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Not for me, it's the young nephew and his GF. They're heading to Thailand to trek, plus intend to visit Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and other countries around that [part of the world.
It's by no means a short break, they're intending a minimum of 6months up to about a year away. They're both 22 and intending to find work wherever they can, probably bars etc.
I've done a fair bit of traveling. Most of the UK, western Europe, Eastern Europe and over as far as the Indian sub continent, but not the far east.
So anyone here done anything like this and is there any advice i can offer via yourself ?. I will point out to him to avoid any military type clothing, trousers, waistcoat's hats etc as these are countries where theres a lot of that and the occasional coup.civil unrest, and while in some instances looking like a tourist might attract attention, looking anything military i would think for safety's sake was a big no no.
Also not to photograph army or the like, and basically stick to the tourist stuff and avoid remote villages.
Any advice is very much appreciated. As said, they're only young really and from good areas so maybe not that clued up street wise.He's a 3rd dan black belt in karate,does weights, is 14 stone and 6'1" so is a pretty big strong fella, but being in foreign climbs I feel you need more that that to keep yourself safe.
As also said, I've traveled a lot and you meet very nice people, but you also meet other, not so nice maybe and I'd like them to have a good enjoyable and character building time.
Naturally Im a tad worried. Sure it will be fine but he's my godson 🙂
Done this lots through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia etc. Being a big lad with karate is no help. Pop some local who looses "face" they'll come back with an axe and kill you! Talking your way out of any situation is far better or just don't get into that situation. Smile and have fun is the best safety advice. If poop does hit the fan just leg it out of town ASAP.
Remote villages were always more fun as less tourists and far more interesting experience, lots of places full of "gap year" people all hanging out with other Europeans all day, what's the point.
They are tourists and will look like them, can't be avoided and isn't an issue.
It's a fantastic part of the world culturally, visually and socially just be nice to people and they'll be fine. I understand your concern but I'd be more worried about other westerners more than the locals.
Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and other countries around that
That's South East Asia by the sound of it.
General advice if they are visiting temples they just have to be respectful of the places of worship. Don't touch the statues unnecessarily and try not to make funny pose in front of the statues.
If they happen to visit some "creepy" remote places of worship before entering please ask for permission. i.e. even if no one is guarding the place. Just simply ask for permission quietly before enter assuming "someone" is guarding (usually the statues on each side of the gate or door).
Don't take anything in the jungle or places of worship without permission.
Cambodia west coast near the port - don't get entice into someone offering casino job or some fancy job at large hotel. That is where many young people from the region is being "kidnapped" to work at the scammer call centres. He might be 6'1" but his gf is not, I assume. Try to avoid eating semi-cooked aquatic food or under cooked produce. Might get parasites. Other than that I don't know much as I only visited one town only.
Myanmar - Capital is fine just not the coast that is near to Cambodia because that's why all the casino stuff happens.
Laos - a bit like Thailand many years ago. Food is very similar to Cambodia/Thailand.
Vietnam - I have not heard anything bad yet but just general hassle of trying to get people to buy their stuff.
Indonesia - rather safe but too many islands to consider which one is safer. Bali is a popular island to visit and again watch out for places of worship and local culture.
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, North Borneo all safe. But if they visit North Borneo just try to avoid going to islands that are rather close to the Southern Philippines.
Philippines seem to be safe but only certain southern region (rebels) need to be avoided.
p/s: also the advice above.
The food taste good in that region but I always ended up with severe stomach bug for few days even at my hometown. My stomach is no longer used to the regional bacteria.
Also buy one or two of the water filtering straw if you can't trust the water there.
Food cooked with strong turbo volcano burners is definitely safe to eat. i.e. those cook infront of the dinners.
Food that is luke warm which has been cooked early is better to avoid.
Yep as above, street food is always safer than hotel food I'd say, cooked right in front of you. Learn some local phrases for each country it goes a long way even if it's just the locals laughing at your accent, it's nice to make the effort and always appreciated.
If they do make it to the Cambodia Thai border and see a massive pair of gates with Everton Football Club crest on with no walls that's my cousin's place go say hello!
Don't be a *ick is the no.1 rule in these places. Don't do stuff that causes people to lose face, don't be rude, don't get fighty, don't be sweary at people. You're a long way from home if it does go wrong, so act accordingly.
