Patrick Abboud takes us inside Pak Chong military camp to learn how to survive in troubled hot spots

THIS military training camp is a place so tough not even active participants really want to be there. But what they learn here will save their lives.

EVER wanted to travel to Iran, but been too scared of being kidnapped? Or do you prefer the idea of trekking through Cambodia but have been put off by landmines?

It's understandable given there were 35,000 kidnappings alone across the globe just last year alone - but that's only the ones we hear about.

And while the world is no doubt a wonderful place, it's also a dangerous one and with travellers, journalists and aid workers facing danger in plenty of situations.

SBS journalist Patrick Abboud gained unprecedented access to Thai military camps, Pak Chong - a place so tough not even active participants really want to go there.

Walkley-nominated Abboud, took part in the course where he had intensive training to learn skills on how to survive in life-threatening environments and troubled hot spots.

In The Feed, which goes to air tonight, Abboud takes us into a place few would dare to go, but many intrepid travellers would probably benefit from.

But a word of warning, the week-long course is not for the faint-hearted. It's tough, gruelling, and will leave you exhausted.

Anyone willing and able to take part will be left drained, terrified but also equipped to deal with pretty much anything.

For Abboud, the skills he gained may not necessarily save his life if he was driving through a militia roadblock, but it certainly gave him a much stronger chance of surviving.

And he would also know what to do in the event of being abducted, and is more confident in crossing risky borders safely.

But it's not just learning what to do if you're caught up in a riot, or if someone has a gun. It's about learning how to get out of pretty much any situation.

"It was torture and a real eye opener," Abboud said of his time inside the gruelling camp.

"And despite the fact it was all very controlled it was still based on real-life scenarios. Even though we knew we'd be woken up in the middle of the night, it was so realistic that it was scary."

The seven day course takes participants through a range of real-life situations. Picture: The Feed\SBS 2

The journalist was subjected to intense training which included cross-fit and classroom-based exercises, but also had to endure real-life conditions including sleep and food deprivation.

He and his fellow participants were woken in the middle of the night and kidnapped by men with Russian accents and driven into the Thai jungle.

They were also bundled into a car and subjected to terrifying scenarios including how to dodge landmines and learnt evasive driving to get through militia road blocks.

"Having not grown up around guns and explosives learning about what weapons do and even differentiating between celebratory and hostile fire was confronting," he said.

The experience affected him more than he imagined but as tough as it was, made him a much more confident during his visit to Gaza and the Middle East.

"Even though I had been there before, I didn't feel as threatened this time," he said.

There was also the exercise where he was forced to jump from a flying fox to simulate jumping from a helicopter, an experience which he found the most terrifying of all.

The journalist prepares for the terrifying experience. Picture: The Feed/SBS 2

Abboud said while the course wasn't for the faint-hearted he believed it was vital for anyone travelling to or working in troubled hot spots across the world.

He said Australians were known high-risk travellers and felt anyone heading to any troubled hot spot would benefit from this training.

This year, 92 journalists and media crew have been killed on the frontline and most in Syria and Egypt, followed by Pakistan, Somalia, Brazil, Iraq, Turkey and Bangladesh.

The moment Abboud is forced to simulate jumping out of a helicopter. Picture: The Feed/SBS 2

But it's not just media at risk with 96 aid workers having lost their lives while working to save others overseas.

Trainer and security expert Shaun Filer said the reason he did the course was to help people.

"I mean a lot of us, the guys that help deliver this course, we have a specific set of experiences and background and that past is

able to contribute, to make people safer, and to probably avoid making some of the mistakes that we have," he said.

Hostile Environment Training will be shown on The Feed on SBS 2 at 7.30pm.

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Participants are subjected to a kidnap scenario as part of Hostile Environment Training in Thailand. Picture: The Feed\SBS 2