I think that's the problem with rating an entire country. Thailand, like the US, has vastly different areas. Perhaps Thailand has more dangerous areas than the US and that would put it as a more dangerous country. Just stay out of the dangerous areas and you should be fine.
If you think about it, Thailand and countries like it rely heavily upon the tourist trade. If visiting these areas were dangerous they would add more security in terms of police or armed guards.
I choose Siam, basicly only for the easily available & dirt cheap pussy. But as someone said:
" this is thailand....if you don't like incompetence, mismanagement, arrogance, racism, xenophobia, aggression, dishonesty, dangerous traffic, violence to foreigners, scams, cheating and lies....DON"T COME!"
BANGKOK: -- Six people lodged complaints at Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) headquarters yesterday, claiming that money had disappeared from their bank accounts. The victims suspect cyber-crimes.
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic...ay-money-taken-from-scb-accounts-cyber-crime/
"Hey try citibank for some fun I was hacked then accused of stealing my own $- cops didn't care, bank didn't care - after 6 months I finally got some help and retrieved my BAHT.1,500,000 after threatening to expose them to the media....it was the Singapore cops who found the culprits.....the thai cops couldn't careless....thanks u useles thonglor bibs and genuinel thanks to my friends and cousin in the media."
--------------
"Most of these crimes are inside jobs.
Staff sells info to crims and that's how they gain access. Proven many times in the past but its always hushed up.
"I once was in the process of buying a condo in Bangkok back in 2005 from a major developer.
I was waiting for my money to transfer from my home country which took 2 days. Funny thing was, the morning my money had arrived in my scb account, the lawyer (Provided by the developer) handling the process called me to say that my money just arrived to Thailand. How did she know??? I marched down to to ratchyothin hq and they found that someone in that office had accessed my account at 8.30am so they found out the leak and the employee responsible. No privacy whatsoever so I switched to kasikorn."
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic...ay-money-taken-from-scb-accounts-cyber-crime/
"Hey try citibank for some fun I was hacked then accused of stealing my own $- cops didn't care, bank didn't care - after 6 months I finally got some help and retrieved my BAHT.1,500,000 after threatening to expose them to the media....it was the Singapore cops who found the culprits.....the thai cops couldn't careless....thanks u useles thonglor bibs and genuinel thanks to my friends and cousin in the media."
--------------
"Most of these crimes are inside jobs.
Staff sells info to crims and that's how they gain access. Proven many times in the past but its always hushed up.
"I once was in the process of buying a condo in Bangkok back in 2005 from a major developer.
I was waiting for my money to transfer from my home country which took 2 days. Funny thing was, the morning my money had arrived in my scb account, the lawyer (Provided by the developer) handling the process called me to say that my money just arrived to Thailand. How did she know??? I marched down to to ratchyothin hq and they found that someone in that office had accessed my account at 8.30am so they found out the leak and the employee responsible. No privacy whatsoever so I switched to kasikorn."
@)
The flooding didn't affect me one bit here in Sukhumvit. Only the temporary inconvenience of localized food shortages at the 7-11s. Other than that, no biggie for me.If you were up on the local politics, you'd know they spared the inner city by sacrificing the outer part of the main city.
Perhaps you're thoroughly bummed you're not here in Thailand anymore and have to deal with the USA? :think2:
Viejo, i'm still living in Canada, & holiday in LOS whenever the urge comes. After a month or two there i'm usually bored of the ladies & ready to go home. Haven't ruled out the possibility of living in Siam one day, and there's no where else abroad i'm considering. Just travelling there involves a lot of preparation, so i guess moving over would involve a humungous amount of work.
Thailand's brilliant ant-smoking campaign:
http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shi...and-anti-smoking-campaign-goes-191902989.html
http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shi...and-anti-smoking-campaign-goes-191902989.html
"Upgrading tourism services in Thailand would require that a completely new police force be set up (as interests in the current Royal Thai Police are way too entrenched and the simple act of firing officials, sack that, firing Thais in general seems nigh impossible in the Kingdom) that is somehow professionally trained, dedicated to law enforcement and impervious to influence peddling. Even when the current police sweep into an area to clean things up (as they did in Silom a couple of years ago), they are met with gun-shots, threats of violence, and complete hostility from members of the public involved illegal transactions of all varieties. Interests and attitudes are so entrenched and Thailand so corrupt (Transparency International ranks Thailand as MORE corrupt than China), that it is utterly impossible to imagine that change of any type is possible. Even if some Ghandi-like figure arrived on the scene to save the Kingdom, it's impossible to envision any positive direction for Thailand. The only conceivable solution to Thailand's woes (and it's important to remember that Thailand doesn't see itself as having any woes, as tourist numbers keep going up, and for Thais, that's proof of the Kingdom's greatness) is to either experience a Biblical flood and then start fresh, or have a benevolent dictator (are there any of these; perhaps there was Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore who was widely criticized for jailing journalists and caning violators of even basic Singaporean laws) force the law on Thais.
