Is it safe to go alone to SE Asia?

[James101]

I've been wondering what's the risk to visit a totally foregign country without knowing any people down there.

I'm from Europe, and i've heard both positive and negative feedback about those regions.

[Rocceao]

Hi James, Going alone to SEA has the same risk as going alone to any country, if you use common sense and caution you will be fine.

Also it really depends on what you plan on doing during your visit e.g if you plan to frequent the Bar/Club/Massage areas, you have a higher risk of being a victim of crime, as criminal types will frequent those areas for a chance of easy cash, but you also will meet alot of expats and you will be able to learn from them as they will have all kinds of advise and stories for you.

However, I have travelled around most of SEA alone and motorcylcled around most of it, only visiting the expat area's on the rare occasion, I have spent most of my time, visiting the small towns and villiages, I spent alot of time in the deap south, of Thailand and the only time I had I sight concern, is when I was in Navitivas and Yala as there is alot of angry Musilms there, but I have never had any major issues and always felt safe for the most part.

A lot of the small villiages and towns espessialy the small out door markets and food stalls are fantastic, the locals want to talk to you and know everything about you, they get a thrill when you buy something off them, alot of them just what to sit down with you and practice their english with you.

You just need a bit of confidence be vilgilant and respect the local culture and people barter for everything and don't loose your temper and you will be fine.

Thanks for taking the time for reading my post.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Rocceao

[chiang mai]

Common sense and a little caution never hurt, a little reading up on the places you're going to visit does no harm either. If you're worried about risks then it wont hurt to check out your home country governments web site on travel advisories, they list risks that do happen but don't be put off or frightened by any of it, just be aware. FWIW I reckon your biggest risk is that you'll love the region so much that you'll get hooked and will spend all your money coming back, time and time again.

[MaeJoMTB]

Hi James, Going alone to SEA has the same risk as going alone to any country, if you use common sense and caution you will be fine.

British FO stats claim you are 20x more likely to die on holiday in Thailand than on holiday in Europe.

Australia claims similar stats.

This includes death from all causes, common sense doesn't protect you.

Some things common sense won't help you with, but are popular causes of death recently.

Scuba diving accidents.

Zip line accidents.

Road accidents.

Coach and mini bus crashes.

Mysterious deaths while sleeping in hotel beds.

Balcony falls.

What common sense may help you avoiding,

Bar fights.

Edited November 30, 2015 by MaeJoMTB

[Stradavarius37]

Nope - you better stay home. To many risks. To many bad people. Stay home where its nice and safe.....so safe.....peaceful.....my precious.....my......precious...

[lovelomsak]

I always came alone. Why travel with others? Alone you do and go where you please. With others you go and do everything by committee.Life is to be lived and a little risk just adds flavor.

[wow64]

Dispite what these guys say be careful... 2 highest road fatalities in the world.. And you could get food poisoning.. Or pissed out of you brain and wake up with a sore bum...

Come to Thailand.. Get a high floor room with a balcony... Now lock the door and tell mum to make you dinner.

Edited November 30, 2015 by wow64

[LostTourist]

Hi James, Going alone to SEA has the same risk as going alone to any country, if you use common sense and caution you will be fine.

British FO stats claim you are 20x more likely to die on holiday in Thailand than on holiday in Europe.

Australia claims similar stats.

This includes death from all causes, common sense doesn't protect you.

Some things common sense won't help you with, but are popular causes of death recently.

Scuba diving accidents.

Zip line accidents.

Road accidents.

Coach and mini bus crashes.

Mysterious deaths while sleeping in hotel beds.

Balcony falls.

What common sense may help you avoiding,

Bar fights.

I think you have mistaken the OP's orginal intent, he is refering to is using common sense and caution when in areas e.g... Bar/Club/Massage areas, you have a higher risk of being a victim of crime.as criminal types will frequent those areas for a chance of easy cash.

And of course if you start doing high risk activities e.g scuba, zip lines, drink driving, shagging on a balcony, getting in a mini bus with a Thai driver etc... you have already used your sense weighed up the risk and have accepted what you are doing is a hazadous activity, that you can easly and consienly avoid.

