Thailand Crimes and Bangkok Scams
October 28, 2007
This weekend’s surfing of the internet and blogosphere has brought me to several sites that talk about scams and crimes in Bangkok and Thailand. And what I’ve found has simply reinforced my belief that Bangkok is one of the safest cities in the world.
First is a story from The Nation about the number of robberies in Bangkok. Turns out that in the first 8 months of 2007 there have been just 280 robberies reported to the Bangkok Tourist police. Now keep in mind that this is just one robbery a day in the 13th largest city in the world which also has around one million tourists a month coming to visit. I would say that is pretty darn good.
If you’re still concerned about being robbed in Bangkok then here are the top seven places to be on guard:
- Chatuchak market (85 reported robberies)
- MBK (76 reported robberies)
- Bus terminals (50 reported robberies)
- Pratunam/Silom Road/Patpong (46 reported robberies)
- China Town (11 reported robberies)
- Sukhumvit road (7 reported robberies
- Suan Lum night bazzar (5 reported robberies)
Bear in mind too that just 5 suspects have been arrested so far none of those were Thai’s. So basically if you get robbed consider it a complete loss and hope that your insurance will re-imburse you. Consider yourself warned.
A second site I found is called Bangkok Scams and yep you guessed it, they cover various scams to be found in and around Bangkok. Nothing really new here though, basically the same old scams revolving around gems, dual pricing, overpriced drinks in Patpong bars, and touts in general. If you’re a newbie to Thailand it may be worth a look, but really some common sense and caution will go a long way for most.
Again I want to reiterate that I feel Bangkok is the safest city I have ever been to and I can’t see how any person who is aware of their surroundings and displays just a bit of caution would have a problem. I know there is much more crime, and violent crime at that, in the U.S. even in my small town of just 250,000 inhabitants.
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[...] And finally, don’t walk around Chatuchak/Silom with all your valuables in your handbag/wallet, you may come to regret it. [...]
One reason that crime stats are low is cops don’t want to be bothered.
Walking down the street I had a lady man (Katoey) try to pick my pocket.
He got my wallet out but it fell to the ground and I was able to grab it back.
Then he basically dared me to do anything about it….This was broad daylight
and I was simply walking back to my hotel from the supermarket.
I found a policeman about a block away but he just kinda laughed and said I could go to the police station to make a report but I would have to pay money for that and he wouldn’t say
how much.
oh well
Your story is oh too common for Pattaya and a very good reason I avoid the place. I’ve read that crime is under reported by at least 50% in Thailand and I’d bet there are even more crimes that go unreported.
Unfortunately the Thai’s have an innate ability to disregard anything and everything, especially if it is inconvenient or embarrassing.
One phrase that causes constant consternation to westerners in Thailand is ‘mai bpen rai’ which we translate as ‘nevermind’ or when used in response to ‘thank you’ as ‘you’re welcome’. What most don’t realize is that ‘mai bpen rai’ literally translated is ‘no nothing exists’. So, it is in reality a denial of the existence of something.
Usually Thai’s will ‘mai bpen rai’ anything that would lead to a loss of face and I think crimes definitely fall into that category. It is a loss of face for Thai society in general, but more importantly it is a loss of face for the police in that area for allowing the crime to happen and more loss of face if they are unable to catch the perpetrator. In the Thai view of the world it is better to just deny that it ever happened.
Many people assume that Thai’s ignore or avoid things because they are lazy and that can be true in some cases, but I think in many cases it is because of this perceived loss of face that things go undone and issues get ignored in Thailand.