Kiwi Murdered in Pattaya - Disturbing Story

[Guest]

Thailand is safer then most countries but it does have its dark side. The shit happening in the South does not help nor has the war on drugs improve the image. Human rights in Thailand has diminished under Thaskin and this is something we should be concerned about.

Thanks. Seriously, how dangerous is it now?

 

Between Stickman, this board and some of the stuff that makes the news over here, it sounds like it is getting quite dangerous in Pattaya and Thailand generally. I see this board (and others) as a useful resource when planning long weekend trips. I suspect others use this board for that same purpose. Look at all the posts you see asking about which bars are hot, when bars close, which bars are showing, etc.

 

I skimmed this thread, and while there is alot of heated debate about side issues, no one seems to be disputing the high level of violence. Instead, I see alot of arguments here about whether a visitor deserved what he got and posters getting called "whiners" for posting a link to a dubious Farang suicide. From a purely practical point of view as a visitor, that doesn't exactly make me feel any more comfortable visiting Thailand.

 

The new section here is amazing. It sounds as though Farangs are constantly flying off balconies.

[Bangkoktraveler]

Quote:

[color:"red"]"Seriously, how dangerous is it now?"

 

[color:"black"]

I am from the States. I would say it is a lot better then in the States, but then there are exceptions.

 

This is how I look at it.

We plan on buying a house back in the States. If we buy were we want to, it will be near another falang and his Thai wife. When he bought his property, he first built a wall around the property. Locked everything up and gave lessons to his wife on how to use a gun. I will probably do the same but show her how to use a shotgun.

 

We own a house in Thailand. Wall around the house. Bars on the windows and security/bars on the doors with a security gate in front.

 

In Thailand she worries about me because I do not know everything. In the States, I worry about her.

 

In the States, you can not go out at night whereas in Thailand you still can, at least in many areas.

 

The world is changing what can I say.

[Guest]

I am not the type to own a gun or give a shotgun to anyone, so we may be looking at this from different perspectives.

 

Didn't someone earlier post that the homicide rate is much higher in Thailand than in the US? When I look at boards about travelling to the US, I don't see very many stories about Farangs mysteriously falling off balconies. When you read a story in the press here in HK or on the internet about Thailand, you commonly these days see stories about a girlfriend or wife arranging to have her Farang boyfriend or husband murdered for money. And there generally seems to be a Thai boyfriend in the background. So the type of violence seems to be different too. a few rambling observations after too much coffee.

 

When I look at boards in the US, I am not looking at nightlife boards. On the other hand, when I go to the US, I am not going for the nightlife. So, to be fair, I am comparing apples with oranges, and perhaps that is the difference.

 

But when I think about this a bit more, I see why this is a case where it may make sense to compare apples with oranges. Looking at the number of bars and the readily availability of girls, we tend to compare these areas in Thailand to equivalents in the US - and in the US this usually means the seediest and most dangerous places in town. On the other hand, when visitors come to Thailand, particularly us guys, they are often going for the bars and nightlife, and those places are probably not the most dangerous places in Thailand. (Let's be honest about this - this forum after all is called nanaplaza.com. not thaitemples.com)

 

Further, there really are no equivalents in Thailand to some of the places we might go to in the US (or Hong Kong). If you are a tourist, in the US and even here now, you have wholesome and healthy Disneyland. (OK, our Disneyland is not as clean as the US or Japanese version.) If you are businessperson, you will stay in the financial districs, which is not located in a red light district that carters to visitors. In Hong Kong, you get a bit of this, but the violence doesn't seem nearly as high as in Bangkok. Bangkok's CBD, however, includes Patpong and I guess could include Nana Plaza, depending on how you define the CBD (When I go on business trips to Thailand, I would say 95% of the places I visit are on Silom or Sukhumvit, and within walking distance of either Patpong or Nana.)

 

So it really is apples and oranges, but we tend to eat apples in the US and Hong Kong and oranges in Thailand, and those oranges we eat in Thailand are significantly more dangerous than the apples we eat in the US and Hong Kong. Is that a fair summary? If so, this really is a case where it does make sense to compare apples with oranges.

[Zorro]

Bangkoktraveler said:

Quote:

[color:"red"]"Seriously, how dangerous is it now?"

 

[color:"black"]

I am from the States. I would say it is a lot better then in the States, but then there are exceptions.

 

This is how I look at it.

We plan on buying a house back in the States. If we buy were we want to, it will be near another falang and his Thai wife. When he bought his property, he first built a wall around the property. Locked everything up and gave lessons to his wife on how to use a gun. I will probably do the same but show her how to use a shotgun.

 

We own a house in Thailand. Wall around the house. Bars on the windows and security/bars on the doors with a security gate in front.

 

In Thailand she worries about me because I do not know everything. In the States, I worry about her.

 

In the States, you can not go out at night whereas in Thailand you still can, at least in many areas.

 

The world is changing what can I say.

 

That sounds terrible.

 

I wouldn't like to live like that.

 

I don't know anyone in Australia who even owns a gun although i am sure some people do but none of my friends or family have guns.

 

I lived in Saudi with armed vehicles around the compound and snipers in place etc. It takes its toll eventually although unfortunately the longer you live like that the more you actually get used to it and just consider it part of your daily routine.

[Guest]

He's exaggerating. Most of the US is nothing like that and I feel *much* safer at home in the US than I ever felt anywhere in Thailand.

[MaiLuk]

So do I. But i'm well armed in the US so naturally i feel safe.

[Bangkoktraveler]

Sorry, where I live in the States, near the Mexican border, that is the way it is.

 

 

William Ginzer did bring up a good point "[color:"red"]When I look at boards about travelling to the US, I don't see very many stories about Farangs mysteriously falling off balconies."[color:"black"]

 

Tourist are looked at very well in the States. tourist also complain a lot and action is taken in regards to the complaints. In Thailand, it is almost the opposite. If a falang gets murdered, it generally is passed off in the falang community as "[color:"blue"] the person got what they deserved. [color:"black"] whereas in the States, such an attitude does not prevail.

[Old Hippie]

There was an area of Florida, and L.A. where tourists in rental cars were targeted repeatedly...once the rental agencies stoped marking the rentals, it sort of dies down...

[kamui]

Old Hippie said:

There was an area of Florida, and L.A. where tourists in rental cars were targeted repeatedly...once the rental agencies stoped marking the rentals, it sort of dies down...

 

Yep, it made the news in Germany since a German tourists were affected as well.

 

Concerning Thailand I wonder if the image as a paradise for tourists has been damaged in the recent years, or if it hasn't changed:

While SARS and the Tsunami affected several countries there were specific occurrences which had been reported internationally:

- Unrest in the South

- Rape of the Brit girl on Koh Samui

- Thailand isn't a party zone anymore (early closings, drug tests, eg., see big article in the N.Y. times)

- murderers or deaths (mostly only reported in the news of the affected home countries, like the recent murderer of the OZ guy or the drownings of Chinese)

 

And as it was said before, the reports on Internet forums like np.com.

I wonder what's reported about LOS at travel forums like the Lonely Planet forum?

[shygye]

Old Hippie said:

There was an area of Florida, and L.A. where tourists in rental cars were targeted repeatedly...once the rental agencies stoped marking the rentals, it sort of dies down...

 

That is incomplete. When the tourists were targeted by violent crime the police in Miami setup sting operations to catch them. Then they flew the victims back to the USA to convict them in court.

 

The NYC cops routinely have sting operations to catch pickpockets.

 

A bit different attitude to "they had it coming".