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Thursday, August 06, 2009

THE FACTS BEHIND 'CRIME CAPITAL' STORY

"Thailand is crime capital for Britons" was a headline from the British newspaper The Daily Mail last week.
The story explained that, proportionately, Thailand is the country where Britons are most likely to become a victim of crime. citing a figure of 1 in 13 visitors being involved in an incident.
Personally I do not think Thailand is less safe than any other country and decided to check the facts for myself.
The story was based on a press release issued by InsureAndGo, a British travel insurance company. Their assertions about Thailand are not based on any kind of fact, moreover they're the results of what their public relations firm tells me is a "representative omnibus survey". That means that during the period June 12 - 14 a total of 2,000 UK adults, selected to give an accurate representation of the UK population demographic, were asked "Whether you have been a victim of crime abroad during the last five years, and if so in what country?" The results of this survey indicated that 117,000 Brits have been a victim of crime in Thailand over the last five years. When taking into account the UK Government's figures of 381,000 Britons visiting Thailand in 2008 they have somehow calculated the chances of being a victim of crime as 1 in 13.
My sources at the British Embassy have ridiculed the suggestion that an average of more than 23,000 British citizens are victims of crime here each year. Privately they've told me the actual figure is much, much less.
So how are the results of this survey so different from the facts?
The terms "victim of crime" is quite broad. It's possible the survey respondents have included everything from being overcharged by a taxi driver to becoming involved in the airport closures of late last year. It's also possible they've been victims of credit card fraud perpetrated here without even leaving their home country. They could even have been influenced by experiences from family and friends, or from media coverage. The PR company is unable to provide any further details, but they have admitted ".. incidents may not have been formally reported to the Police, which might explain the disparity in figures".
There's another issue here too.
The UK Government's published figures show 381,000 visits to Thailand by UK residents during 2008. The figure from the Thai Ministry of Tourism, that is also quoted on the website of the British Embassy in Thailand, indicates 812,000 Brits arriving in the Kingdom last year. Why are these figures so different?
Again I am making assumptions, but I am guessing the Thai figures might include every single arrival from a British national. My own four arrivals last year are probably included in these figures even though I am not a tourist. And when you look at the number of people undertaking visa runs, holidays and business trips that seems to be the only explanation for the disparity in official figures from the two Governments. If what I am suggest is true then the official Thai tourist figures are way in excess of the true numbers. But that's another story entirely.
So back to that headline about Thailand being a "crime capital". The newspaper is guilty of taking the results of this press release as fact. It uses phrases that would lead the reader to assume what is being stated is true, and does not make any mention of the survey being commissioned by an insurance company.
Don't believe everything you read about Thailand. Often the truth is far less interesting and newsworthy.

7 comments:

Matt 7:58 AM  

Just read the Mail story. Sounds like sensationalism and the kind of story that really doesn't need to be written. They can get away with it because it's all "according to [this] new survey", but it is stretching the truth if, as you say, the survey itself isn't up to much.

The story is flawed. How can Thailand be the country where Britons are "most likely" to become victims of crime? Is that compared to every other country in the world? I guess it's "according to [this] new survey".

Matthew Hunt 1:55 PM  

Don't believe everything (or anything) you read in the Daily Mail! This story is typical.

Unknown 2:35 PM  

What you've overlook is the very real likelihood that the Embassy's figures on crime, if they actually have any, are based on reports to them by the Royal Thai Police. Those reports would only take place if the police will actually accept the complaint and you should know that many times the want money up front for their help or just can't be bothered. And it's well know the Embassy and Foreign Service live in a fantasy land completely insulated from the day to day problems of most travelers and expats.

As to the general tourism numbers, please refrain from trying to make statistical analyses when you have no idea what the numbers really mean. A visit to Thailand by a UK resident may not include a visit to Thailand by a non-resident citizen of the UK and it may be an actual count of the number of unique UK travelers to Thailand. The Thai tourism statistics however only reflect the raw total number of entries per country with no attempt made to identify the unique number of individuals. Thus one border-running expat making quarterly trips carries as much weight as one offshore visitor who makes a single entry each year.

It's a shame you let your agenda and lack of critical thinking get in the way of what might have been a worthwhile article.

(c) 2016 Written by Andrew Batt 2:53 PM  

I wasn't aware I had any agenda, but thanks for your comments nonetheless. My only concern (and you can call it an agenda if you want) is fair and accurate reporting. In this case I do not think that has happened, for the reasons I have stated in the original post.

I would have no problems if the newspaper story was based on facts, but in this case it isn't and it paints what I consider to be a false picture about Thailand.

Yes, your points about whether all crimes are reported is true, but it's true anywhere in the world. If the press release or PR company had provided more information about the types of crimes recorded in Thailand that would have enabled all of us to make a more informed judgement, but to categorically state as fact that Thailand is a "crime capital for Britons" is, I believe, misleading at best.

On the subject of visitor numbers bviously you know more about what constitutes a recorded visit to Thailand. Are you saying that my own four arrivals during 2008 (I'm a British national) are included within the 812,000 figures quoted by the Thai Ministry of Tourism for arrivals of Britons into the Kingdom?

Matthew Hunt 3:29 PM  

This post is a clear example of critical thinking. Many of Sea's criticisms should be applied to the Mail journalist rather than BangkokBugle.

Mat.

Bkkdreamer 7:33 PM  

'I wasn't aware I had any agenda, but thanks for your comments nonetheless'.

Well done, BB. I must file that one away for future use when I get accused of doing other than reporting the facts.

Agendas? To think up and pursue one of those, I would have to make much more money than I do from this sad financial enterprise called blogging.

As it is, it's barely worthwhile.

Anonymous 5:54 AM  

the Mail story is just more of the dumbed-down fake-agenda-laden 'shock and horror' tabloid crap that, sadly, millions of Britons have come to think is news journalism.

I liken it to junk food. Feed children garbage full of sugar and fat from an early age, and long before adulthood they will not only assume that that is how food SHOULD be, but will furiously avoid exploring anything new - and will never question what they eat. Spend time in a supermarket checkout queue in Britain today, and see young parents push trolleys filled with full-sugar toothrot drinks laden with caffeine, fat-laden crisps, sugary biscuits - you get the picture. They're conditioned, and their children suffer.

Tabloids are similar. Bring young newspaper readers up on rags that don't actually pay attention to issues of any cerebral content, but instead obsess over Jordan, football, 'reality' TV micro-celebs, tosser celebrity chefs, footballers, soap operas and more Jordan - with only occasional principled diversions to put down all foreigners, exaggerate dangers of child-molesters lurking in every dark lane (what about all the drunks pretending to be parents who follow your papers?) and inflate the pervasive sense of British moral and cultural superiority over everyone else on the planet; the result is whole generations who not only can't read well enough to handle a broadsheet, but aren't open-minded enough to deal with topics of genuine newsworthiness. From a cynical newspaper publisher perspective, this is perfect; market locked up, tabloid buyers guaranteed generation upon generation - and most of the national population seriously dumbed down.

Sore spot? You bet.

r

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