Boycott Thailand!
Every time there’s a high-profile case of a crime committed against a foreigner in Thailand, there are calls to boycott the country. We saw it down here in Phuket when Swedish tourist Hanna Backlund was murdered. There were expats and random foreigners being very vocal about the knock-on effect that would be felt in the tourism industry.
The expat crowd in particular is good at rallying together when one of its own is hurt or murdered. It’s like a cycle, though. There’s a major crime, there’s an outcry, people call for a boycott, nobody listens and the whole saga is forgotten in a matter of weeks.
For a time, I thought that such high-profile murders as Hanna Backlund’s might have an impact on tourism, but I stand corrected. I honestly believe that nothing short of a large-scale natural disaster is enough to truly deter tourists from visiting Thailand.
Tourists just don’t care about jeopardizing their holiday plans for anything short of an all-out disaster, as happened with the 2004 tsunami. The latest call for a boycott of Thailand is Canadian Ernie Del Pinto, whose son was shot dead in Thailand about six months ago. A few publications have run this latest development in the story, but nothing will ultimately change. Canadians have been dropping like flies in recent months, so I don’t see what difference this will make.
This is the frustration that families and friends of murder victims in Thailand go through. Crimes go unsolved and there is little resolution. Justice seems so very far away — trapped beneath a pile of paperwork. It’s the families who I really feel for in these stories. They go to great lengths to search for justice, but it rarely comes.
Calling for a boycott of Thailand does little more than catch a few eyes. People say that it’s only a matter of time before tourists see the real Thailand and stop visiting the country, but this is nonsense. People will never stop visiting Thailand.
What would you do if you were in Ernie Del Pinto’s position?
July 17th, 2008 at 4:42 am
As I think everyone knows, when it comes to crime, Pattaya is a lot more dangerous than Phuket. As I blogged earlier this week here:
http://www.pattayaghost.com/2008/07/14/tfs2m-the-dark-violent-side-of-pattayas-p4p-scene/
the crime and attacks on foreigners seems to be increasing. Yet it doesn’t seem to have an impact on tourism. While Thaialnd is in a tourism downturn, the reasons for that really more economic.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
“I honestly believe that nothing short of a large-scale natural disaster is enough to truly deter tourists from visiting Thailand”
It didn’t, at least not in the long term. And you ain’t going to get any more large scale than December 26th 2004.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
“People say that it’s only a matter of time before tourists see the real Thailand and stop visiting the country, but this is nonsense.”
You have to be there awhile to see the real Thailand. Spending just a few weeks in Phuket, Hua Hin or wherever it’s easy to believe those smiles are genuine.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I think it is very to get into trouble in Thailand. But on the other hand, it is also easy to stay out of trouble.
Can you avoid everything then? No, you can’t. Like you can’t do that in any country.
Heard about the brutal murder on two French students? Were stabbed to death and burned. Not in Pattaya, but in London.
July 18th, 2008 at 4:24 am
“You have to be there awhile to see the real Thailand”
Exactly! Which is why I like living here :)
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 am
Good post Lostboy. You are making what to me seems like an obvious point — that these proposed boycotts are pointless — but one that is often ignored out of deference to the feelings of the people launching them.
It seems to be an increasingly common occurrence for the families of a victim of a crime etc., to make a public crusade out of the death of their loved ones. This is understandable of course, and I could not imagine the depths of their grief, and the need to feel that somehow the death of their loved one was not in vain, that it was part of some wider pattern that could be corrected if changes were made at high levels.
Mother’s Against Drunk Driving started off that way and now they are no better than any other American lobbying group, sucking up charity money and wasting people’s time by protesting things like drinking in video games.
If you argue with an initiative from a group like this or a movement similar to the one you mention, you are branded as insensitive. I rather think it’s logical not to have hysterical, grieving people guide public policy. Their perspective is warped by their experience and they don’t have the objectivity to contribute meaningfully.
In the case you mention here, it sounds like there were any number of factors that led to the shooting of that Canadian in Pai, and yes the most salient factor there was a drunken Thai cop with a gun, but it WAS an isolated incident. There is no crisis of cops shooting tourists in Pai, and when it’s happened elsewhere, as in Kanchanaburi, again an isolated incident and one fueled by alcohol as well. Moreover, I’ve seen the war on drugs mentioned out in reference to this one, but you can’t say that there is a similar culture of impunity around killing tourists now as there was around killing suspected drug dealers in the Thaksin-era war on drugs.
I hope justice is served in this case, but that is the extent of it. Sadly, this was a meaningless, awful killing and a waste of a young life, however, nobody will cancel their travel plans, nor should they.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Hey Matt, just checked into your blog - first time in a while and thought I’d comment on this….
There is no doubt at all that Thailand can be a dangerous place - safety standards are poor and death by accident (I’m talking about for Thais as well as tourists) is very high. Most people would be unaware that a year on year average of UK citizens dying in Thailand is something like 250 per annum. Also, as I wrote about before, more Brits get murdered in Thailand on a per capita basis than pretty much anywhere else - even than in the UK - I have an British embassy official on tape admitting that - staggering really.
And believe me the Thais work very very hard for that image of Thailand not to be the dominant one. The LOS is a very popular and powerful brand despite any dangers.
Thailand is also a very cheap long haul destination for Western tourists - the value for money in Thailand for them is one of the big attractions. There are few other places on earth where you can get the quality of experience you get in Thailand for the low price. I actually think price inflation in Thailand would have a bigger impact on tourism than murders!
Major and violent social upheaval would also have an impact….I’ve met many Thais who worry about that…
Finally, I spend a lot of time in Thailand and love a lot of things about the place. But I’m not a moron - I can see the faults, the bad things as well. In fact that it isn’t as controlled and regimented as the west - the danger and anarchy of the place - adds to the attraction. I also have to say I love my home in London as well. And yes London can be dangerous as can many other places - but this blog is about Thailand, not those places.