Before travelling to Thailand, or indeed any destination,
it is good practise to check the travel advice pages of your own government’s
website for up to the minute advice on travel and especially for specific
threats to your safety based on your nationality, gender, race, religion or
sexual persuasion.
It is important to carry your passport upon your person
at all times. Checks by the authorities are common and Inability to show
identification will result in arrest.
Terrorism has been and potentially remains a risk in
Thailand. Most of these attacks have been in the very far south of the country,
linked to the South Thailand Insurgency, and Islamic Jihad in areas not
normally frequented by holiday visitors, but attacks have also taken place in
Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
The usual focus of such attacks is on Buddhist and
military targets, but some incidents have been indiscriminate. Visitors are
recommended not to travel in the far southern provinces of Pattani, Yala,
Songkhla and Narathiwat, close to the Malaysian border.
Politically, Thailand is a country of periodic unrest and
upheaval, occasionally leading to vast demonstrations in the capital, Bangkok.
Providing visitors stay away from such protests, harm will not come to
them.
Earthquakes are fairly common in the far north of
Thailand near Chiang Rai but are seldom very destructive. However the county’s
most severe experience of the consequences of an earthquake took place off the
coast of Indonesia in 2004, engendering a tsunami, which caused terrible
destruction along the west coast and islands of Thailand’s southern peninsula.
Sadly, tourist crime is a near epidemic in Thailand, and
to escape the pitfalls vigilance and knowledge are essential. Theft of portable
technology, handbags and luggage, purses, wallets and passports especially at
busy tourist sites is commonplace, but avoidable with common sense
countermeasures.
Credit Card fraud is rife, and you should not allow a
transaction to proceed if the card is removed from your sight. It is commonplace
for Thai criminals to make copies of foreign cards and clean out accounts with
corrupt tourist accomplices. ATM machines have also been skimmed, and it is
always best practise to use machines inside banks, where they are less
susceptible to interference.
Special attention is required with drinks, which should
never be left unattended, as several instances of drugging foreigners as a
prelude to robbery and rape have occurred. For the same reason, drinks offered
by strangers should be regarded with suspicion and not accepted.
Drugs are especially an issue in the eastern islands,
particularly at nightclubs, in Koh Samui and at the Fool Moon Parties on Koh
Phangan. These islands are also the focus of the majority of violent attacks.
The tendency of foreigners to get obscenely drunk in such locations does little
for their wellbeing and security. There have also been several murders.
From the legal standpoint, drug use and trafficking are
extremely serious offences, for which penalties are severe, and include the use
of the death penalty. Thai jails are notorious and very corrupt hellholes.
When engaging in adventure pursuits, always use the
services of a proper tour company, such as ourselves. Serious injuries and even
death are commonplace among the unregulated operators providing these
activities.
It is a serious criminal offence in Thailand to make
critical comments of any kind in relation to the country’s monarchy.
Homosexuality is legal in Thailand, but it is
nevertheless recommended to be very discreet and respectful of local
traditional views for your own security.