Bangkok, along with other Coconuts cities including Yangon, Manila, and Jakarta, has been named amongst the most dangerous cities in the world to live in — it ranked near the bottom of the Safe Cities Index by magazine The Economist.
The study, which was released last week, analyzed 60 cities in four safety categories including digital, health, infrastructure, and personal security. Bangkok ranked 49th with a score of 60.05 out of a possible score of 100.
The Thai capital’s score was dragged down mainly by its personal security issues. Alongside cities such as Karachi, Pakistan; Istanbul, Turkey; and Mumbai, India, Bangkok ranked 4th in the world in terms of how at-risk residents are for crime, violence, and terrorism.
Regionally, Yangon ranked near the bottom at 59th place, Manila came in at 55th, and Jakarta was 47th. Kuala Lumpur was in the middle of the ranking at 31st place — on the same level as Beijing and Shanghai.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Singapore took second place as the world’s second safest city after Tokyo, while Hong Kong came in at ninth place.
At the bottom of the Index was Karachi, Pakistan, due to its frequent and severe terrorist attacks.
The safest cities in the world:
- Tokyo, Japan
- Singapore, Singapore
- Osaka, Japan
- Toronto, Canada
- Melbourne, Australia
- Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Sydney, Australia
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Hong Kong, China
- Zurich, Switzerland
The least safe cities in the world:
- Karachi, Pakistan
- Yangon, Myanmar
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Manila, the Philippines
- Caracas, Venezuela
- Quito, Ecuador
- Tehran, Iran
- Cairo, Egypt
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Bangkok, Thailand