# Who was the worst pirate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750 "2010-09-23T06:25:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/41 "2010-09-29T00:51:58Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > > [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > > > If we keep them separate, I think Rackham was a pirate and since he invented “the plank” maybe he deserves the title. For some reason I think the buccanneers tended to be crueler than pirates, maybe because they still cared about nationalities and religious faiths. > > I think you are referring to “Calico Jack” Rackham, though he never forced anyone to “walk the plank”, which was a much later addition of fiction writers as far as I know. > > However, [Calico Jack](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_Jack)belongs in any discussion of pirates because, despite his own utter incompetence, his name will forever be linked with [Anne Bonney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bonny)and [Mary Read](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Read). Love the girls, but actually I was confusing Rackham with Major Stede Bonnett (I knew Rackham was a low level player but I still thought he had come up with the plank idea. Not the worst torture ever devised by a pirate, but as it is such a staple, now, of pirate lore, you gotta get some points for coming up with the idea). Eward Low, previously mentionned here sounds like a good candidate for worst pirate, and I’ll still rank L’Olonnais as worst buccaneer. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/42 "2010-09-29T04:46:56Z")
> [@Captain\_Midnight](#): > > I think it is strange that there is actually sea piracy going on now, in the 21st Century. I thought for some reason that piracy more or less died out over a 100 years ago due basically to the design of the ships and improvements in defense and weapons on board otherwise targeted ships. > > Did pirates ever use the Jolly Roger? Did any of them own a parrot? How many pirates to a boat? Who owned the boat? How many of the things that is stereotypical about pirates, and which were fantasies? The Master speaks, [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2729/why-are-pirates-depicted-with-a-parrot-on-their-shoulder) and [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/998/why-was-the-pirate-flag-called-the-jolly-roger). Despite the action off Somalia, _Newsweek_ has named Southeast Asia as the worst area for piracy. Story [here](http://www.google.co.th/search?hl=th&q=pirates+newsweek+%22southeast+asia%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=). Excerpt: **“Since 2000, Southeast Asia has had the most dangerous waters in the world. Malaysia and the islands of the Indonesian archipelago have seen the lion’s share of sea piracy since 2000.”** ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/43 "2010-09-29T05:07:36Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Despite the action off Somalia, _Newsweek_ has named Southeast Asia as the worst area for piracy. Story [here](http://www.google.co.th/search?hl=th&q=pirates+newsweek+%22southeast+asia%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=). Excerpt: **“Since 2000, Southeast Asia has had the most dangerous waters in the world. Malaysia and the islands of the Indonesian archipelago have seen the lion’s share of sea piracy since 2000.”** Even as far back as 1988, a couple I encountered who spent their lives sailing the world, had been warned by the Australian government to steer clear of SE Asia unless they kept automatic weapons on board. They been told to keep some distance away from the continent and several specific islands, but I couldn’t name them now. I assume this is related to the growth in trade and increased industrialization in the area. Piracy must be extremely attractive to an Indonesian fisherman scraping by, while he watches cargo ships filled with plasma TVs pass by. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/44 "2010-09-29T06:27:37Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Piracy must be extremely attractive to an Indonesian fisherman scraping by, while he watches cargo ships filled with plasma TVs pass by. Piracy in Asia goes back millenia. Current Asian piracy isn’t usually about the cargo which is generally to bulky etc to get at and/or carry off in small craft. It is just about getting on board and threatening the master till he opens the ship’s safe, which would typically have a few thousand in cash. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/45 "2010-09-29T06:38:20Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Current Asian piracy isn’t usually about the cargo which is generally to bulky etc to get at and/or carry off in small craft. It is just about getting on board and threatening the master till he opens the ship’s safe, which would typically have a few thousand in cash. I wasn’t thinking that he’d steal the cargo, but the feeling of injustice from living in poverty while seeing signs of other’s prosperity. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/46 "2010-09-29T12:18:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > > > [This article](http://www.vietka.com/Vietnamese_Boat_People/HorribleStatistics.htm) doesn’t mention a specific pirate leader, and the article isn’t well sourced, but to me, the actions of Thai pirates during the Vietnamese Boat People diaspora are worse than the crimes of Teach, Roberts, _et al_ that you all have already ably mentioned. Perhaps **Siam Sam** can chime in, but I was told it was not uncommon in the early 80s for bodies to frequently wash ashore in Thailand/Malaysia from the actions of these pirates. > > You are absolutely correct. The Vietnamese boat people were horribly victimized by all sorts of pirates in this region. No one knows how many were killed after being robbed of their meager possessions. Vietnamese boat people were always washing up on the shore down South on the peninsula. An American friend of mine who lived down South at the time, an author, wrote a fictional novel called [Boat People](http://www.dcothai.com/product_info.php?products_id=32) with this theme. > > Pirates remain active. The problem with catching them is that none is a full-time professional pirate, like the movie pirates who spend their off hours in the pirate lair drinking rum and going “Yo ho ho!” They’re generally all fishermen who freelance as pirates as the opportunity arises. Fits the description of the coyotes working the Straits of Gibraltar, too. They don’t bother rob ships, preferring to rape and rob people who want passage to Europe instead. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/47 "2010-09-29T12:38:54Z")
With my southern drawl, blond hair/blue eyes, and impressive physique, I don’t make a very good pirate irl. Online, however, I’m the terror of the Caribbean! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/48 "2010-09-29T16:01:56Z")
Peter Benchley’s 1979 novel _The Island_ is a pretty good (if highly implausible) book, later made into a movie starring Michael Caine, about modern-day piracy in the Caribbean. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/49 "2010-10-01T13:40:00Z")
Pirates are violent because they’re always angry. And they’re angry just because they **arrrrr!**. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750/50 "2010-10-01T14:47:18Z")
Mike Leach, former head coach of the the Texas Tech Red Raiders, was by far the worst pirate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-worst-pirate/554750.md?page=2)