How safe is it to travel around South East Asia

On 9 Mar 2005 06:38:16 -0800, the renowned
wrote:

Girls and women shouldn't go alone unescorted, where ever they go.

It doesn't matter whether it's Australia, the Great Britain, Singapore,
the U.S.A., and so on.

The nastiest things could happened even at the so called 'safest'
place.

Australia is pretty much as 'safe' as the area in the South East Asia.



As for Australia being western.

Hmmm... Western...

Located at the southern hemisphere, located at the eastern hemisphere.

How could have it been western?!

If I want to get there from North America, I'd probably head West.
QED.

Or is it 'western' as being part of Oceania (1984's type)?

I think we're using a cultural compass here...


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
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Yes, I will add my 2 cents to this. My wife is Indonesian and we have
spent time traveling in her home country. We have talked about this and
we agree it is not a good idea for a western woman to travel alone
especially away from tourist areas.

I can't speak about other countries, but as for Jawa I would not advise
you to travel alone. Without knowing the customs and types of places and
situations to avoid you would expose yourself to unnecessary risk. I am
a tall white man, and when I travel over there I don't go far by
myself....I travel with "my family" and have experienced no problems
that way. But you would be inviting trouble. Go to Bali or Thailand but
I would not go solo in Jawa.

Regards@!

Wolfie
.....Ken wrote:

On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 16:37:55 +0800, "Monica"
wrote:


Hi ! Please tell me where to search for information regarding travelling

to

South East Asia.
In particular, I am concerned about security and safety issues for a

young

female traveller, going around either alone or with another girl.
I shall be travelling to the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam,
Indonesia and Australia.
I have decent budget so shall stay in 3 star hotels if possible.
Most of the time, I shall be going around by myself or with my girl

friend

(in Thailand only).
Anyone can help ?


Java is not an ideal place for a young Caucasian woman to travel alone...or
even with another female without confidence, resolve and pepper spray. There
are a few obnoxious young men.


......Ken

Miguel Cruz wrote:
Tchiowa wrote:
Monica wrote:
Hi ! Please tell me where to search for information regarding
travelling
to South East Asia. In particular, I am concerned about security
and
safety issues for a young female traveller, going around either
alone or
with another girl. I shall be travelling to the Philippines,
Thailand,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia.

Cambodia can be dicey in spots and Vietnam is still not really
ready
for the average tourist. Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia are all
no
problem.

I find that the infrastructure in Vietnam is on par with that in
Indonesia
(except for ATMs, which are much more common in the latter).

Have to disagree there. The infrastructure for tourists meaning
changing money, ATMs, quality hotels, ease of access to hotels and
tourist spots, bi-lingual, emergency assistance, etc. is much better in
Indonesia than Vietnam.

And Vietnam is
worlds less scammy than Thailand - in Vietnam, when someone talks to
you,
there is either a sales pitch coming right away, or they really want
to
talk. In Thailand (not to say that this apples to all Thais, not by a
long
shot) quite frequently you'll spend 10 or 15 minutes in a BS
conversation
before it becomes clear that you're being worked for an angle. That I
find
really annoying.

I find it annoying, too. But other than a couple of spots where the
touts "hang out" I don't run into that in Thailand.

snip

Don't get me wrong, I've had a good time in Vietnam the couple of times
I've been. Nothing wrong with going there and I encourage it. But
particularly for a fairly unexperienced traveller (which by virtue of
the questions asked the OP qualifies), Vietnam will be more difficult
than Indonesia or Thailand.

"Spehro Pefhany" muttered about Australia ...


If I want to get there from North America, I'd probably head West.
QED.


Whereas if I wanted to get there from Europe, I'd head East and South.

So - from a US viewpoint, UK, France, Germany, etc. are 'Eastern' countries.
And thus what the rest of us term the 'Middle East' would to you be 'Far
East', since beyond that, you'd fly west . . . . .

I think we're using a cultural compass here...

Don't we all . . . .

Perhaps we should just refer to Oz and NZ as being 'Westernised' countries?

8¬ )

_______
Geoff B

six-toes wrote in message
. com...
thailand safe?, thats questionable for western tourists .
not a month goes by without a tourist being murdered for some reason .


One tourist gets killed out of how many that visit each day? Could just as
easily be killed in your home town?


************************************************* *************************

Briton stabbed to death in southern Thailand

A British man was stabbed to death in southern Thailand after he made
advances toward the assailant's girlfriend, police said Wednesday.

Richard Mark Collins, 35, from Hereford, England, was stabbed Tuesday
night by a Thai taxi driver in the tourist town of Krabi, said police
Lt. Col. Jakra Sawakol. Collins was stabbed twice and rushed to a
hospital, where he later died.

Police arrested Uthen Duangnoi, a 29-year-old taxi driver who said he
stabbed Collins out of anger after the victim made sexual advances
toward Uthen's girlfriend, Jakra said.

