Thailand Travel Tragedies

Thailand Travel Tragedies

Thailand Travel Tragedies is a new website being developed by the parents of Sarah Carter who died mysteriously after staying at the Downtown Inn Hotel in Chiang Mai back in February. Originally it was thought that Sarah and her friends had eaten some toxic seaweed at a local night market that made them ill but it soon became clear that there was more to the story.

Sarah Carter’s friends Emma Langlands, 23, and Amanda Eliason, 24 also became ill that day but with milder symptoms. After food poisoning was ruled out disturbing news of other deaths at the same hotel started to come out. A month before Sarah Carter took ill an American, Mariam Soraya Vorster, 33, of Seattle, died under similar circumstances but not at the same hotel. Within days of Sarah Carter’s death an elderly British couple were found to have died together in room 423 of the Downtown Inn Hotel. A week prior a Thai tourist guide died under similar circumstances.

All together there have been 7 deaths attributed to a mysterious illnes in Chiang Mai. Not helping matters much Chiang Mai Governor Pannada Disakul made the announcement before tests had been completed and came to the conclusion that these deaths were all a coincidence. An independent report has come to the conclusion that at least three of the deaths were due to myocarditis, the enlargement of the heart, cause unknown.

There have been quite a few conspiracy theories making the rounds MSG poisoning to puffer fish disguised as salmon. And while the Downtown Inn Hotel figures prominently in the deaths at least one death, Mariam Soraya Vorster, had no connection whatsoever to the hotel.

Food poisoning is most likely the culprit but because of the way the case was handled it’s doubtful we will ever know.

This has been a tragedy for all concerned and gives us all pause for thought about the things we often eat in Thailand but I have to wonder what a Thailand Travel Tragedies website will really bring to the table.

Richard Carter says the website Thailand Travel Tragedies has been set up because of the cover-ups the family has experienced in Thailand.

I can’t begin to know or understand this mans pain of losing a child and while I’m not sure of a coverup, once again Thailand authorities have bungled an investigation that is important, not only to those involved but to Thailand tourism. Time and time again Thailand has dropped the ball in such cases.

While Thailand Travel Tragedies is still being developed you can go to the home page and read the mission statement which reads in part:

This website has been set up to list all occurrences of fatalities or serious illness contracted while visiting Thailand.

This could be a very good thing. A website dedicated to tracking fatalities and serious illnesses in Thailand. In theory over time we may be able to see seasonal trends or work practices in certain parts of the tourism industry that need to be addressed. If they indeed gather information on all fatalities and serious illness this would be a very resourceful site for travelers as well as Thai authorities because it would be independent. Of course this would all depend on how they gather the information and if all cases are independently confirmed. Rumors and hypotheticals wouldn’t be helpful.

Unfortunately the mission statement goes on to say the following:

Its intention is to make all travelers to Thailand more aware of the very real dangers they face in a country which appears a tropical paradise on the surface but in fact has very low health and safety standards and an undercurrent of drug and human rights crimes covered up from exposure to the rest of the world.

This belies the initial statement in total. While bringing up health and safety standards is definitely within the realm of scope for a website that claims to want to document fatalities and serious illnesses in Thailand the drug and human rights statement pretty much tells the tale. This won’t be an impartial website to help travelers to Thailand understand the trends and risks.

I get it, I really do. The mans daughter died and that has to be an unbearable pain and I would want to lash out against the perceived bad guys too.  But, when you start to look at the facts it becomes a whole lot less clear.

Yes, Thailand is perceived by most of us westerners to have low quality health and safety standards…but do they really? I have always assumed so because I come from America that has some of the strictest health and safety standards in the world. That means it’s the safest, right? Wrong. In 1999 The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta compiled statistics from the most complete food poisoning study ever done in America. The study found that over 76 million Americans suffer food poisoning every year and that results in about 5000 deaths.

The agency’s estimate of annual illnesses caused by food poisoning is more than twice as high as that suggested in earlier studies, which put the figure at 30 million. Its estimate of deaths, on the other hand, is much lower than the old figure of 9,000. We aren’t just talking about mom and pop restaurants here either, major corporations have let everything from contaminated peanut butter to salmonella laced lettuce loose on the public knowingly and people have died.

Food poisoning happens every place in the world and people are dying from it as you read this and there is nothing you can do about it. How outbreaks of food poisoning are handled are critical and this is something Thailand has yet to understand. Hopefully the events of the past few moths in Chiang Mai have provided a wake up call to Thai authorities that they need to do more sooner and give the facts instead of trying to put a good face on things to save tourism.

I’m not going to comment on the human rights violations and drug crimes part of the Thailand Travel Tragedies mission statement as they are just ridiculous additions to what could have been a very resourceful site. Have there been human rights violations in Thailand, YES. Have there been drug crimes in Thailand, YES. As there have in every country in the entire world. Human beings are animals and yes kiddies sometimes we eat our own.

I really hope Mr. Carter can see past his recent tragedy to the point where he does develop Thailand Travel Tragedies into what could be potentially a very resourceful site for both travelers and Thai authorities alike. Not only might he change the climate in Thailand as it concerns reporting and handling such incidents but I think it would be a fitting tribute to a daughter he obviously loves greatly and misses dearly. Maybe through her he can help prevent similar incidents from unfolding as they have in Thailand.

One way to prevent any travel disaster is by using a great holiday provider, this will ensure airfare and accomodation are guranteed in terms of availibility and in case of any other disruptions. I normally use www.cheapholidays.com as they offer travel insurance also which gives me peace of mind and the only thing i worry about is packing for my next destination.

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