Anyone Worked In Papua New Guinea

[choppychugger]

Have any of you Expats in Thailand worked in or around PNG?

My company has just taken on a 3 year contract, exploration drilling out in the jungle somewhere.

Our day rate has gone up considerably so I am guessing there is some danger involved.

Any advice appreciated

Choppy

[angiud]

Good luck!

[choppychugger]

Good luck!

They look friendly. Is cannibalism still the norm out there?

[mrtoad]

Good luck!

They look friendly. Is cannibalism still the norm out there?

Not sure, but they still advertise Bic razors on TV in PNG, which is pretty close to cannibalism.

[Carib]

One of the dangers...

[GuestHouse]

We had a business manager go out there to start up and office - He was never heard of again... It is believed that the locals ate him.

[Carib]

We had a business manager go out there to start up and office - He was never heard of again... It is believed that the locals ate him.

Maybe this is him, we found a very adapted guy there...

[DB84]

I used to work in Indonesia. From what I've heard you shouldn't expect much.

[think_too_mut]

Have any of you Expats in Thailand worked in or around PNG?

My company has just taken on a 3 year contract, exploration drilling out in the jungle somewhere.

Our day rate has gone up considerably so I am guessing there is some danger involved.

Any advice appreciated

Choppy

I did in 1995. It was hel_l on earth. Many people say, since then it has considerably - worsened.

Forget about rubbbish "canibalism", that's a distant past, also pictures of locals dressed up come from clueless (rare) tourists - the locals like that are as dangerous as American Indians whose only purpose is to take pics with and for tourists.

It's city crime ("rascals") that is unstoppable and unspeakably cruel. The crowd is much like shoeless idle mob seen in reports from Uganda or Sudan.

I was in Port Moresby, the worst place therre, but if you are out in the sticks then your life would probably be like living on an oil rig and probably safe. Do not expect outing, women, even restaurants. A canteen, pray the cook on on/off shift is good.

Expect to see many coworkerrs who are clinical alcoholics (only PNG would give them work) and if you have heard of rugged Alaskans, multiply that by 10 and you can imagine what you are throwing yourself into.

The place is shockingly expensive - everything has to come from Australia. A carton of milk could be 4-5$. Hotels are so hard to run to a standard that Novotel (the best hotel then) was 350$ while that same brand at Sydney's Darling Harbour was 120$.

It's probably much harder in PNG (due to safety reasons) than doing same work in, say, Burma.

[Boksida]

I worked on exploration jobs around the Gulf of Papua in the late 60s and it was not too bad then as Australia still ran the place. Port Moresby was a pleasant place to live and work.

Since Independence (or whatever they call it) it has spiralled downhill and Port Moresby is considered a dangerous and violent place to work. I last worked in PNG on Lihir Island which was OK as it is more or less company controlled. Madang seemed a decent place to be and Rabaul was not too bad but had been devastated by a volcano. I still know people working there and jobsites are generally safe and secure.

[choppychugger]

Thanks for the interesting replies.

Been speaking to a couple of older boys on the rig - The stories vary from, not turning your back to the jungle for fear of blow dart to the neck, trees being cut down over makeshift roads ensued by bandits attacking your mode of transport, to moths the size of an average human head.

From what I'm hearing I don't think it's worth the extra 250 bux a day.

choppy

[billd766]

I spent 4 months there last year working on the Digicel mobile network.

I lived in Mt Hagen and I loved the place though it wasnt the most advanced place in the world.

I personally had no problems other than 4 guys carrying what might have been guns running out in the road to stop me but they ran away when I tried to run a couple over. I did have a 4 man team carjacked but they were let go a couple of hours later and given some of their own money back to cover their bus fare.

The unofficial word from the police was that if there is a proper road block there will be a lot of guys around. If there are only a couple then dont stop and if they dont get out of the way them run them over as they wont complain to the police.

There used to be a riot in the town about once a week as it is a very tribal country. Our delivery company had a Mack truck and trailer hi-jacked and burned.

On the other hand most of the local people I met were genuinely friendly and helpful though I wouldn't want to take any of the girls home to meet my mother.

I enjoyed my time there but it is not the country that I would want to live in.

The income tax rate was around 40%.

A lot of expats carry guns and yes it is dangerous if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I loved it there but.....

[choppychugger]

I spent 4 months there last year working on the Digicel mobile network.

I lived in Mt Hagen and I loved the place though it wasnt the most advanced place in the world.

I personally had no problems other than 4 guys carrying what might have been guns running out in the road to stop me but they ran away when I tried to run a couple over. I did have a 4 man team carjacked but they were let go a couple of hours later and given some of their own money back to cover their bus fare.

The unofficial word from the police was that if there is a proper road block there will be a lot of guys around. If there are only a couple then dont stop and if they dont get out of the way them run them over as they wont complain to the police.

There used to be a riot in the town about once a week as it is a very tribal country. Our delivery company had a Mack truck and trailer hi-jacked and burned.

On the other hand most of the local people I met were genuinely friendly and helpful though I wouldn't want to take any of the girls home to meet my mother.

I enjoyed my time there but it is not the country that I would want to live in.

The income tax rate was around 40%.

A lot of expats carry guns and yes it is dangerous if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I loved it there but.....

Your stories sound similar to what I've been hearing here from some of the guys. Wasn't sure about the tax rate, am sure my company will be paying it though.

Thanks

choppy

[billd766]

Just as a matter of interest they have a lot of rock concerts over there, using real rocks however.

The guys throw the rocks at each other and the women and kids pick up the used rocks that the other side threw and recycle them back to the men on their own side.

When I was there that weeks riot was caused by some guys from a tribe on one side of Mt Hagen raping a girl from a different tribe on the other side.

That brought out the police with pistols, rifles, shotguns and tear gas and it lasted most of the day.

Oddly enough they tend to leave the expats alone, at least in Mt Hagen.

There are more churches in PNG than I have seen in many other countries.

A lot of people go around with no shoes for some reason.