Safety
Is it safe, and what do I need before I go
What the UK and US governments advise, passport rules, the jabs a clinic will ask about, and measured homicide, air quality and disaster risk — by country.
Tools in this section
Government Travel Advice
What the UK FCDO and the US State Department say about going — their levels side by side, the latest change, and the FCDO's passport and visa lines for British citizens.
GET /api/travel-advice.json
Vaccines & Health Prep
The yellow-fever certificate position, the vaccines NaTHNaC recommends for most and some UK travellers, and whether malaria is a consideration — facts with the source page linked.
GET /api/health-prep.json
Homicide, Air Quality & Disaster Risk
Measured danger once there: intentional homicides per 100,000 and PM2.5 exposure from the World Bank, each with its year, beside the INFORM disaster-risk band.
GET /api/safety-stats.json
Health System Capacity
Doctors, nurses and hospital beds per 10,000 people beside the UHC coverage index — how much health system exists, not whether a visitor can use it.
GET /api/health-capacity.json
Driving Rules Abroad
Which side of the road, speed limits in the unit signed there, the drink-drive limit, equipment you must carry and whether you need an International Driving Permit.
GET /api/driving-rules.json
Country Risk (INFORM)
Hazard exposure, vulnerability and whether institutions could cope — reported on its own, never folded into a cost or livability score.
GET /api/risk.json
Every figure here is computed, not collected
Nothing on this site is a crowdsourced estimate or an editorial top ten. Each tool runs a published dataset — World Bank, IMF, OECD, Eurostat, WHO, HUD — through an engine you can call yourself, and every JSON response carries a citation naming the source and the year it refers to. Where a figure is modelled rather than measured, the page says so.
Each tool above has a free JSON API and an MCP tool, listed on the card. See how it works or the ranked answers if you would rather start from a shortlist than a calculator.
Not sure which tool to start with? Ask the adviser what matters to you (Pro), and it will work through these figures for you.
Other questions
- Compare countries — What is my money actually worth there?
- What a month costs — What does living there actually cost?
- Earning and staying — What should I charge, and how long does my money last?
- Where to go, and whether you can — Where should I go — and am I allowed to?
- Working from there — Can I actually do my job from there?
- Will my money work there — Will my money work there?
- What must I comply with — What must I comply with?
- Can I afford to retire there — Can I afford to retire there?
- Can I run a business there — Can I run a business there?
Official advice and measured figures with their source and date, for information only — conditions change; read the source before travelling. For hazard, vulnerability and coping capacity in full, use the country-risk tool.
What do the UK and US governments say about going?
Two foreign ministries grade the same country on different scales and often disagree; both are shown as published, with the date of the FCDO's latest change and its passport and visa lines for British citizens. For information only — read the linked page before travelling.
🇹🇭 Thailand
- UK FCDO
- Advises against all but essential travel to parts (updated 2026-09-18)
- Latest FCDO change
- Updated information on visa exemption scheme, business ownership and deportation ('Entry requirements' and ‘Safety and security’ pages)
- US State Department
- Level 1: exercise normal precautions (updated 2026-07-06)
- Passport validity
- To enter Thailand, your passport must have an 'expiry date' at least 6 months after the date you arrive and have at least 1 blank page.
- Visa (British citizens)
- From 15 September 2026, if you enter Thailand under the visa exemption scheme, you can stay for up to 30 days for tourism only. Visa-exempt entry does not cover business travel, including attending conferences, meetings or other business activities. If you are travelling for business purposes, you should obtain the appropriate visa before you travel.
- Health risks the FCDO lists
- Zika virus, malaria and dengue, rabies
FCDO page · State Department advisory
- Official advice and statistics as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. Conditions change; check the source before travelling.
- The FCDO (UK) and the US State Department grade travel differently and often disagree; neither is rescored here. Entry requirements are the FCDO's for British citizens — other passports differ.
