Reader question: Unrest in the world, how much risk does a foreigner run in Thailand?

There is no country in the world where you are safe from terrorism. That can happen in Thailand just as well as in any other country in the world. Perhaps, because Thailand is mostly Buddhist, you might think that no one is here to commit an act of terror. But the south, for example, has a strong Islamic tint. Terror groups could form there.
Where are you safe? I would not know. The chances of being kidnapped are probably less than being involved in a traffic accident. But now this opportunity has also arrived. To sit inside and wait for everything to be over is to give up.
For example, you can avoid going somewhere where many people (especially foreigners) gather. But even then…
I don't want to be pessimistic, but you are not 100% safe anywhere. I do believe that Thailand is one of the safer countries. The Philippines has experienced kidnappings by Islamist fanatics before, so the chances are higher there.

People have been held hostage for money in the Philippines for decades. People are being kidnapped from Indonesian islands. What is happening there has been going on for years and is not Isis but money.

Thailand's southern provinces are said to be a link area because of Muslim terror. No. Drug lords and oil bosses lead terror against ordinary citizens and military and nursing staff. No isis.

Grab a detailed map of Bangkok. TIG mosques and Islamic schools far into the outlying areas. No attacks heard.

I think you are safer in Thailand than in the Netherlands. And if there is a madman walking around, well, that is possible anywhere in the world. I don't intend to leave here to waste time behind the geraniums in the Netherlands. Then rather enjoy the sun under the orchids. And if the bomb falls, well then it falls.....

At any time and anywhere in Thailand I feel much safer than in Antwerp North where I lived for the last 25 years.
Hopefully that answers your question

Nowhere and nowhere in the world are you safe from attacks .
But I think the risk at the moment for an attack by ISIS .
Many times greater in Holland than in Thailand.
Especially because of the increasingly anti-Muslim climate in our country.
At least where I live in the north of Thailand in the countryside.
Am I more worried about being bitten by a snake or a scorpion ?
With all its consequences .
Not to mention a traffic accident , because Thailand is one of the highest places in Thailand .
So if you want to grow old in Thailand , never ride a moped .

Jan Beute.

this question is actually worded too vaguely : " risk " . . .
risk for what? * 1° property crime with or without violence? * 2° accidental victim of bomb terror ? * 3° kidnapping ? *4° sexual offenses ?
1° – “bag snatching” is undoubtedly “the” n° 1 danger, but it is happening all over the world today and can be largely prevented with a few precautions; furthermore, only very rarely physical injury is caused to the victim
– burglary & home jacking: also a rarity, but again: where do you live? in an apartment? or in a residential area with security? or in a shabby urban suburb or very lonely on the country side?
– ATM – fraud; yes there are some previous ones, but choose a device around which it is busy day and night, either in a bank itself, because fraud requires prior (unseen) technical manipulation of the device;
– robbery at the ATM: very rare, because every Thai knows that the absolute minimum sentence for this is 10 years in a hell of a prison, without early release or “extenuating circumstances” that Thai judges (all sons or daughters of the wealthy class) invariably disregard !

2° By staying away from the three most southern provinces, almost all risk is avoided and there too almost all were Thai victims.
Thailand, which has no social services, does not attract immigrants or asylum seekers and only has some hard (black) working people from Cambodia and Myanmar: none from Muslim countries; the border with Malaysia is almost hermetically closed! / the great risk of ISIS militias returning home ( cfr the Jewish museum attention ) is excluded , for the good and simple reason that hardly anyone obtains citizenship and thus a travel pass !
3° the chance here is “close to zero”, unless perhaps for someone who wants to play the billionaire ;
4° actually no risk for men. And women can avoid the small risk of not venturing into lonely places at night (who now walks in the middle of the night, with us, now for example in the dunes, along the beaches . . ? )
CONCLUSION : Thailand is very safe and less risky than Europe or America