Is it safe in Bangkok?

[Bangkoktraveler]

I'm in Vietnam now and know a family friend who is considering studying nursing in Bangkok, but because of the political conflicts and occassional violence there, is at the moment too concerned to go study there, and looking instead at other options (Singapore, mainly).

 

My feeling is that Singapore is far too expenive for them to be able to afford, and I tend to think there's little risk of violence in Bangkok if you're a student who's always at the university or else other areas out of the way of where these demonstrations normally take place.

 

So to people who live there, what do you think?

 

Is it safe?

 

 

Bangkok is a pretty laid back said and offers just about anything a foreigner might want. There are exceptions like a decent cup of coffee for example.

[gobbledonk]

Ok, having worked in a University I take a lot of ranking systems with a huge grain of salt, but I have to ask a few other questions:

 

- how well would someone with little Thai fare in a Thai university ? The biggest problem we had when I was working at the Uni was that many students, including Indians, simply didnt have sufficient English to undertake early secondary studies - tertiary classes were clearly beyond them.

 

- we have thousands of Singaporeans studying in Oz year after year - they usually do two years at somewhere like Ngee Ann Polytechnic and come here for 3rd year - and I get the distinct impression that its very competitive simply gaining a place in an undergrad course over there. Have also heard that you need 'connections' in addition to the right academic results, but that might be sour grapes : from what I've read of the Thai education system on this board, I am inclined to believe that its not just talk.

 

I accept that someone who already speaks several languages would probably learn Thai very quickly, but there is a big difference between being able to tell someone your shoe size and absorb a lecture filled with the jargon of a given field.

 

(As a side note, I was amused when a Singaporean told me that their first language is English (!), and that his (Mandarin) Chinese is atrocious. They seem to use whatever words come to mind, a lot of it Hokkien sprinkled with English and the inevitable 'la', prompting my Chinese-Indonesian lady friend from some years past to refer to Sillypore as 'La-La Land' : a very apt tag for mine )

 

 

[Guest]

violence in Thigh Land is only relevant if you happen to be a sad-sack BRIT living in Pattaya, they seem to have a nasty habit of periodically throwing themselves out of the windows of high rises, hahahaha

[TheCorinthian]

Safe.

 

Send the kids to Univ in either the US or UK.

[gobbledonk]

I dont think we can afford to get complacent about how 'safe' Thailand is for foreigners - granted, most who have come to grief have done so after pissing off the wrong people (that poor bastard who was killed by the Hua Hin developer springs to mind), but there are places in every town where it just doesnt pay to be the only Farang face in the street. Dont know what the rape statistics are, but I find it hard to believe that foreign women, Asian or otherwise, arent at some risk of being raped.

[ThaiHome]

I dont think we can afford to get complacent about how 'safe' Thailand is for foreigners - granted, most who have come to grief have done so after pissing off the wrong people (that poor bastard who was killed by the Hua Hin developer springs to mind), but there are places in every town where it just doesnt pay to be the only Farang face in the street. Dont know what the rape statistics are, but I find it hard to believe that foreign women, Asian or otherwise, arent at some risk of being raped.

 

I think there might be places in every town (in the entire world) where any stranger would be a target. Being a farang has nothing to do with it. All being a farang does is identify you quickly as a stranger and probably an easy target.

TH

 

[gobbledonk]

TH, I only hope the OPs friend can avoid coming to Oz. I swear this country gets more fucked up every single day :

 

A man caught alight after police used a Taser on him as they responded to reports of petrol sniffing in a remote desert community in Western Australia.

 

Ronald Mitchell, 36, was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital for burns treatment following a confrontation with police who were called to a house in Warburton, 1,540km northeast of Perth on Monday.

 

A known petrol sniffer in the Aboriginal community, Mitchell ran from the house at the officers carrying a container believed to contain fuel and a cigarette lighter, police said.

 

He was asked to stop but continued running toward the officers.

 

"An officer then deployed his Taser," police spokeswoman Susan Usher said.

 

"The man caught alight and the officer immediately went to the man's aid, putting him on the ground and smothering the fire with his bare hands."

 

The policeman was struck on the head by rocks thrown by an 18-year-old woman while trying to help the man, Ms Usher said.

 

The officer also received moderate burns to his hands from putting out the fire.

 

Mitchell sustained third degree burns to 10 per cent of his body and was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital for burns treatment, police spokesman Graham Clifford said.

 

He has been charged with assault to prevent arrest and possession of a sniffing substance, Sgt Clifford said.

 

 

[Flashermac]

He has been charged with assault???

 

 

 

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

As well as "possession of a sniffing substance"

 

Sanuk!

 

[kamui]

I think there might be places in every town (in the entire world) where any stranger would be a target. Being a farang has nothing to do with it. All being a farang does is identify you quickly as a stranger and probably an easy target.

TH

 

Except in Japan. I have seen regularly girls in mini skirt and high heels walking home alone after midnight without any fear of being harassed by males. Even the red light district Kabukicho is safe for single foreigners at night.