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I take it you disagree and think there is more aggression out and about here than UK?
You aren't really comparing like with like, that's the issue here. If you saw aggression and fights in Aus and NZ it's because you spent most of your time in Aus and NZ in bars with drunk young people. It's a statistical fact that drunk 18-25 year old men are the most violent people there are, anywhere in the world.
If you spent all your time in Thailand in Haad Rin surrounded by drunk backpackers you'd see just as many brawls and fights. In fact I've been there once ever, and in that night was involved in 2 fights and witnessed at least half a dozen others. And unlike when it happens at home in Australia, there were no bouncers or police to break them up. They only end when someone loses interest or gets knocked out. When brawls happen here, they often end in an exchange of gunfire.
The reason you see less of it in Thailand is because you are going to different kinds of places. I.E. beer bars and gogo bars filled with hookers and older expats, who don't fight anywhere near as often as 21 year olds because they have grown up. Even when you do go to clubs, there aren't that many teenage males in them, and very few young Thai men, because they can't afford the prices. If you went out in Australia and only frequented wine bars where most of the clientele was 40+, or classy bars in 5-star hotels, you wouldn't see any fights either.
So yeah, the chances of being involved in a bar fight here is probably less than at home, but that's more a function of the kind of places you are going to than anything else. The rest of the stuff that people are talking about (chances of getting robbed/mugged/raped/shot) is just a case of self-delusion and small sample size. You are far, far more likely to be the victim of that kind of violent crime in Thailand than any western country.
I lived in Australia for 30 years and never once heard of anyone I know being mugged or shot. OTOH I've been here only a few years and already I know dozens of people who have been robbed in Thailand, at least 2 who have been shot, and many more who have been threatened with guns. One of my best friends here was shot in the leg last year by 2 Thais who were trying to steal his girlfriend's bag. I personally had to fight off a (German) guy who attacked me with a meat cleaver a few months back. A friend who had a motorbike accident woke up to find that all his jewellery/watch had been stolen by the people first on the scene. Another friend was hit in the head with a brick and had his wallet stolen while walking home alone. A friend who ran a bar in Lamai watched as the Thai wife of a western man who slept with one his bargirls turned up with a shotgun and shot the girl point blank in the stomach. She died on the way to hospital. 2 nights ago, a British guy walking his dog down the road ran into a Thai guy who didn't like the look of his dog, so just shot it. FFS I've been sitting in the bar when one of my mate's wives came in waving around a .38 pistol just because he stayed out later than he said he was going to.
The fact is that Thailand is a lawless society. All of the incidents above would have resulted in police presence and/or a manhunt if they happened in the UK or Australia or wherever. In Thailand, nobody even bothers to call the cops. That's what makes it dangerous here, complete lack of law enforcement means that criminals just aren't worried about getting caught.
If you feel Thailand is "safe", then it's mostly because you have your head in the sand. Gangs, guns, organised and petty crime are rife here. And unlike the most dangerous western country (USA), it's not confined to places like inner city Detroit and South Central LA where tourists would never go. It's actually concentrated to a fair degree in places that attract tourists. Also unlike western countries, the police do basically nothing about it.
The guys who live in Bangkok probably see and hear about this stuff far less because A) They are pricing themselves out of most of the bad areas by living in Farang-oriented serviced apartment blocks in rich areas and B) They aren't really members of the general expat community given that there are so many 2+2ers in Bangkok that they don't have many other expats in their social circle.
Last edited by PokerSpiv; 01-22-2013 at 05:57 AM.