Some more positive press in the UK!

"With so many Britons murdered in Thailand, why does our Government not warn of the dangers faced there? "

"At least 17 Britons have been murdered in Thailand since 2003 тАУ including Toby Charnaud,
brutally slain by his Thai wife. Now, his family want to know why our Government is so reluctant to
warn that the 'Land of Smiles' is one of the most dangerous places on earth for its British residents "

By Andrew Spooner
Published: 13 January 2008
The Independent on Sunday
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asi ... 326545.ece
______________

Yet another boost for tourism.

Is it really that dangerous here? Many Brits, and many other nationalities, have settled and lived here in Pattaya and other parts of Thailand
and as far as I can see the general consensus of opinion (including me) is that they wouldn't live anywhere else.

Interestingly the author of the above article, wrote the travel book "Footprint: Thailand. Tread your own path: :cyclopsani:

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Mr (Glorious) Spooner, wants his name in lights.
So no Brits have been killed in the USA, or Europe...as Ricky says...My Arse.
But well spotted both-hans.

[Hmmm]

Some interesting figures in the article nevertheless.

"Thailand has one of the world's highest per-capita murder rates "

See figures at bottom here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... icide_rate
Thailand per capita murders about 40% higher than the US.

From the article:

"On average, about 50 civilian UK nationals are murdered around the world each year (excluding terrorist attacks). This means that almost 10 per cent of all murders of Britons abroad are committed in Thailand тАУ a chilling figure, given that Thailand comprises only 0.6 per cent of all foreign travel from UK shores."

"The number of deaths of British nationals' in Pattaya is hard to ascertain тАУ though some sources claim that it is up to four every week, neither the FCO nor the Thai authorities have any data they are prepared to release. However, what can be speculated with some confidence is that of the 226 average annual deaths of British citizens in Thailand recorded by the FCO, a large percentage are in Pattaya. (The FCO refuse to list causes of deaths, so we must also speculate as to the reasons for this morbid hotspot. Anecdotal evidence suggests straightforward causes of death for some, such as road accidents and health problems; then there are the suspicious-sounding "suicides" тАУ jumping from balconies seems to be a favoured method.)"

"At present FCO information regarding deaths in Thailand is limited. Andy Pearce, the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Bangkok, admits that the murder rate of Britons resident in Thailand is about the same as the domestic Thai rate тАУ roughly five times higher than in the UK тАУ but adds that this is only an estimate. (There are thought to be about 50,000 British resident in the country at present.) "To create the kind of advice needed on murder rates would require a greater statistical base and more research," he says."

[fedssocr]

Didn't we have an article exactly like this come out very recently?

As has been noted, given the high number of elderly retirees it is not surprising that some of them die. If you take a same-sized elderly population in the UK how do the deaths compare? And how many suicides are there in that same sized population? It is not unheard of that old people sometimes kill themselves.

With regard to the number of murders, that is a bit shocking. But were these random persons in the street? Or were they people involved in the drug trade or some other sort of nefarious and dangerous activity?

"Thailand has one of the world's highest per-capita murder rates "

See figures at bottom here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... icide_rate
Thailand per capita murders about 40% higher than the US.

And this is a surprise to you guys? Don't you read the papers?