Least restricted, by both governments
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom — / US 2
- 🇺🇸 United States none / US —
- 🇦🇷 Argentina none / US 1
- 🇦🇺 Australia none / US 1
- 🇨🇦 Canada none / US 1
- 🇨🇿 Czechia none / US 1
- 🇬🇷 Greece none / US 1
- 🇭🇺 Hungary none / US 1
UK FCDO foreign travel advice (gov.uk Content API, Open Government Licence) and US Department of State advisory levels, 41 of 41. Refreshed 2026-09-20. JSON
What will a travel clinic ask about?
The yellow-fever certificate rule, the vaccines the UK's national travel-health centre recommends for most travellers and for some, and whether malaria comes into it — a list to take to an appointment, not a prescription. The linked page carries the reasoning.
🇧🇷 Brazil
- Yellow-fever certificate
- No certificate requirement · yellow-fever risk in the country
- Most travellers
- Hepatitis A, Tetanus, Typhoid
- Some travellers
- Chikungunya, Dengue, Hepatitis B, Rabies, Tuberculosis, Yellow fever
- Malaria
- Guidance exists — risk varies by area; see the page
- Risks the FCDO lists
- yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, oropouche, high UV levels
- Official advice and statistics as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. Conditions change; check the source before travelling.
- Vaccine lists are NaTHNaC's recommendations for UK travellers and depend on itinerary, activities and medical history; a travel clinic decides for you, ideally 8 weeks before departure.
TravelHealthPro (NaTHNaC), facts read from each country page, 40 of 41; the UK has no page of its own. A yellow-fever certificate rule of some kind applies in 14 of them. This page read 2026-09-20; site-wide refresh 2026-09-20. JSON
How dangerous is it once you are there, measured?
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people and PM2.5 exposure, each with the year it was measured, beside the INFORM disaster-risk band. Homicide counts killings, not pickpockets or traffic; PM2.5 is a national average that a capital can be far worse than.
| Country | Homicides /100k | PM2.5 µg/m³ | Disaster risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 0.91 (2023) | 8.8 (2023) | low (2.4) |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | 19.28 (2023) | 13.4 (2023) | medium (4.7) |
| 🇿🇦 South Africa | — | 27.7 (2023) | high (5.1) |
- Official advice and statistics as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. Conditions change; check the source before travelling.
- Homicide counts intentional killings only, not petty crime or road deaths; PM2.5 is a national population-weighted mean, so a capital can be far worse. Each figure carries its own year.
- No homicide figure at the 2023+ vintage for South Africa; the key is absent, not zero.
Lowest homicide rate
- 🇸🇬 Singapore 0.07
- 🇯🇵 Japan 0.23
- 🇰🇷 South Korea 0.48
- 🇲🇹 Malta 0.56
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia 0.57
- 🇮🇹 Italy 0.57
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland 0.60
- 🇮🇪 Ireland 0.65
Full ranking: countries with the lowest homicide rate. Disaster risk in full: country risk (INFORM).
World Bank WDI: intentional homicides (UNODC) and PM2.5 exposure, newest observation at or after 2023 (72 and 164 of 41); INFORM Risk (EC JRC) for the band. Refreshed 2026-09-07. No homicide figure at that vintage for Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, China, DR Congo, Dominica, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe. JSON
How much health system is there per person?
Doctors, nurses and hospital beds per 10,000 people, from WHO (beds from WHO or OECD, whichever is newer — the row says which), beside the UHC service-coverage index. Density says how much exists, not whether a visitor can use it or what it costs; the healthcare tab on Costs covers out-of-pocket spending.
🇩🇪 Germany
- Doctors per 10,000
- 45.9 (2023)
- Nurses and midwives per 10,000
- 124 (2023)
- Hospital beds per 10,000
- 75.9 (2024, OECD)
- UHC service coverage (0–100)
- 87
- Official advice and statistics as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. Conditions change; check the source before travelling.
- Density is not access: doctors, nurses and beds per 10,000 say how much health system exists, not whether a visitor can use it or what it costs. The UHC service-coverage index beside them measures coverage; the healthcare tab on the Costs hub measures out-of-pocket cost. Bed counts come from WHO or OECD and the row says which.