"Thaksin (of whom I am not an admirer) is probably the closest to a Lee Kuan Yew that Thailand has ever had. I am sure he anticipated uproar when he began his policy of the extra-judicial executions of drug dealers but I'm equally sure he hoped people would accept that this was his only option, as the Royal Thai Police are so vulnerable to bribery that powerful drug dealers are, in many cases, police officers. They didn't and international community (especially groups like Amnesty International) were all over him about his violations of human rights. Ultimately, Thaksin was forcibly removed by power, quite possibly by elites who understood his approach to "fixing" Thailand would undermine the very means by which they had acquired their wealth and power (even if it is clear that he was enriching his family via his power, what Thai politician hasn't done that?). One of the families I know quite well is descended from an immigrant Chinese opium trader. Their wealth feeds directly from a history of dealing opium. Now they own one of Thailand's biggest banks. What lessons should the descendants of that opium trader heed? The only lesson I can see them learning is that to become wealthy in Thailand, one must do whatever is necessary. Thailand needs some hard medicine to fix what are serious social and cultural problems (as opposed to legal problems, as the Kingdom's ability to pass laws that are completely ignored is legendary). Most good Thai lawyers seek employment abroad after they are educated (usually abroad) because the situation Thailand faces is truly impossible to overcome without generations of conscientious attitude readjustment. Meanwhile, though the future is bleak, the tourists keep coming.
"Ultimately, most of the expatriates and foreigners that reside in Thailand love the lawlessness of the country. Where else can you drive your car at whatever speed you desire or shop for men, women, even children to your heart's content. Where else can you get off of a minor traffic violation for a mere two-hundred baht. If you've your head about you, then you can live for years, even a lifetime, in Thailand without experiencing the downside of lawlessness and general chaos. The same conditions exist in other countries without the general friendliness and peacefulness of Thai people, so there will always be worse off countries than Thailand. However, even the smartest, most well-meaning people can eventually have a run in with a situation that reminds us all of the beauty and benefits of law and order. For those, it's back to wherever they came from with a mind to appreciate the country from which they came and forget about the one they called home for so many years."
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic...ndards-of-thai-tourism-products-and-services/
^
What he said.
LOL
"Thaksin (of whom I am not an admirer) is probably the closest to a Lee Kuan Yew that Thailand has ever had. I am sure he anticipated uproar when he began his policy of the extra-judicial executions of drug dealers but I'm equally sure he hoped people would accept that this was his only option, as the Royal Thai Police are so vulnerable to bribery that powerful drug dealers are, in many cases, police officers. They didn't and international community (especially groups like Amnesty International) were all over him about his violations of human rights. Ultimately, Thaksin was forcibly removed by power, quite possibly by elites who understood his approach to "fixing" Thailand would undermine the very means by which they had acquired their wealth and power (even if it is clear that he was enriching his family via his power, what Thai politician hasn't done that?). One of the families I know quite well is descended from an immigrant Chinese opium trader. Their wealth feeds directly from a history of dealing opium. Now they own one of Thailand's biggest banks. What lessons should the descendants of that opium trader heed? The only lesson I can see them learning is that to become wealthy in Thailand, one must do whatever is necessary. Thailand needs some hard medicine to fix what are serious social and cultural problems (as opposed to legal problems, as the Kingdom's ability to pass laws that are completely ignored is legendary). Most good Thai lawyers seek employment abroad after they are educated (usually abroad) because the situation Thailand faces is truly impossible to overcome without generations of conscientious attitude readjustment. Meanwhile, though the future is bleak, the tourists keep coming.
"Ultimately, most of the expatriates and foreigners that reside in Thailand love the lawlessness of the country. Where else can you drive your car at whatever speed you desire or shop for men, women, even children to your heart's content. Where else can you get off of a minor traffic violation for a mere two-hundred baht. If you've your head about you, then you can live for years, even a lifetime, in Thailand without experiencing the downside of lawlessness and general chaos. The same conditions exist in other countries without the general friendliness and peacefulness of Thai people, so there will always be worse off countries than Thailand. However, even the smartest, most well-meaning people can eventually have a run in with a situation that reminds us all of the beauty and benefits of law and order. For those, it's back to wherever they came from with a mind to appreciate the country from which they came and forget about the one they called home for so many years."
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic...ndards-of-thai-tourism-products-and-services/
^
What he said.
LOL
