

... but then again when you live near a frontier with a country exporting refugees you will be subject to burglaries and robberies committed by desperate people passing through.

[Newforestcat]

As a Thai who has been living in the UK in the past twelve years and is now pursuaded to come back to live in Thailand by my English hubby, I can only say that there are huge differences in Bangkok, some big over-populated or touristy cities and the rest of Thailand. I lived in BKK for six years when I was a student. I would never live there anymore. No offence, BKK fans. It feels like some parts of London I am not keen. In my opinion, it is as bad for your lungs as using the tubes on a regular basis in London, pretty sure we all could die from that sort of thing more easily than by bumping into a murderous robber or poisonist.

If you are concerned, live where loads of Europeans live such as Hua Hin, Cha-am, Chiang Mai and Phuket but do expect to pay more for your house and food, too. Obviously, your European look will shout money. You (and I) may not get one price for all (locals and tourists) like we do in the UK. But you should be less appealing to thieves /robbers than a lot of local ladies who love to wear gold jewelry!

You should be LESS trusting but MORE sensible in Thailand, to begin with. Be very selective when making new friends. It is not much to do with where you live but a lot to do with your luck or fate if you prefer. Read some books about the Thai culture and Thai people. If you know what their smiles mean, you are OK. LOL

Passing out on the pavements on Friday and Saturday nights, you will not wake up in a police van like in the UK!

There is a saying in Thai if your time has come, it does not matter where you are.

[Song_Si]

any singers out there? karaoke bars can be hazardous to one's health, three weekends ago a man was shot/killed for refusing to continue singing (he must have been good) and last Tuesday five people shot/killed in a karaoke bar in Saraburi

Three men have been arrested for the murder of five people at a karaoke bar in Saraburi's Kaeng Khoi district early on Tuesday morning, Pol Maj-Gen Piya Sontrakul said. Police arrested them on Wednesday at a resort in tambon Hin Kong of Saraburi's Nong Khae district. They were in possession of an AK47 rifle, 47 rounds of ammunition and two motorcycles.

Wasant Promsiri told police he and his colleagues quarrelled and traded insults with about ten men sitting at another table in the bar. When one of the ten moved in a suspicious manner, putting his hand under his jacket, he took the AK47 rifle from his cloth bag and opened fire, killing five and wounding one of them.

There are no bars or karaoke venues in our town; alcohol ban in the parks. Few restaurants serve beer. Never found out the history on why it is a 'dry' area. No complaints

[emms]

Think how many tourists are killed each year in Europe- they never make the news because they are commonplace. The reason that there is such a uproar about these deaths is because Thailand is so safe. In a strange so sort of way, these deaths have shown us how safe Thailand is.

Don't worry darling, you're doing fine.

Em X

[Newforestcat]

Song_Si, I would love even more to live in Chantaburi, but I am no Puritan! Are most parts of Chantaburi 'dry' now? Been there when I was 18 or 19, I fell in love with it. I just have to decide between this and Khao Yai. My husband possibly will move to Chantaburi tomorrow, if only he could! I guess he just needs to drink mostly at home!

The news brought back lots of memories from my primary school days in rural Thailand. We were daily made to stand up and read news to the rest of the students from the same year. I never quite understood until quite recently why all the news were about murders, and why there seemed to be so many but very few in my province.

I am not saying that crimes do not exist in Thailand. I am saying that one of the reasons that there seem to be a lot of news about murders or deaths is because the news are written mostly for Thai readers who have a taste for gore and macabres and mostly by Thai reporters in Thai, English and Mandarin. I am also guilty of preferring mild gore to chick flicks. There used to be weekly magazines dedicated to real-life gore such as murders, accidents, etc. A monk who taught my meditation class revealed that he found them a great means to understand the transiency of life so he no longer saw beauty for what it was. How refreshing!

I have not seen many murders on the front page of UK news papers or NY times. I guess there may be only demands for economy, immigration and phone tapping allegations. How interesting! But I think the types of murders I heard or read about in the UK are more vicious although have more or less the same consiquence.

They should tax karaoke bars by the hours they open for business and spend the income on giving free hearing tests to the locals who live witin vacinity of the bars
FAT CHANCE!

Originally Posted by Song_Si

any singers out there? karaoke bars can be hazardous to one's health, three weekends ago a man was shot/killed for refusing to continue singing (he must have been good) and last Tuesday

There are no bars or karaoke venues in our town; alcohol ban in the parks. Few restaurants serve beer. Never found out the history on why it is a 'dry' area. No complaints

[Song_Si]

^ it's not 'dry' by law, just that few people drink at public places. 7/11 sells beer and a few spirits. C city (12km from us) has a small entertainment area, even a nightclub (wait . . . .it is called The Nightclub!), our town Tha Mai, about 5000, had a nice building set up as a bar but they went broke in six months and it's been vacant over 2yrs.
I really don't know why. The population is a different mix here, large numbers of people of Chinese and Vietnamese descent, mix of religions there is a Catholic Cathedral in C city, and four Catholic churches plus schools in our area, and almost as many Chinese shrines/temples as there are Thai Buddhist ones. And being on the border with Cambodia just adds to the mix.
I can't go anywhere without being 'seen' - few westerners here and people feel it is their duty to tell my partner they've seen me out cycling 20, 30, 40km from home. 'Why?' they ask.
We're 200m from the police station and they, as well as the fire brigade men, often invite me to play takraw with them - I am hopeless! They just want a good laugh.
But it does make me feel safe living in a community.