There have been many reports of the surgery being done wrong, where people end up with blurry or double vision, or fucked-up night vision. The 1 in 10k odds sound right, but that's little consolation to you if you're the 1. Again, if contacts correct you to 20/20, why bother?
With a real pro, the risk is extremely small. the risk for infection seems to be the greatest risk, and that's about 1/10000. The newer computer programs for the lasers are very good, with a low error rate. And a bad surgery can even be fixed.
Contacts carry with them a risk of infection as well, but it seems to be mostly related to how they are used (which = the same with lasik as well, the competency of the doctor and the equipment used).
If you are the 1 that get's an infection, the literature seems to indicate that the risk of getting a permanent eye injury from that infection = very low.
Contacts suck, they are uncomfortable, and the risks in total with a lasik surgery performed by a pro with the best equipment = so small that it's worth it in Debusseys opinion.