Phuket ~ Trouble in Paradise?

[jet712]

As a regular visitor to Phuket over the years I've developed a genuine affection for the place and the people but recently I've become aware of the amount of reported violence that seems to be becoming a part of everyday life in this beautiful part of the world.

I like to keep up to date with any developments and happenings through the Gazette and the local forum and it seems that almost every week in I find another report of a knife or gun attack, some of these attacks ending in murder.

I've seen discussions on this subject on other forums and some expats get a little touchy if anyone suggests that Phuket is any more dangerous than western countries and they usually produce some statistics about the equivelent number of homicides in Europe and the US.

Now I don't doubt that these statistics are valid but my concern would be that, while in most western countries homocides tend to be centred around organised crime and the community that occupies that space, there seems to be a much larger instance of serious domestic and indiscriminate violence in the reports I'm reading about in the Gazette.

In particular, it seems that gun crime seems to be much more prevalent in solving domestic and financial disputes.

By the way, none of this is going to keep me away from Phuket nor should it stop anyone else travelling. Phuket is a great place to visit and visitors are very well treated by 99.99% of the population.

I'm just wondering if any of you guys have any thoughts about this violence or concerns for their personal safety.

Any thoughts ?

[Stogie]

The only trouble you can get into in the whole of Thailand is the kind you walk into.

Very very occasionally I think to myself that someone had some bad luck here in Thailand but 99.99% of the time farangs are their own worst enemies.

In the UK they just had 'Red Nose Stabathons' for charity. Stabbings and shootings aren't even news where I come from unless it's for political points.

There are some horror stories in the Thai news and in the English language papers over here but I can't remember one story where I honestly thought that the twat involved didn't deserve it.

[Ivor Biggun]

Within the past couple of weeks 2 falang have been murdered in Phuket and one suffered a severe assault during a burglary. Does this stop me wanting to live here- no. Regarding people being touchy I personally feel it is more about getting pissed off when people single out events in isolation and scaremonger over them. The aircrash and the following 'will this kill tourism in Phuket' comments by armchair quarterbacks (mainly in the States which has the highest rate of air accidents!) is a good example. To us life is cheap here and most of the violence is Thai on Thai, however crime against falangs is likely to increase given the current economic woes.

The Gazette is very good at reporting and playing up 'non-nws' as they have been threatened when they have tried to get into the juicy stuff which would cause Thailand to be viewed adversely.

Regarding my personal safety I no longer walk through some areas at night, using MB taxis, and carry a minimum of cash. I also sleep with a maglite next to the bed in case someone did break in.