In a recent shooting in Samui, where a Thai man shot and killed a policeman (who was objecting to his waving around of a gun) in a crowded club, one foreigner was wounded in the leg. Again, not intentionally targeted at foreigners, many shots discharged, but completely random. I'm not sure there's anything you can do to avoid that type of situation, other than to duck when you hear gunfire? In many other cases on Samui though foreigners are specifically targeted. Whether it a simple bag snatch from a tourist, or the shooting of an American nightclub owner (wounded, recovering in the U.S.). I think it helps for people to be aware of random and targeted, frequent and infrequent, problems in any destination. And this is the appropriate forum for such discussions. I don't think we're being negative, or paranoid or alarmist by highlighting these issues.


From today's Bangkok Post, this is typical of violent crime in Thailand, of which there seems to be a lot:

Bank queue-jumper shot by annoyed security guard in mall

Nonthaburi _ A security guard shot and wounded a university student after she annoyed him by jumping the queue at a Bangkok Bank branch at a shopping mall in Muang district yesterday. A female teller was also wounded when the guard, Thong-arn Nalard, 37, lost his temper during an argument with the queue-jumper, Patthira sae Tia, 25, a student at Sripathum University.

(I am a Bangkok Bank customer.)

Many other countries' embassies here in Bangkok issued similar warnings re: the 4 Feb protest, although the U.S. was the first, as far as I am aware. I spoke with someone who attended the rally, and he said that there were a few problems, and that it could/might have escalated into something worse. I think there is another rally planned for tomorrow, but am unsure of the details.