In Reply to: Security posted by jobali on Wednesday, 22. February 2006 at 08:53 Bali Time:
ass!
Without wishing to diminish the events of October 1st in any way the chances of being killed or maimed by a terrorist bomb are very small. ( there were 82,000 tourists in Bali on Oct 1st )
Chances of having your pocket picked are quite large.
A friend of mine had his wallet stolen in Padma Utara last October about 20m from Circle K, with the loss of money and credit cards. In December,I had my mobile phone lifted from my pocket as I opened the car door in Padma St.
This was no more than 30m away from a crowded Posers bar. They were a couple of women, or certainly dressed as women, on a motorbike. Goodness knows how many wallets and phones they got last year, but it's probably in the hundreds.
An English friend had her handbag ripped off twice in as many weeks and another Australian lady had hers done virtually outside the hotel where she was staying,in early December - quite terrifying for them.
OK, they don't kill you, but women in particular often get bashed and it's enough to put many people off ever returning.
I'm glad Bali's finest are FINALLY targeting them.