Tourists are beaten, shot and knifed regularly throughout Thailand...Lacerne - OW/Accountant
September 26, 2007 at 19:43:30I have lived in Phuket for approx 15 years and arrived here on my sailboat from Hawaii in 1993. Tourists are beaten, shot and
knifed regularly throughout Thailand, the "land-of-smiles". Many murders are not accurately reported or misreported as a "drug overdose", traffic accident, etc. The authorities (incl the tourist police) are of little or no help when a foreigner has problems. A minor traffic accident can become a nightmare for a foreigner, even if he's clearly not at fault. Local conditions here regarding transportation (especially boats & land
travel) are extremely dangerous due to a disregard to internationally-accepted operational standards, poor maintenance and a general lack of consideration for the welfare of the passengers and others. I worked for many years as a charter boat captain in Hawaii and am appalled by the lack of safety standards here. There are many great dive sites elsewhere (Philippines, Malaysia, etc) where proper safety standards are more stictly enforced and where a general sentiment of
"take care of our guests" prevails. | 