[Crazy chef 1]

I always came alone. Why travel with others? Alone you do and go where you please. With others you go and do everything by committee.Life is to be lived and a little risk just adds flavor.

You always come alone...isn't really necessary in Thailand....

Joking aside...compared to most Africa or South American countries i would say it is safe....

[cgphuket]

Key to safe travel in SE Asia is common sense, paying attention, not be aggressive and doing some homework. Most trouble is the result of drugs/alcohol, arrogance and ignorance.

[chiang mai]

But above all, don't be put off by the risks, be aware of them but don't let them stop you having a great big adventure.

[dageurreotype]

If you, as a person of either gender feel it necessary to ask this question on some random expat forum, best you stay home

[lopburi3]

Suspect you will find virtually all are safer than where you are now located. As anywhere you can get into trouble if you allow yourself to get into such situations.

[KhunBENQ]

To the topic starter:

In which country in Europe do you live?

Which countries have you visited before?

How old are you?

Knowing would help me better understand why you find SEA (specifically Thailand) such an adventure

I can't comment on the whole of SEA, just Thailand.

What countries do you want to visit specifically?

Edited November 30, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[circusman]

If you must come to Thailand bring several big and strong friends with you. The bigger and meaner the better.

[DoctorG]

I would think that most of us here would be solo travellers. I certainly have been all over the world by myself. I prefer it that way.

My golden rule is to be safely tucked up in bed before midnight. (alone or otherwise)

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Don't waste you time and money, and risk your safety, by travelling.

Facebook provides you with everthing you need to know about the outside world.

[grumpyoldman]

As a younger man, I always traveled alone. That way I didn't have to stick to any group itinerary, nor have to go somewhere that really wasn't interesting for me because the person I was with wanted to do that.

Whats great in that scenario is you will meet people along the way who say, "we're going to go do this and it should be great!", "well, hey, do you mind if I come along?". Spur of the moment turns can make a trip of a lifetime. I ended up on some islands in Indonesia I would never have gone to if I hadn't hooked up with some fellow travelers.

Study up a bit with the internet and some travel guides, have a basic itinerary where you can say to people back home this is the outline of my plan, and then go for it. Leave room for adjustments.

P.S. and reason for edit: don't listen to any of these posters saying stay home or Facebook will take care of you, lot of salty people here with nothing better to do than be negative. Forget that attitude, those people suck.

Edited November 30, 2015 by grumpyoldman

[James101]

Thank you for all the answers/advices.

My main goal would be to know a new culture, get to know the life there better, and possibly stay there for longer time like 2 months, to discover the hidden, not tourist made places.

Im a 20y old male from Hungary and, which by European standarts not a safe place itself, but probadly not as bad as Syria for example.

Ive been to Austria, etc. in Europe, but still havent been anywere really far outside the Continent.

[Kan Win]

Hi James101

Welcome to Thailand.

Win

[Suradit69]

Key to safe travel in SE Asia is common sense, paying attention, not be aggressive and doing some homework. Most trouble is the result of drugs/alcohol, arrogance and ignorance.

"Most trouble is the result of drugs/alcohol, arrogance and ignorance. "

Amen. Most people who have problems either create the problems themselves or have a tendency to attract problems wherever they go.

Sometimes reading posts written by people who have found themselves in trouble, it seems there must be two Thailands, the one I (and many others) live in and the one in which the complainers find themselves. If you can visit places in the west employing common sense without incident, there's little chance of you running into problems here. I would feel safer around the clock on the streets of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, etc than I would in certain places and certain times of the day in major cities in Europe or the USA. Of course if you have a history of running into problems on your travel elsewhere, you could generate problems here as well.

[grumpyoldman]

Thank you for all the answers/advices.

My main goal would be to know a new culture, get to know the life there better, and possibly stay there for longer time like 2 months, to discover the hidden, not tourist made places.

Im a 20y old male from Hungary and, which by European standarts not a safe place itself, but probadly not as bad as Syria for example.

Ive been to Austria, etc. in Europe, but still havent been anywere really far outside the Continent.

