Gosh, after returning from an amazing 16 days in Thailand in January, we returned home later that week to read that Thailand is in fact the deadliest tourist destination for Australians. We absolutely LOVE Thailand, and each year we can't wait to head back for a holiday in tropical paradise, but these recent statistics had got me thinking "Am I putting my family's life in jeopardy by travelling to South East Asia??".
Sure, we as a family have experienced a few mishaps in Thailand, and as most of you have probably read, we have had 2 encounters with post rabies vaccinations, within days of each other...'Just bad Luck', my husband and I agreed, but after our near death experience in a speedboat In January, which really terrified us, we vowed that we would never travel by speedboat in Thailand again. Next year Fly in, Fly out destination...Koh Samui was looking grand.
But these statistics have really worried me, even though, I am known as 'Safety Mum'..we don't take risks, we don't ride scooters, the children always have their lifejackets and we always use a private transfer van fitted with seat belts. I realise that a lot of these are tragic accidents, and the majority involving alcohol, risk taking and scooter accidents...but What If??? What if one of my children was stung on an Isolated Island by a deadly box jelly fish and we couldn't seek the medical help we needed? What if we were in an accident, that was life threatening??? What If..What if..What If?????
My girlfriend who is heading to Thailand again in April alerted me last night to the beautiful young Australian boy who died after being poisoned in Bali by methanol poisoning. She had previously told me a story about a prior trip to phuket where her husband, Brother In Law and mate were drink spiked with Methanol and how scary it was. I rushed home to watch the interview of Liam Davies and just how tragic it was, imagining if this was my son in 4 or 5 years, and if Liam had proper medical attention Liam would have been still alive. Such tragedy. And then there was the story of my girlfriend and the scooter.....ARGH!!! Luckily, it wasn't that bad, and they lived to tell the story......
Yes, maybe we are taking a risk travelling to Thailand and South east Asia with our children, but we could just as easily have a freak accident in Tropical Far North Queensland or just outside of our home. Even though this has scared me a little , It won't deter us from travelling to Thailand in future years and as the old saying go's 'If you can't afford to take out travel insurance when you travel overseas...then you can't afford to travel...'.
Luckily our travel Insurance is absolutely brilliant and if we are ever in trouble or in an emergency situation they will fly in Medical assistance and mercenaries to rescue us. http://acchealth.com.au/ Stay safe, make sure you are aware of your surroundings and always be extremely careful, not just in Thailand, but worldwide.....xxxx
Sure, we as a family have experienced a few mishaps in Thailand, and as most of you have probably read, we have had 2 encounters with post rabies vaccinations, within days of each other...'Just bad Luck', my husband and I agreed, but after our near death experience in a speedboat In January, which really terrified us, we vowed that we would never travel by speedboat in Thailand again. Next year Fly in, Fly out destination...Koh Samui was looking grand.
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| 2 days later, William lines up for his dose...xxx |
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| Isabella after her first dose of a 5 course Post rabies vaccination course...xxx |
But these statistics have really worried me, even though, I am known as 'Safety Mum'..we don't take risks, we don't ride scooters, the children always have their lifejackets and we always use a private transfer van fitted with seat belts. I realise that a lot of these are tragic accidents, and the majority involving alcohol, risk taking and scooter accidents...but What If??? What if one of my children was stung on an Isolated Island by a deadly box jelly fish and we couldn't seek the medical help we needed? What if we were in an accident, that was life threatening??? What If..What if..What If?????
My girlfriend who is heading to Thailand again in April alerted me last night to the beautiful young Australian boy who died after being poisoned in Bali by methanol poisoning. She had previously told me a story about a prior trip to phuket where her husband, Brother In Law and mate were drink spiked with Methanol and how scary it was. I rushed home to watch the interview of Liam Davies and just how tragic it was, imagining if this was my son in 4 or 5 years, and if Liam had proper medical attention Liam would have been still alive. Such tragedy. And then there was the story of my girlfriend and the scooter.....ARGH!!! Luckily, it wasn't that bad, and they lived to tell the story......
Yes, maybe we are taking a risk travelling to Thailand and South east Asia with our children, but we could just as easily have a freak accident in Tropical Far North Queensland or just outside of our home. Even though this has scared me a little , It won't deter us from travelling to Thailand in future years and as the old saying go's 'If you can't afford to take out travel insurance when you travel overseas...then you can't afford to travel...'.
Luckily our travel Insurance is absolutely brilliant and if we are ever in trouble or in an emergency situation they will fly in Medical assistance and mercenaries to rescue us. http://acchealth.com.au/ Stay safe, make sure you are aware of your surroundings and always be extremely careful, not just in Thailand, but worldwide.....xxxx
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| Paradise....xxx |
That's it. If you can't afford to buy travel insurance, don't travel :)
ReplyDeleteI once was airlifted from Thailand to Singapore, after breaking my shin there. This was a while ago. SOS International was great for this kind of thing.
Things happened, but I think it shouldn't dampen the fact that we get so much from travelling. It definitely opened my eyes and my heart and I am not the same person I was before I started to travel.
I once travelled overland from Indonesia to Europe, through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, before taking Trans-Siberia to Russia and spent almost a year travelling around Europe. The friendliness of people in South East Asian is beyond compared. I definitely want my son to experience what I experienced from my travel there!
OUCH!!! That would hurt!!! I thought it was just our family that was accident prone!!! Thank goodness for travel insurance!!
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely take your son to experience the beauty of South East Asia and the friendliness of the asian people. We just have to be smart travellers and enjoy the experience!!