Spike in tourist deaths sparks ministry concern

[Bristolian]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special ... ry-concern
Spike in tourist deaths sparks ministry concern

The Tourism and Sports Ministry is working to address the issue of tourist safety after a 54% jump in the number of foreign tourists who lost their lives in Thailand last year.

A report by the Bureau of Prevention and Assistance in Tourist Fraud revealed that 83 foreign tourists died in Thailand last year, up 54% from the previous year. Another 166 were injured, down 160% from the previous year. The figures were compiled from reports from the ministry's 10 offices nationwide.

Of the 83 deaths, 34 were from road accidents, nine from swimming and boating accidents, six from congenital disease, four from suicides and 30 from other causes.

The report named several risky swimming areas for tourists, including Tawan Beach on Pattaya's Koh Larn (Chon Buri) and Chaweng Beach on Koh Samui (Surat Thani). Mu Koh Similan (Phangnga) and Koh Hae (Phuket) were noted as risky areas for scuba diving.
Dangerous roads for tourists included highway 1095 from Chiang Mai to Pai district in Mae Hong Son, highway 118 from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, highways 2258 and 2296 to Khao Khor (Phetchabun) and highway 4233 to Karon mountain (Phuket).

Putting the numbers in focus. In 2015, visitors to Thailand had about
one chance in 301,204 of dying
one chance in 735,294 of dying in a vehicle crash
one chance in 2,8 million of dying while swimming or boating,
One tourist in every 6,250,000 committed suicide

Although Thailand's tourist industry has been growing, with the number of tourist arrivals reaching almost 30 million visitors last year, tourist safety is still a major concern.

According to the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2015, Thailand ranked 35th globally and 10th in Asia-Pacific.

For safety and security, Thailand came in 132nd place out of 141 countries and was the lowest in Asean with a score of 3.75.
The issue came to the forefront last Friday when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed his concern after Russian tourists were seriously injured in a speedboat accident near Koh Phi Phi. Gen Prayut's remarks prompted authorities overseeing tourist safety to seek out a solution.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry held a meeting on Tuesday to address the issue with the Commerce Ministry, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Public Health Ministry, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Airports of Thailand and the Tourist Police Division.

Pongpanu Svetarundra, permanent secretary at the Sports and Tourism Ministry, accepted that Thailand needs to upgrade its safety and security standards for tourists as soon as possible.

"In the past, we did not deal with the root causes of the tourist safety problem. From now on, we will look at the issue and address it seriously," he said. He hoped to see the country's ranking in safety and security move up to the middle tier of Asean countries.

The study on water accidents will be done in Krabi while data on road accidents will be gathered in Chiang Mai. Governors of the two provinces will chair the research committee with the reports expected to be completed within three months.

[bsdk1960]

I don´t belive these numbers,they is much higher imo

[kendo]

I agree those numbers are way inaccurate.

[Bristolian]

I agree that the numbers look far too low. I guess that foreign tourists who were murdered are counted as "others". I can't imagine why this group wasn't identified separately

[caller]

The ratios are a nonsense as well, considering the regular comings and goings by the same people that add to the total number of tourists.

[usual suspect]

The permanant secretary wants to get to the root of it all..mmm?
If a tourist tries crossing the road here..he's gonna get mown down by a tuk-tuk or Somchai who was texting while driving.
If the tourist takes a bus anywhere odds are the driver will fall asleep.. before realising his vehicle has no brakes!
It the visiting family go to the beach for a swim..they need to be aware of Somchai's brother who is buzzing around in his speedboat within the designated swimming zone..while drinking Lao-Kao out of a M150 bottle.
(Don't even think of going to any Thai beach after dark..to many Burmese doing 'night gardening' with hoes)
If all else fails for Mr Tourist on holiday can rent a high=storey condo, upset the locals in some way..Bingo,- another 'suicide'.
If a Farang rents a motorcycle & is in a collision..even non life-threatening leg injuries can easily top 1.8million Baht in a Thai hospital. (..and the cause of the accident..?..Somchai's cousin who drives a 6-wheel truck adorned with so many window-stickers he cannot see the road, but it looks cool & less clear glass means less chance of heat coming in to his cab.)
Maybe 'All-inclusive' holidays where tourists are penned-in to the resort are the safe option here..?
(sorry for having a dig here..could'nt resist..555 )

[gerryha]

What is the point of publishing figures that are so demonstratively wrong? A quick look back through the Bkk post will show the number of people who went to the trouble of booking a ticket, endured a long flight, was ripped off buy a taxi driver, just so they could commit "suicide" was much higher than these figures

[Bristolian]

Australia has called the figures the tip of the iceberg

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-ad ... 98eb39732b

Figures from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) over a similar time frame suggest this is just the tip of the iceberg. Between July 2014, and June 2015, DFAT recorded 109 deaths of Australians in Thailand, that’s not even factoring in tourists from other countries.

[oakdale160]

Concern, reports, investigations etc ec etc
BUT--we all know. NOTHING will change

[STEVE G]

To be fair to Thailand, many visitors do carry on some pretty risky behaviour in the country which would make it difficult to compare with some more gentle destinations, particularly with drink, drugs, motorbikes and various criminal activities.

[oakdale160]

Yes nobody wants to talk about he fact that many of the backpackers and drifters who come to Thai come because of the availability of cheap illegal drugs and the minimal risk of being busted for possession.

[Big Boy]

But is it any worse than the likes of Ibiza or the Greek Islands? If you look for it, you find it anywhere.

[Dieter78]

Are the 30 "other" deaths tourists jumping from balconies?


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