StanKase, I live in Indonesia which has had its fair share (or should I say unfair share) of terrorist related woes. I’d like to try to put my thoughts on this complex subject in some coherent order.

1. First, unequivocally, I’d say that the chance of you or any one in your group being affected by a terrorist act is very, very remote. Statistically, it’s like being hit by lightning.

2. Second, visiting strife torn areas and visiting places that may be attacked by terrorists are two different issues. Everyone agrees that tourists ought to stay out of the Muslim areas of Southern Thailand (and Aceh, the West Bank, Iraq, etc). These are the conflicts that you see over and over again on the BBC. (Here we refer to it as the CNN syndrome.) The news reports are accurate, but they are out of context, geographically and politically.

3. What’s more difficult to apprise are areas that have been or may be targeted by terrorists. The list here is too long to include all but to start this applies to New York, Washington, Istanbul, Madrid, London, Bali etc. Basically, civilization as we know it.

4. International terrorism is a terrible, terrible plague that knows no boundaries. The whole point is to surprise and just because a place hasn’t been attacked doesn’t mean that it won’t be a future target. Having said that, we need to continue with our lives and not be paralyzed by this vague threat. In other words, go to Thailand, go to Indonesia, go to New York and Madrid and Istanbul.

5. Thailand, in my opinion, is in denial. They have a serious religious conflict on their hands in the South that has unfortunately attracted the attention of the crazies in other parts of the Islamic Extremist universe. These people are global. They know where to strike to hurt tourism and economies. What Thailand needs to do right away is to implement basic, simple security checks in their tourist centers: Bangkok, Phuket and Koh Samui, and Chiang Mai to start. We know, sadly, that the most common modus operandi of terrorism is the car bomb or the suicide bomber, so start checking cars and people entering hotels and resorts! Yes, it’s inconvenient, but to deny the possibility is just irresponsible.

I just got back today from a 17 day trip to Thailand. We visited Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Koh Ngai (island about 45 minutes from Trang). Never once did we see any signs of terrorist violence or unrest. I had a wonderful time and felt as safe in Thailand as I do in the US.

Before we left to Thailand, I was also concerned about the terrorist reports in the south, especially since we were flying into Trang. But we chose to go on our vacation anyway. I'm glad we did because Thailand is a wonderful country. The Thai people are so friendly. Everyone in Thailand that we spoke to was aware of the unrest in the south. But it felt like it was a distant matter. I didn't see any signs of terrorism anywhere.

I did see lots of other tourists everywhere we went. Hotels were full of tourists, which tells me that people are still choosing to visit Thailand instead of cancelling.

As others pointed out, just because a particular city or regions has not been hit by terrorism does not mean that it won't be. None of us can ever feel truely "secure" anywhere that Westerns travel anymore. That being said, I'm not going to let that stop me from enjoying the world. I might just be a little more selective about destinations and keep my fingers crossed!

I want to thank everyone for their input on traveling to Thailand. We make our "go-no go" decision Dec.27th.
A member of our group has decided to ask his driver/security aid to join us and we would all share the expense through Malaysia and Thailand.This is probably "over-kill" but the couple and several others are pleased, considering he has international business travel experience in Asia,the Middle East and Europe as well as some recent contacts the past 2 years in Thailand.Thanks again!!

I and others such as Orgy, Tangata, Hanuman etc who are regulars here also live in Thailand. Overall it is a very safe place, and certainly I personaly feel a great deal safer in Thailand than most places in Europe etc. As we all appreciate, no one knows, no one can say, but suffice to say that in a normal day to day ( or night ) living Thailand is safe. In Thailand I would not hesitate going out in the evening, even if alone, and if my wife was driving the kids alone at night it would not worry me a bit, and although nothing in life is guarenteed the statistical chances of any of you getting any problem in Thailand must certainly be extreamly low compared even with say visiting Europe. After many years living in Thailand it comes as quite a shock when even visitng Australia and suddenly realising that even in cities "there" going out at night requires re-adjusting your 'street wise' values.