Most doctors per 10,000
- 🇬🇷 Greece 67.1
- 🇵🇹 Portugal 60.2
- 🇮🇹 Italy 53.1
- 🇦🇷 Argentina 50.9
- 🇳🇴 Norway 49.8
- 🇩🇪 Germany 45.9
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland 45.6
- 🇩🇰 Denmark 45.3
Full ranking: countries with the most doctors per person.
WHO Global Health Observatory (doctors 36 of 41, nurses 36), hospital beds from WHO or OECD (31); newest at or after 2023. Refreshed 2026-09-05. JSON
Driving there: what's different?
Which side of the road, the default speed limits as signed (in miles or kilometres an hour, never converted), the drink-drive limit, what the law says you must carry, and whether you need an International Driving Permit. Hand-curated from transport authorities; each entry carries the page it rests on and the date. Signs and local rules always win.
🇫🇷 France
- Drives on the
- right
- Towns
- 50 km/h
- Rural roads
- 80 km/h
- Motorways
- 130 km/h — Motorways 110 km/h in rain; many departments restored 90 on some roads.
- Alcohol limit
- 0.05 g/100 ml — 0.02 for probationary licences.
- Must carry
- reflective vest, warning triangle, breathalyser
- IDP needed
- No, for a UK photocard licence
- Source
- securite-routiere.gouv.fr · 2026-09-13 (secondary)
- Official advice and statistics as published by the named sources on the dates shown, for information only. Conditions change; check the source before travelling.
- National defaults for cars: signs, regions, weather and vehicle class override them, and novice and professional drivers often face a lower alcohol limit (see bacNote). Speeds are shown in the unit signed in that country and never converted. The IDP position is GOV.UK's for a UK photocard licence; other licences can differ, and hire companies set their own rules.
- One or more entries were read from secondary reporting because the official page could not be fetched; see each row's confidence.
Highest motorway limits
- 🇵🇱 Poland 140 km/h
- 🇦🇷 Argentina 130 km/h
- 🇨🇿 Czechia 130 km/h
- 🇩🇰 Denmark 130 km/h
- 🇫🇷 France 130 km/h
- 🇬🇷 Greece 130 km/h
- 🇭🇺 Hungary 130 km/h
- 🇮🇹 Italy 130 km/h
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 120 km/h
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland 120 km/h
- 🇨🇱 Chile 120 km/h
- 🇨🇳 China 120 km/h
- 🇨🇴 Colombia 120 km/h
- 🇪🇸 Spain 120 km/h
- 🇮🇪 Ireland 120 km/h
- 🇮🇳 India 120 km/h
- 🇵🇹 Portugal 120 km/h
- 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 120 km/h
- 🇹🇭 Thailand 120 km/h
- 🇹🇷 Türkiye 120 km/h
- 🇻🇳 Vietnam 120 km/h
- 🇿🇦 South Africa 120 km/h
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 70 mph
- 🇦🇺 Australia 110 km/h
- 🇧🇷 Brazil 110 km/h
- 🇲🇽 Mexico 110 km/h
- 🇲🇾 Malaysia 110 km/h
- 🇳🇴 Norway 110 km/h
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand 110 km/h
- 🇸🇪 Sweden 110 km/h
- 🇪🇬 Egypt 100 km/h
- 🇮🇩 Indonesia 100 km/h
- 🇯🇵 Japan 100 km/h
- 🇰🇷 South Korea 100 km/h
- 🇳🇬 Nigeria 100 km/h
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands 100 km/h
- 🇵🇭 Philippines 100 km/h
- 🇸🇬 Singapore 90 km/h
No national motorway limit: US, DE, CA.
Hand-curated from transport authorities; 11 of 41 countries drive on the left. 1 entries were read first-hand, 40 from consistent secondary reporting where the official site could not be fetched (marked). Reviewed 2026-09-13. JSON