You should head for Phuket.

PM Grumpyoldman, he often lets young travellers stay in his spare bedroom free of charge. He does this because he loves "spur of the moment" experiences.

Once there GOM will also help you look around for a job.

Try Satree or one of the other bigger schools in Phuket Town for a teaching job.

I can see from your posts that your English is great and certainly good enough to get a job as an English teacher.

Your starting salary at Satree will be about 35K THB per month which is more than enough.

Every thing is very cheap in Asia.

If you get arrested for working on a tourist visa, don't worry it is just a spur of the moment experience to savour. Just call up GOM and he will come down to the immigration cells to help negotiate your release.

Feel better about yourself now that you've spouted that nonsense, or are you so miserable that you just feel the need to continue on filling space here with your garbage?

Get a grip guy...........

[duanebigsby]

Obviously the OP is a little young and a little naive.

Roccaeo's response was the proper way to answer the questions. Polite and informative

No need for all the other cynical, snotty answers.

Especially you MaeJoMTB, what a #####

[kkup]

You'll be fine. Just be grateful and polite to people, don't hire a moped, no bar fights and never take home a tall, hot chick with perfect knockers.

[mihalis]

Really your from Europe and are afraid of Asia, hmmmm, how old are you 16... Travelled alone all over the world, never and issue, Asia was the easiest and safest for me...

[James101]

Is it possible to stay for more than 2 months legally? As ive heard the maximum stay for a foreigner is 2month

[James101]

Really your from Europe and are afraid of Asia, hmmmm, how old are you 16... Travelled alone all over the world, never and issue, Asia was the easiest and safest for me...

I didnt say i afraid. Actually im afraid of nothing. Its just my curious to condisder things before move there without any person i know there.

[grumpyoldman]

Is it possible to stay for more than 2 months legally? As ive heard the maximum stay for a foreigner is 2month

As SE Asia consists of a few countries (unless you are talking about only coming to Thailand which from the OP I didn't get that impression) just mix in a trip to Cambodia, or Laos along with your time in Thailand. When your 30 day tourist comes to 28-29 days go check out Luang Prabang, from there backpackers your age are partying in Vang Vieng and then when you come back to Thailand you have another 30 days.

[RedQualia]

I always came alone. Why travel with others? Alone you do and go where you please. With others you go and do everything by committee.Life is to be lived and a little risk just adds flavor.

Have traveled all over SE Asia alone, and toured all over Thailand by motorcycle, alone. Another aspect of your words above is that when you travel with others, you're busy "being with them." To the extent you're "with them," you are not with the locals... You are not seeing and experiencing all that is around you. Something very offputting about traveling to say, China, is that it can be difficult to go alone. If I have to travel with a herd of others, employ a tour guide, etc,. I'll just pass, thanks. Much better to go it alone.

I'm not at all sure I have much or even any common sense. A good many people would probably think that traveling all over alone on a motorcycle indicates I have none. Regardless, I have never had a problem in SE Asia, whether in Luang Prabang, Hanoi, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kalasin, Nan, et al.

Lots and lots of people live pretty much everywhere in SE Asia. Almost all are extremely friendly, even when language is a problem. Too, in most places here, same as most places elsewhere in the world, not so many people wake up dead every morning. Which is to say that if people can live in an area, make a life there, have a family there, etc., it's generally going to be pretty safe.

Just stay out of the karaoke bars.

Edited November 30, 2015 by RedQualia

[bazza40]

Hi James, Going alone to SEA has the same risk as going alone to any country, if you use common sense and caution you will be fine.

British FO stats claim you are 20x more likely to die on holiday in Thailand than on holiday in Europe.

Australia claims similar stats.

This includes death from all causes, common sense doesn't protect you.

Some things common sense won't help you with, but are popular causes of death recently.

Scuba diving accidents.

Zip line accidents.

Road accidents.

Coach and mini bus crashes.

Mysterious deaths while sleeping in hotel beds.

Balcony falls.

What common sense may help you avoiding,

Bar fights.

Look on the bright side - it's helping remove the more stupid specimens from the gene pool.