Keep safe while travelling

[Betti]

in a recent thread, some people argued that it is not very safe for a woman to travel alone in Thailand.
I'd like to give some advice that can help people make their trips as safe as possible.

- keep common sense precautions that you would keep in your own country: take care of valuables, avoid going out late at night, don't walk alone on the beaches at night, think twice about deals that look too good to be true, don't let strangers into your room, don't drink yourself unconscious, don't take drugs, don't try driving a rented motorcycle if you can't drive.

- read up on common scams and annoyances, such as the dangers of taking a bus from Khao San road or the touts at the Grand Palace, the dangers of the full moon party on Ko Pha Ngan.

- get a mobile phone. bring an old crappy phone, get the sim unlocked (about 200-300 baht in small repair shops or big plazas), buy a DTAC economy SIM card for 50 baht that will give you a Thai phone number for 30 days (or more if you top it up by 10 baht a day). store emergency numbers, the number for your embassy, any friends or contacts you have in Thailand. this will also help you contact guesthouses, hotels, agencies, trip organisers, or reserve airline tickets, so pretty useful as well for planning your trip.

- let the receptionist in your hotel / guesthouse know where you are going on a daytrip, if you go by yourself. carry the hotel's/guesthouse's business card with you in case you get lost.

- keep in touch with someone at home (write emails), always let them know which city and what hotel you are staying at.

- if you carry your passport or a copy around, write in it the phone number of your embassy or other contact you may have in Thailand.

- keep your money spread out in several different places: some in a pouch or belt, some in a small pocket of your handbag. my mother always advised me to carry an empty wallet and keep the money in a paper envelope, a searching hand will grab the wallet and leave happily. never leave money in a big backpack that goes in the hold.

- try to team up with other travellers, listen to suggestions, ideas, stories., but don't trust someone just because you are from the same continent.

- if you feel unsafe, need help, feel sick, get bitten by a dog, get lost, have a problem, ask for help. most people are reliable and will be happy to help. if you mistrust everybody, you may put yourself in more danger.

[senaratne]

Thank you, Betti, for your sensible post.

BTW, Once I met a Canadian young girl, traveling all by herself in the train from Chiang Mai to BKK and had a long chat. She had travelled single in all parts of Thailand as well as many parts of Europe. I asked her 'Do you think you are safe?'. She said 'Of course'.

Let me add one item to your list of precautions. 'Don't utter a word about the Thai Royalty while you are there'.

[billyboy]

I also buy a Thai sim when i arrive. I key ....ICE...into my mobile,this stands for: in case of emergancy. Here i store my main contact number. This can be your traveling companion whilst on holiday. I also do this when i am back home in the UK.
Before i travel, i also scan my tickets, passport and all relevant documents, plus important contact numbers.I then e-mail them to myself and also i store them on a small memory stick which i password protect. I keep this with me at all times.
Should the worse happen, this will hopefully save you time and cut down on the paperwork, you can just plug it into the pc to retrieve copies.

[paul_au]

Try and not look like a tourist, where old clothes and an old comfortable pair of shoes, hide a credit card in your shoe and an ATM card into a hidden pocket in your undies. Best of all, always have on you, whether your a man or a woman, a very loud personal alarm and set it off with the slightest sign of trouble, even have your alarm set up to go off automatically if some one tries to remove your empty wallet from your pocket, you would be surprised at the attention these alarms get from the public, and how fast a crimes runs away when it draws attention to them selves from the public in a crowded shopping center.

[Betti]

Paul - if you want to avoid looking like a tourist, then wear a formal shirt and tie / neat blouse and skirt or black pants. that will tell Thais that you work here, and it cuts down touts, taxi drivers, other creeps by 99%.

[Surawut]

Try and not look like a tourist, where old clothes and an old comfortable pair of shoes, hide a credit card in your shoe and an ATM card into a hidden pocket in your undies. Best of all, always have on you, whether your a man or a woman, a very loud personal alarm and set it off with the slightest sign of trouble, even have your alarm set up to go off automatically if some one tries to remove your empty wallet from your pocket, you would be surprised at the attention these alarms get from the public, and how fast a crimes runs away when it draws attention to them selves from the public in a crowded shopping center.

What does a tourist look like Paul?

[Surawut]

Paul - if you want to avoid looking like a tourist, then wear a formal shirt and tie / neat blouse and skirt or black pants. that will tell Thais that you work here, and it cuts down touts, taxi drivers, other creeps by 99%.

That works for me Betti. I always go out neatly dressed in slacks and a matching well pressed shirt. The touts in Sukhumvit etc never bother me.

[Deknoi]

Are you saying that wearing an old beer chang t-shirt and flipflops won't make me look like an established local?

[Sparky]

If you don't want to look like a tourist don't wear a "Same Same But Different" T-shirt.

[Sved]

Excellent advices Betti

Let me just add that you should keep your insurance card with you at all times.

That will certainly speed up things if you need to be admitted to hospital, especially if you are unconscious.