Thailand’s Risk Level for Expatriates Raised

Thailand’s combination of many holidaymakers from the West and Israel and the porous borders it shares with unstable states have led the Kingdom’s risk level for foreigners to be raised from “low” to “medium”.

Consultants at the Londonbased Control Risks Group advise clients on the political and security risks to expats around the world. It now places the Kingdom on the same level as Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

The group has named 71 countries as likely to pose a medium risk to Western business staff. Thailand is one of 14 that have this year been raised from a lowrisk level.

“The decision to raise the 2004 Risk Map rating for Thailand from low to medium is not a reflection of the Thai government’s failure to combat terrorism,” said Stephen Wilfred, CRG’s Southeast Asia analyst, who is based in Singapore.

“The Thai government is now doing as much, if not more, than its neighbours to combat terrorism.”

In Bangkok the government strongly criticised the CRG study, which was released on Tuesday, saying it did not rely on facts and overlooked the excellent efforts to combat and prevent terrorism during the Apec summit last month.

Thailand is an attractive target for terrorists, Wilfred said, as more Westerners and Israelis, who could attract attacks, took holidays in the Kingdom than anywhere else in the region.

He said the methods of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror movement could change in the wake of the Bali bombings. At present the JI strategy appears to be one of destabilising Indonesia and the Philippines by killing local Christians, he said, but it may shift its focus to killing Westerners.

Geographical location makes Thailand vulnerable. “Thailand is surrounded on three sides by weak states with porous borders,” Wilfred said. “The border police have improved levels of security, but illegal weapons and explosives still enter the country for sale on Thailand’s large illegal arms market.”

The new rating reflects the reality that Thailand cannot be viewed as “peripheral” to terrorism, as in the past, he said.