A question that is often asked on Thailand forums is just how safe is Thailand as a place to live. Now I usually find that what folk are really referring to is the political situation rather than actual criminal acts, or at least the things that are associated with large scale gatherings like we saw in Bangkok earlier this year which were politically motivated.
But setting politics aside for the moment I’d like to take a look at crimes that are likely to affect the average expat or tourist, who by applying a degree of common sense steers clear of large scale political gatherings anyway.
What is crime like in Thailand say compared to the US or UK? You know the sort of things I mean, theft, vandalism, burglary and robbery for example. Well they certainly happen here along with all manner of other crimes too, just like anywhere in the world. But a big difference for me at least is that they certainly don’t affect my quality of life like they did in Middle England before I became an expatriate.
My own experiences over the last three years have not seen me recorded as the victim of crime and I am struggling to find any real examples of actual crimes committed in the village, although I am sure there have been some. There is no graffiti or vandalism here unless you count fly posting as a crime. I have never felt threatened here or for that matter walking along the streets of Bangkok at 4am in the morning. Which I guess means that my quality of life in relation to crime and violence has improved considerably since I left the UK.
Funnily enough, despite the way I feel about security, most Thais I know are very security conscious and do actually seem to live with the fear of crime, although where they get it from I do not know. Security lights blaze out in the night sky and locked gates behind which 2 or 3 ferocious dogs lurk are the norm.
I have often heard it said that what crime there is in Thailand is mostly high level organised crime. Committed in the main by Thais on Thais. If this is indeed the case then perhaps the same applies to petty theft and the like as far as tourists and expats are concerned. Although I suppose many of Thailand’s well publicised scams might well be classified as a criminal offence. But even these are virtually none existent away from say Pattaya and Phuket.
I am no big fan of statistics but it is perhaps worthy of comment that Thailand and the UK, countries with similar sized populations, have a huge difference in the amount of reported crime with the UK weighing with 85/1000 and Thailand with 8.8/1000. Like I said statistics, but even allowing for the vagueness of what constitutes reported crime, for me anyway it does indicate that the numbers support my anecdotal evidence that points to Thailand being a safe place to live.
What do you think? Are your experiences different to mine? Do you feel safe and secure where you live?
Sources:
Related posts:
