I kind of doubt this has made it to the news stateside, but there were two British tourists killed on the beach in south Thailand last week. It has created quite stir here since they were murdered, and it was particularly gruesome.
The horrific events of this are not the point of my writing, though–I would really rather prefer not mentioning them as we just purchased extremely cheap tickets to visit a different beach in south Thailand over our upcoming fifth anniversary! I’d probably rather not mention such news before our trip, but the Thai Prime Minister just brought it to a new level. It just seemed necessary.
I will note that this is the new Prime Minister in light of the recent coup; he was previously the head of the military and led the coup in May. And now, as the leader of the country, he made this response to the tourist murders:
“There are always problems with tourist safety. They think our country is beautiful and is safe so they can do whatever they want, they can wear bikinis and walk everywhere…Can they be safe in bikinis…unless they are not beautiful?”
What?!
So for future visitors, Thailand’s official stance: if you are ugly, feel free to pack your bikini. But if you are beautiful, make sure you have taken precautions!
Now I just have to decide what to pack for our beach trip 🙂