First off, let me say that Christy's original comment that sparked this debate was over the top. And I agree that, should she wish to start a consumer boycott of Thailand, she's certainly within her rights, and totally inappropriate for this forum.
As someone who rides a scooter in LoS everyday, anyone would have a hard time convincing me that transportation safety is Priority #1 around here. But again, this isn't the appropriate forum for these types of discussions.
What is legitimate IMO, is a discussion of endemic corruption, the structural components of the Thai aviation industry and regulating authorities, and their effects on the safety of air transportation here.
If you start at the lowest levels, there ARE plenty of people here in the industry and government who DO care about safety. IU wouldn't have been able to gather the documentation she has on out and out criminal behavior at 1-2-Go, and a preponderance of evidence suggesting complicity by DCAT, unless that was true... even at 1-2-Go.
Going up to the carrier level, I would agree that PG, TG, and SGA/Nok operate at a much higher standard of safety than others overseen by DCAT. However, I wouldn't overgeneralize that there aren't individuals in those organizations who place safety further down their priority list. And I especially wouldn't aver that DCAT or any of the aviation-related state enterprises are immune to pressure and influence from TG. The structure of the state enterprise system, the interrelations and transfers of personnel between industry and government regulators, and even practices such as DCAT Safety Inspection Officers being carried on the payrolls of industry participants invites questioning of the appearance of conflict of interest, at the very least.
At the CAA level, the whole country must be painted with a broad brush, no matter how unfair to individuals or individual operators.
Dear Garuda,
While it's true you've passed your IATA audit, we have concluded that the Indonesian CAA is still FUBAR. We regret to inform you that the ban on your airline operating in European airspace will continue indefinitely.
Should your local CAA ever meet our standards, we invite you to reapply for traffic rights.
Best Wishes,
EASA
*Fake letter to illustrate a point of discussion.
And, based on what's been posted even in this thread, it's clear that the FAA (through its IASA program or interminable delays implementing NTSB recommendations) and EASA (as noted with the Siem Reap ban) are either totally incompetent, or themselves subject to influences that keep them from making Safety-First decisions. So it's not exclusive to Thailand. As actions by these two bodies are widely viewed by the traveling public as the sole indicators of air transportation safety reliability, especially when planning trips abroad, to question the information contained in their pronouncements seems legitimate.
Blue skies.