Is Thailand Safe to Visit?
As a longtime resident of Thailand I have a certain insight into whether or not Thailand is safe for visitors or those wishing to stay longer term.
There are usually multiple instances of unsafe activities going on in the country at any chosen time. I will review the major areas where foreigners need to take extra precautions to stay safe during their stay.
Bangkok, the Capital of Thailand, is ground zero for political movements. The country has not seen stability politically in a very long time. Some would say it was never stable in modern times. Currently there are red shirt groups and yellow shirt groups that are in opposition. The military sometimes gets involved and stages military coups – and there is always fighting – sometimes lethal as groups confront each other, and attempt to change the power structure that exists. This is a constant struggle and matters little who happens to be in power at the moment, there is always unrest in Bangkok.
The problems are compounded when police and military are called on to preserve order in the streets… sometimes the hand is heavy and they end up killing protestors. This does not help the situation and it can escalate from there.
As a visitor to Thailand you would not want to be spending your vacation or any time at all in Bangkok when there are bombs going off and military and/or police in the streets to control the demonstrations. It is just a very bad idea. It is not safe and you will not have a good time. If all you are coming to Thailand for is to spend time in Bangkok, choose a time when there is peace in the country or at least a small risk of violence letting loose.
Another area that is often times not safe – and currently it is not, is the deep south. Muslim separatists in the southern Thailand provinces have waged a violent campaign against both Thai Buddhist and Thai Muslim believers that have not joined their radical organization. There have been approximately 3,000 deaths in the south over the past few years, though no foreigners are known to have been killed yet. Thailand tourism officials do not recommend that foreigners visit these southernmost provinces and you would be wise to limit your travels to the other provinces.
Natural disasters like the devastating tsunami of 2004 have the potential to re-occur any time, though the chances are apparently not high that a similar even will recur in Thailand anytime soon.
Pattaya, Patong Beach, Patpong, and other tourist filled areas can be bad news at night. There are robberies and assaults that occur nightly, but if you are not one of the ones bar-fining girls or ladyboys for a night of fun in your room you will probably be OK. There are a number of things you should know about Thai culture – which goes well beyond this article. In my last paragraph of this article I will give you another resource that will help you immensely.
Is Pattaya safe? Sometimes. Is Patong Beach safe? More often than Pattaya, yes. Is Patpong safe? Not so safe in general, no I would not consider it safe.
Your mileage may vary during your trip if you plan on availing yourself of the adult carnival of fun in Thailand. You may well find yourself beat up and in the hospital or you might have a perfectly safe time, despite indulging in outrageous nighttime activities. It is hard for me to give a blanket statement about whether Thailand is safe for all people because all people are different.
The last time anyone ventured a guess there were approximately 100,000 foreigners living in Thailand as long-term expats here for more than vacation. During a typical year when there is not much political fighting in Bangkok there are over 12 million foreign tourists per year enjoying the country. Very few of them have a problem with their physical safety while they are here. Most of them take some precautions. Many of them are frequent visitors.
Visiting or staying in Thailand can be dangerous or it can be relatively safe and enjoyable. Probably the biggest factor in the equation is you. If you are the type that looks for trouble or does not try hard to avoid trouble you might find it in Thailand. If you do not have any experience in the country you will probably be doing yourself a substantial favor by researching more about Thai culture and the experiences of foreigners in the country.
If you’re considering a trip to Thailand and are concerned about safety during your stay, there is an informational article I just published at my main Thailand-focused site, www.ThaiPulse.com/blog/ that will supplement the information you learned here. The name of this Thailand informational article is, “Is Thailand Safe for the 2009-2010 Tourist Season?”
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vern_L
Cheers for this post, it was a good read.
any update on this?
I loathe this information presented and it has given me some sort of desire to have success for some reason, so thank you.
great post! I used google translation to translate it…
oh cool, this information is really useful and definately is comment worthy! hehe. I’ll see if I can try to use some of this information for my own blog. Greetings from Delaware
I like your way of writing! You should post more often…
excellent article,but i have some trouble in understanding the final paragraph, could you please describe a little bit indepth?
Like the guy above wrote it’s true
Neat
it will be great if you add a translation widget on your blog…
if you don’t mind, where do you host your blog? I am looking for a good host and your blog seams to be fast and up all the time…
I believe everybody should study this post , it is just amazing update info and much more : I hope you will compose far more!
how old is this post?
Well written site, well researched and useful for me in the future.I am so happy you took the time and effort to make this. Best of luck
where is this blog hosted?
I like your blog design
nice post, will be great to see more like this
Genuinely truly beneficial website submit which has got me considering. I never looked at this from your point of view.
interesting, bookmarked your blog!
“Hello, I located your blog in a new directory of weblogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must are actually a typo, Your weblog appears excellent. Have a wonderful day.”
great blog! I like you theme…
“In browsing for internet sites associated to world-wide-web internet hosting and particularly comparison internet hosting linux strategy web, your website arrived up.”
I found this information usefull.
I never seen site like this.
I never seen site like this.
Just browsed these inputs you wrote. They are most fascinating and constructive. I like how you put them into perspective.
i bookmarked this! looking for updates…
thanks for the great info! many of today blogs are just non sense…
thanks and have a great week end
Wonderful read! I have got a single recommendation for your blog. It appears like there are a few css problems when opening some pages in google chrome and safari. It is functioning good in internet explorer. Possibly you could double check that. I’ve just book marked this document on reddit.com to get several more website visitors to your web page.
it’s week end so I spend some time reading blogs, yours is great congrats!
You’re improving as a writer. Good job!
Awesome! Reading whole site will take time, but good work! /Bob
Found your blog site by accident for the 2nd time today so I thought I would have a nearer appear. I’ve just began creating my own weblog and modeling it right after what you’ve got completed. I desire mine might be as successful as yours.
I like the theme you are using on your blog…
Awesome! Reading whole site will take time, but good work! /Bob
I like the theme you are using on your blog…
Found your weblog by accident for the 2nd time these days so I believed I’d take a nearer appear. I have just started producing my own web site and modeling it after what you might have carried out. I wish mine might be as effective as yours.
hey, you have a great blog! I will bookmark it!
Now and then I’ll stumble across a post like this and I’ll recall that there really are still interesting pages on the web. ^_^. Thanks.
keep posting more often, you are doing a great job.
No way , I in no way readed something good like this !?! This was a straight post with no empty words inside! Thank you again!
Hi Barry. I don’t see any sense, because Harshfield has explaned everything in details. Please look at the upper comments!
Informative post, this is. It is always nice to come across a post that is useful.
Nice job
You are not the average blog writer, man. You surely have something powerful to contribute to the World Wide Web. Such a good blog. I will be back for more.
hey guys, thank for the great info.
Have found your web page. My pal mentioned it to me before, yet never got around to checking it out until now. I must express, I’m floored. I really enjoyed reading through your posts and will absolutely be back to get more.
I am really thankful to the author of this post for making this lovely and informative article live here for us. We really appreciate ur effort. Keep up the good work. . . .
I thought you would want to know that this website isn’t showing up right on my iphone. Cool site though!