Hunt for killers of British pair goes on after Thai police free Myanmar suspects

Way to make it better, Mr. Chan-ocha.

THAT'll bring the tourists back.

Terrible tragedy. I've been to Thailand many times and not really worried about my safety. Seem to get ripped off or pay through the nose for things more and more these days though which puts me off going back.I guess locals (and migrant workers) see 'rich' tourists as an easy target and wonder why they have to scape to make ends meet while the likes of us can afford exotic foreign holidays. No excuse though of course. The poor families.

I guess locals (and migrant workers) see 'rich' tourists as an easy target...

some crimes are committed by non-locals/non-migrants (e.g. other tourists, expats, etc) too.

And Step One, apparently, is to round up all the foreigners...

...it is rare for tourists to be murdered in Thailand, although it is not uncommon for visitors to die accidentally

Data would be nice.

389 dead British tourists in Thailand in one year? More than one a day? Even including natural causes, the number seems very high.

I was thinking the same thing. 389 British citizens died in Thailand in one year? Surely not....

389 dead British tourists in Thailand in one year? More than one a day? Even including natural causes, the number seems very high.

I think the quality of tourists going to Thailand (young, aggressive, drugs, partying types) are not the same as those going to Hong Kong, US, Switzerland, etc. The former is more prone to getting into incidents.

According to the BBC, 11 British citizens have been murdered in Thailand since 2009. So the 389 in one year figure still seems dodgy even if it includes natural causes.

Data:

Thailands intentional homicide rate is 5.0/100,000 people. The US is 4.7. The UK is 1.0. Australia is 1.1.

Favorite vacation spots: like Fiji, the Somoan Islands, are around 4.0.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate#By_country

Based on these data, Thailand is about as safe (unsafe) as America and American territories, which are must less safe than the UK and other Western countries.

In short, be careful, but don't be afraid.