Collins' girlfriend, Panida Meedi, 24, said he had been working for
four years for Thai Heritage, one of several companies building a new
international airport on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Collins and Panida lived in Bangkok, but visited Krabi periodically and
were friends with Uthen and his girlfriend, she said.

"Richard went to their house, and I was informed that he was stabbed,"
Panida told The Associated Press. "I don't now how it happened."


Uthen has been detained on murder-related charges, police said. It was
unclear what possible penalty he faces as the exact charges were not
immediately known.

Krabi, a popular tourist spot along Thailand's southern coast, was
among six provinces badly hit by the deadly Asian tsunami on Dec. 26.

A spokesman for the British Embassy in Bangkok was not immediately
available for comment.

************************************************* **

BAIL CONTROVERSY : Court frees tourists' killer

KANCHANABURI: -- Police officer who admitted shooting 2 Britons
released in Kanchanaburi A policeman accused of gunning down two young
British backpackers has been given bail in Kanchanaburi province, where
witnesses are said to be living in fear.

Somchai Wisetsingh, 38, the police sergeant who admitted to killing
Adam Lloyd and Vanessa Arscott in September, has been released from
jail on bail of Bt1 million.

The bail was granted last Thursday by Judge Narong Suthamkoson in
Kanchanaburi but went unreported at the time, the province's chief
public prosecutor Pichet Kasetsin said yesterday.

Pichet said public prosecutors opposed bail for fear that Somchai's
release might affect witnesses and evidence.

"But we have to accept the judgement," Pichet said.

He said public prosecutors had finished assembling the case against
Somchai, who has petitioned public prosecutors for special
consideration in the case. In the petition Somchai claims Lloyd
attacked him first, he added.

He said Somchai's petition would be submitted to the director of the
State Attorney's Regional Office 7 for consideration today along with
the case against him.

"As soon as the director of the regional office makes a decision on
the case, we will charge Somchai in court," Pichet said.

Public prosecutors would then ask the court again to order Somchai
detained in custody to stop him interfering with witnesses and material
evidence, he said.

A source in the Kanchanaburi public prosecutor's office said Somchai
reasoned in his request for bail that he had never previously committed
a crime and promised not to run away.

The source said the judge instructed him to refrain from intimidating
witnesses.

Case officer Lt Colonel Chavalit Biakaew said: "That is Thai law. It
is out of the hands of the police. Anybody in Thailand is entitled to
bail. It's a matter for the courts to decide."

He said that witnesses had nothing to be afraid of.

Although there are some 16 witnesses to the killings almost all were
reluctant to sign statements against Sergeant Somchai.

During the investigation Police Colonel Vej Somboon admitted witnesses
would not come forward and sign statements saying: "This is because
the suspect is a policeman and they are afraid of retaliation because
they all live nearby."

Yesterday, one of the witnesses, who asked for anonymity, said: "This
is exactly what we were all afraid of. Now we are all scared. He must
know who we all are. We don't trust the police or the court here."

Somchai is accused of gunning down with his .38 first Adam Lloyd, 24,
and then running down Vanessa, 23, and finishing her off with bullets
to her neck and chest in September.

Somchai admitted the killings after he was captured following several
weeks on the run.

Although he has apologised indirectly to the family of Vanessa Arscott,
he has not apologised for the killing of Adam Lloyd, who he claimed hit
him several times, causing him to lose face.

The sergeant's release on bail is contentious, given he fled from the
scene and remained at large for over a month.

After the killings he was allowed to go home, pack his bags, go for
treatment to a hospital for facial injuries, visit his sister, and call
his colleagues to demand terms for his surrender.

He was later given shelter by "influential people" near the Burmese
border and surrendered by prior agreement, but only after protests by
British Embassy officials.

--The Nation 2004-11-10


--------------------

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 12:43:29 +1030, "Mike" wrote:


six-toes wrote in message
.com...
thailand safe?, thats questionable for western tourists .
not a month goes by without a tourist being murdered for some reason .


One tourist gets killed out of how many that visit each day? Could just as
easily be killed in your home town?

That would make it one tourist killed out of the million that visit
each month. When you look at it that way it doesn't seem out of line
with what you might see anywhere else.

Chris

Hi,

Having travelled in SEA a lot, I'd consider the danger of catching
Malaria or Dengue -much- higher than for becoming a crime victim in
SEA.

Another realistic danger is to get scammed, stolen or pickpocketed
(1000s of ways for that, so always watch your stuff, even if ppl are
smiling right in your face). This is really a speciality in Asia,
especially Southeast Asia. And (just look @ one of my previous threads)
I still haven't learned all the lessons... ]-/

If you're aware of the above reasons and avoid to move around alone
after dark, I see no (realistic) danger for you. I have met plenty of
ladies travelling alone in SEA, none of them had problems (with
exception of the ones mentioned above).

Hope this helps - have a nice trip!
Pepe


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