How safe is it for US Citizens in Hat Yai and Violence in Southern Thailand
 

I just read that this past May there were four separate bomb blast int he city of Hat Yai. Has anyone heard anything else and should one consider skipping Hat Yai and head straight to Pak Bara for Koh Lipe?

This would be a good place for Hunuman to give us an answer if the moderators would reinstate him. He is local and would have a perspective not available in the news.

Read current Travel Advice. Whether you heed it is up to you.

Being in the wrong place at the wrong can be very unpleasant. At best it can great for after dinner chatter, but at worst you might never be at the table!

This will give you an outline of the situation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Thailand_insurgency

I've lived in places where bombers have been active and find that I ted to carry on as usual. The bombing campaign in the South is not very intense and is also intermingled with gangsterism as well.

I think no-one can say to you whether it is safe to visit, but if you read up or around the topic you may get a valid impression of what is really going on there - the Thai media is notoriously unreliable on this matter.

Travel Insurance takes a lead from government travel advice. IF the advice is "...avoid travel unless YOU consider it essential", then the chances are that your insurance will be invalid as you will have chosen to ignore that advice.

A lot of insurance in Thailand may well be invalid at present due to the coup.

I am not sure being a "US Citizen" makes the slightest difference but there are travel advisories in force from some western governments. Here is the link to the current UK Foreign Office site https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand from there click on the link to Terrorism.

Why do you want to go to Hat Yai in the first place? I've only ever thought of it terms of transport.

Khunwilko. It's important to check, otherwise it could be very expensive.

UK bods as Crellston suggests should always refer to FCO Travel. Advice.

As well meaning as it may be, advice from a stranger on a message board ain't worth a jot if it hits the fan!

LL, do you sell insurance? You often reference whether travel insurance will cover.

As noted by the info in the link KW supplied, this sectarian violence has been going on for decades. Tourists, of course, are not targeted in any way, but you could be injured if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This is a personal decision. I would be comfortable going, but only you can say whether you are comfortable. As far as insurance is concerned, I carry med evac insurance but otherwise, I self-insure.

Kathie. I sell nothing. Offering sound advice comes completely free of charge and without obligation. The choice is up to the reader!

Thanks crellston, the link suggest only "all essential travel" to Songkhla, So is getting a taxi from hat yai to Pak Bara essential? Guess not.

Kathie, I've been searching for med evac only (or almost only) but cannot find it, either single trip or (better) annual. May I ask you for a referral? If not comfortable posting here, please use my throwaway: new_adv at yahoo dot com Thanks!

I'm not Kathie, who uses DAN, but I have had a good experience with a policy administered by Seven Corners.

Friends. Always read the small print before pressing the 'I accept' button.

I would not go...

We also use dan for evac ins.

Yes, as Thursdays says, we use DAN. I don't buy a policy from them, Med Evac is a benefit of membership. $55 a year for the two of us. Go to DiversAlertNetwork.org and click on membership. They do sell various kinds of insurance policies, including a new annual travel insurance policy, but that isn't available in my state so I haven't read all the fine print.

Note that Med Evac policies vary. DAN doesn't assure that they will fly you home if you are injured or ill, unless that is necessary, just to the closest appropriate facility. That is fine with me. Had I been very ill in Burma, I wanted to be flown to Bangkok, for instance, and that is what they would do.

I've always had DAN but when I looked at their new packages last month they didn't have an evac only package. And, like Kathie, the annual plans are not available in my state.

But I will take a look at re-upping the membership if that includes some semblance of evac. And to the "closest appropriate facility" is adequate for me, too, and I have had the same Burma/Bangkok feelings as you! (I belonged to DAN forever but let it lapse when I stopped diving a few years ago so have forgotten about the insurance aspects of membership.)

NoFly, you are correct that none of their insurance policies are med vac only, but the membership benefits include med evac. Read about it and see what you think.