The 10 Most Dangerous Countries for U.S. Travelers

[mountaineer]

The 10 Most Dangerous Countries for U.S. Travelers
Tim Winship
Smarter Travel (excerpted; click on link for entire article)

If you were to judge solely by the number of travel advisories issued by the U.S. State Department, Mexico would be the world’s most danger-prone country for U.S. overseas travelers. Indeed, far more Americans have been killed in Mexico — 598 between 2009 and 2016 — than in any other country. Afghanistan, where 84 Americans were killed during the same period, is a distant second.

But that doesn’t mean Mexico is the most dangerous country, because the raw data doesn’t account for the fact that vastly more Americans visit Mexico than Afghanistan. What’s needed is an analysis that puts deaths in the context of travel volume.

With that in mind, data.world looked at the number of Americans killed in other countries compared to the number of American visitors to those same countries. Ranking countries according to the number of deaths per 100,000 visitors yields the following most-dangerous-10 list, from most to least risky:

    1. Pakistan
    2. Thailand
    3. Philippines
    4. Haiti
    5. Honduras
    6. Nigeria
    7. Belize
    8. Guyana
    9. Egypt
    10. Mexico

Rest of article

Thankfully, I have no reason to travel to any of the above destinations. 

[Cripplecreek]

Interesting that only Pakistan and Egypt are what we would consider to be muslim nations. Nigeria and Thailand are oddballs. Very modern and civilized urban areas with muslim attacks coming from the fringes.

[mountaineer]

When I think of Thailand, I think of Bangkok and all the creepy Western men who go there for the child sex workers. 

I have a friend in NJ who married a Nigerian man. I suspect he was happy to get the heck out.

[Cripplecreek]

When I think of Thailand, I think of Bangkok and all the creepy Western men who go there for the child sex workers. 

"Civilized" is a relative term.

I have a friend in NJ who married a Nigerian man. I suspect he was happy to get the heck out.

My ex wife and I used to have dinner with a married couple of Nigerian doctors she worked for. They both spoke with somewhat British accents. He wore a cowboy hat and boots. He said he grew up listening to old school country and western music in his father's music store in Abuja. He was a big fan of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.

[mountaineer]

From another travel source:

Is Europe safe to visit this summer?

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but with recent attacks throughout Europe, airports have heightened their security. Between May 1 and September 1, the U.S. State Department will issue a travel alert for Europe. Although that may sound scary, an alert is actually less extreme than a travel warning, which was released immediately after the events in France, Russia, Sweden and the U.K. It’s more of a general notice to inform Americans to be cautious in crowded areas like tourist attractions and transportation hubs rather than dissuade them from taking that bucket-list European vacation altogether. ...

More at Jetsetter.

[UnwashedPeasant]

North Korea, Syria and Afghanistan are not on the list.

My vacation plans are still OK.

[Wingnut]

North Korea, Syria and Afghanistan are not on the list.

My vacation plans are still OK.

Get a One-way ticket just to be safe.

[driftdiver]

Turkey isn't on the list either.

[240B]

Weird list?


Off the top of my head I could make a completely different much more accurate list.


Belize? Really?

[Wingnut]

Weird list?


Off the top of my head I could make a completely different much more accurate list.


Belize? Really?

Isn't that where Nancy Holloway met that urine whatshisname.

[240B]

Isn't that where Nancy Holloway met that urine whatshisname.

Aruba - Caribbean
not even close

[Wingnut]

Aruba - Caribbean
not even close

Okay then. 

[mountaineer]

Weird list?

They went by the numbers of Americans killed in each country, proportionately to numbers traveled. Not many Americans are vacationing in North Korea or Afghanistan, for example.

[geronl]

When I think of Thailand, I think of Bangkok and all the creepy Western men who go there for the child sex workers. 

guess the "age of consent" in the Philippines? (one of the poorest countries in Asia apparently)

[240B]

guess the "age of consent" in the Philippines? (one of the poorest countries in Asia apparently)

In the Philippines anything goes. There are bars there named Schoolgirl Camp, Girl Scouts Cafe, etc. But more than that, it seemed that every woman I met there, waitress, checkout girl, any girl/woman walking down the street, was ready to go for money. It seemed like all the women and girls there were for sale.


I was sitting in a bar drinking Mojo with some buddies and the mamasan kept bringing girls over to table pushing us to buy one. I kept saying, No, No, me cherry-boy (virgin). She kept bring one girl after another, and I was still cherry-boy. So finally, she calls out in a huffy frustrated way, 'Ok you cherry-boy, I got you cherry-girl', and she was pushing some little girl, I'm guessing 10 to 13, toward the table. Oh NO! We all got up and walked out. That was it for us.


Philippines is a wild ride. You can get just about anything you can imagine there. I want a one legged, pregnant, 35 year old, redhead. Yes!, Yes!, We have that. Room 22. You pay now! You pay!