That said, people in all those places are far less likely to provoke those kind of situations in the first place than here and there's far less crime, so enjoy yourself and have fun, learn and be kind.
Also, this:
My 22 year old daughter and her boyfriend are doing exactly that right now, went on 29th December for 6 months. They won't be working though, they've budgeted £2k/month
I'll post more details and their insta pages in a bit
I've also got a few choice pieces of advice for various areas from my half Chinese sister, who currently lives in China, but has traveled these places and has friends all over SE Asia
Well thanks for the advice, I'll certainly let him know it all, especially not to engage and try to talk your way out of things. I've been in one situation myself in Sri Lanka, Ended up at a party in the middle of the jungle, at some drug dealers house. Place was full of pros, but also military and police. So you dont really know who is who and what they're about.
Had a few, bit of chat, read the room and made my excuses. Strolled out then legged it 😆 trying to find your way back to the digs on the coast in a pitch black half flooded jungle at 3am is a pretty mental situ to be in 😆 😆
Years ago we travelled Indonesia for 5 weeks. Was lovely, just used a Lonely Planet and found our way on public transport. Hiking Mt Rinjani on Lombok a highlight. Definitely +1 to learning a bit of language, politeness and appropriate clothing / behaviour appreciated; knowing how to order food and pay for a bus ticket was useful. More remote and off the beaten track the better imo / ime.
If they want to work make sure they understand visas before they go, and don't overstay. A real bugbear of mine of people thinking the rules don't apply to them.
All this talk of fights and altercations? What?
The wife and I went pretty much everywhere in that region apart from Borneo and the Phillipines and we had a magical time. Did a mix of tourist trap / off the beaten track stuff and we had precisely 2 instances of "hassle" in 7 months:
1) motorbiking up the coast of Vietnam approaching Da Nang and we had a few people pull up to the side of us telling us the main road ahead was closed and to follow them for the diversion - you'd have to be particularly clueless to fall for that one.
2) Travelling across East Nusa Tenggara and got stuck in one of those "fallen tree" road blocks. About 10 young men wandering about with HUGE machetes and our driver seemed very "on edge" but he just paid them a couple of US $ and we were on our way. Not sure how we'd have dealt with that if we were travelling alone.
Overall it's as others have said above - don't be a dick and keep your wits for obvious scams. Most of the foreigners we saw working were doing so in small beachfront hotels, local-owned bars and the like, although my wife did work at a school in Cambodia for a month while I was back home earning some more spending money.
All this talk of fights and altercations? What?
Well its not really talks about it, its more about doing what you can to avoid these things, because while it might be safe as a nunnery, you have to admit there have been stories, there have been incidents, and we're from Glasgow so you have to kind of think in far away places which have problems being 3rd world countries, whats the best advice from people who have been there and learned how to avoid any issues.
Forewarned is forearmed
My Sister(his Mum) traveled down through Vietnam many moons ago with 2 friends, both female, and had no real issues. The guy who paints my house's wife is Thai and sometimes lives with her family, and they've a home there. But to be safe you need as much info as possible, and these are changed times.
Example 1 and Example 2 bear this out. Plus my own experience of mixing with strangers in a host of situations tells me prudence is the order of the day. The nephew is young and outwith a Tenerife holiday with the boys hasn't a lot of experience of travel.
Forgot to mention.
The rules for drug trafficking is capital punishment (death) especially in M'sia, Singapore and Brunei (Brunei might just be long sentence due to the Sultan's good relationship with the late Queen), while the rest are long prison sentence.
Also the above advice.
"which have problems being 3rd world countries" I would advise they don't take that kind of attitude with them. Just because a country is poor by GDP or because there is poverty and underdevelopment does not necessarily equate to it being more dangerous than the UK. And just because there is poverty doesn't necessarily mean that the 'tourist dollar' is king, they just need the rule no 1 "treat others as you would like to be treated". As far as I can tell from the statistics most violent crime in places like Thailand relates to gang crime due to the sex and drugs industries, which can in many ways be driven by western tourists. There have been attacks at things like the Full Moon parties which is of course awful, but it doesn't seem much different to the risks of being drunk or drugged on a night out in the UK. The statistics for 'personal' crimes and thefts are lower than the UK. If they are going for an adventure to explore a different place with an open mind - rather than just going to sit on a beach and go to parties with gap year kids - then I am sure they will have a fabulous time.