Westhill Consulting Travel & Tours Singapore presents to you safety tips while travelling in Jakarta, Indonesia. Applicable to any Asian city. Safety on the road: High I think that your biggest threat while being in Jakarta will be dealing with motorized vehicles, whether your are walking, in a car, or in a motorcycle. If you take the taxi for instance, you will notice cars don’t have a safety belt in the back. If you take an ojek (moto-taxi), the driver will give you a shitty helmet and drive recklessly, putting your life in danger every second.

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2. Westhill Consulting Travel & Tours Singapore presents
to you safety tips while travelling in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Applicable to any Asian city.
Is Jakarta Dangerous?

3. Safety on the road: High
I think that your biggest threat while being in
Jakarta will be dealing with motorized vehicles,
whether your are walking, in a car, or in a
motorcycle. If you take the taxi for instance, you
will notice cars don’t have a safety belt in the
back. If you take an ojek (moto-taxi), the driver
will give you a shitty helmet and drive recklessly,
putting your life in danger every second.

4. Natural Disaster: High
Flood, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis… Jakarta,
as the rest of the country, is prone to natural
disasters. In fact, according to the Natural
Disaster Risk Index, Indonesia is the world’s second
most dangerous nation regarding natural
catastrophes after Bangladesh. I don’t think it can
impact your stay in Jakarta though, because it is
something you cannot really protect yourself from.
All you can do is cross your finger and hope that
everything will be OK.
•

5. Terrorism: Medium to High
I don’t know what I should say about terrorism. It
happened in Jakarta and Bali, and even though the
government is very active in fighting terrorists, we cannot
ignore that new bombings could happen again in
Jakarta/Indonesia in the future.
The targets of terrorists have always been places
frequented by expats, like embassies, night clubs,
restaurants or 5-star hotels. A safe precaution therefore
is to avoid too crowded areas. Check your home
country’s website for current warnings.

6. Some extremist religious groups have been
attacking entertainment venues too, especially
during religious times of the year like Ramadan.
It is quite rare though and they are more scary
than dangerous.
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7. Pickpockets: Medium
It is the most common offence in Jakarta
affecting expats: Having a small thing stolen
while in a bar (usually a phone) or in a crowd. It
is not so common either, but it happened to me
with a camera, and it happened to a few of my
friends, in particular in Stadium nightclub. I had
once a problem with a drink that almost made
me pass out… The guy I was with may have put
something in it, but I’ll never know that for sure.

8. Robbery: Medium
I don’t have statistics about robbery, but from
what I could observe, it involves most of the
time the people working in your house: Maids,
cooks, guards. It is usually low value items (in
my situation, I had all my cleaning products
disappearing…), but very annoying. To avoid any
problems, look for staff that has been
recommended to you by fellow expats, and pay
them more than average.

9. Scams: High
Getting to pay the right price for things is a challenge in
Jakarta when you are or when you look like an expat.
Most of the times, it only requires negotiation, but
sometimes, it gets tougher. Taxis are usually a pain in the
ass: Apart from the reputed Blue Bird and Express
brands, many drivers will try to get more from you by
using various tricks: No meter, longer routes, fiddled
meters. Beware also of “fake” Blue Bird taxis: They look
exactly like them but belong to other companies. The
danger is not so high, usually you only end up paying a
few dollars extra, but in some cases, drivers can get
violent (it happened with girls travelling alone)

10. Police: High
Having to deal with the police is one of the
worst annoyances in Jakarta for an expat,
especially if you own a car or a motorbike.
Personally I take a personal pride in never
bribing policemen, but to do so you need to be
“clean” and have all the appropriate
documentation with you (a copy of the
passport, driving license, etc..).

11. Political instability: Low
Many tourists are afraid of the potential instability of Jakarta
and Indonesia. I know many people in Malaysia from Chinese
descent who refuses to come to Jakarta, because they are
scared of what happened during the 1998 riots. I also know
many people who are afraid of going to a Muslim country,
because they think people won’t be tolerant if they say they
are Catholics. I think there is absolutely no reason to be
scared. Indonesians are among the most welcoming and
tolerant people on earth. Terrorism is only supported by a
extremely tiny minority, and you will realize that Indonesia is
not the dark, dangerous country some medias are trying to
describe.

12. Health Hazards (Food poisoning,
pollution, etc): Average
Jakarta is often dirty and not always very
hygienic. It is very easy to get small diseases or
asthma. If you are fragile, or if you are travelling
with children or elderly people, I would advise
you to be prepared to be in a hostile
environment. I think if you avoid the most risky
situation everything should be OK: No walking,
no street food, do wash your hands, peel your
fruits, drink bottled water, etc…

13. Physical assault: Low
It is very uncommon, but it happens. The most
often, crime happens in Jakarta among gangs so
you shouldn’t have troubles with it. Some clubs
in North Jakarta have the reputation to be
controlled by mafias, so if you want to be safe,
you can start avoiding those

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