Thoughts on going to Batam (Indonesia) now

[Guest]

Any advice about whether it's a good idea for an American to go to Batam (Indonesia) as a sidetrip from Singapore nowadays? Would be especially interested to hear from anyone who has been recently. I have been to lots of the Asian sanuk capitals (including Jakarta, though not recently), but still not Batam.

 

It seems easy to do (45-min. ferry ride from Singapore each way), and I don't see it mentioned specifically as a problem in Indonesia advisories, but the state department seems to be still down on the country in general and I wonder if that place has any safety concerns. It seems the pricing for most services resembles Thai levels (a welcome relief from Singapore), and I know that Indonesian women can perform well. Thoughts?

 

[Ranger]

ploughman,

 

I haven't been to Batam in over a year, but went a couple times after 9/11 and never felt any anti-American sentiment. I always stayed at a nice hotel (Melia) and always hired a car at night (20,000R a trip-$2). Daytime, I would hire a moto (5,000R) or walk and never felt unsafe.

 

Ranger

[adikgede]

Batam is safe. There is plenty of sex there and probably fewer Singapore whoremongers becauseof SARS. But avoid going there on weekends. The sex caters to Singapore tastes. Most of the girls in the "showrooms" and "salons" would be considered slaves in other societies. This steers the girls into a predictable pattern. Get booked for the night, have sex once and then hibernate until morning. Get booked have the punter take you to a dsco and buy you extasy, which is mostly speed here. get booked and make some excuse to disapear. The frealancers at the discos and several pubs are mostly dedicated crank users.

 

The one exception, that I know of, is P.T. Banana above Lucy's Ore House down the Lane from Melia. The girls there are treated better than most, that doesn't mean the bar manager has not "empressed" himself on all of them. I go to Batam regularly and PT Banana is okay the girls are fun, but otherwise the place is pretty miserable. The only reason people go to Riau is to work or have sex. As a rule I wouldn't take a girl from a brothel, the performance is hit or miss, the attitudes are occasionaly very bad, which probably means they are being mistreated. Not least of all the girls are virtual slaves. many have been tricked into the trade, the remainder are fleeing, forced wedding shotgun wedding, teenage marriages, incest, rape you name it. It is so easy to meat a decent girl in Indonesia that is not a prisoner to a brothel, I wonder why someone would make a trip there just for sex, except that its cheap.

 

The Owner of PT Banana is a pretty personable guy. He was made out to be a devil in a recent press article, but compared to the others he is a saint. I have never heard any of the girls there complain about working there or say they were tricked or coerced into working at the Banana, and all of his girls are adults. The pay arangements seem feudalistic for the girls. However after you have employed a few Indonesian servants, drivers, office boys you come to expect that mothers die, people fall ill, and cousins all get married the days after pay day. The drivers who hang out Lucy's/PT Banana are pretty honest in my experience. I suspect they speak some English also.

 

A Loathesome Trade

[walletss]

I went to Batam about a year ago. Just like you I wanted to check it out so I took the ferry from Singapore and booked in to a hotel for three nights. For a oncer it's fine but I wouldn't be in a rush to go back . If you happen to be in Singapore then check it out. A couple of nights should do you. Personally I don't consider it the safest of places and some of the street people are pretty heavy looking. Nothing happened to me but when I was in one of the bars chatting to a group of expats, they advised me that Batam was not that safe and the risks of violent robbery were high.

[Guest]

I went to Batam in January. The day before I went the US Government put Indonesian men on the list of "terrorists". The only time I felt uneasy was on the ferry a man asked me about 3 times where I was from, and I said I was a Kiwi, and he quizzed me a bit, but nothing came of it. If you have been around, you should have no problems. I had the best times in some of the lesser known bars (I don't even remember the names), I just followed the lead of some guys I met that frequent there often Some wonderful girls. The discos sucked I thought. Very dark and so loud you couldn't carry on a conversation.

[chilli13]

not much more expensive flying to jakarta is it?

[Guest]

I wouldnt advise anyone on going to Indonesia right now. The CBC just reported that the Indonesian army will launch an attack very soon against the Aceh rebels if they dont lay down their weapons. I dont think you would want to be there if things start up. I suggest you chill for now until things get resolved between both sides in Indonesia. But its up to you.

[adikgede]

The fact that the Indonesian military is planning a major mop-up in Aceh shouldn't affect the situation in far off Riau or Java. The Acehnese Freedom Front (GAM) has little interest in attacking foriegners, and the small number of foriegners in Indonesia makes it unlikely that a casual visitor would be the victim of some GAM terrorism.

[Guest]

What's the risk factor in being mistaken for an American and being kidnapped in the rural areas?

 

Uniformguy

[carlton68]

uniformguy,

 

you imply that they kidnap americans in indonesian rural areas. Never heared of that.

The biggest risks still are the busses you take to get to the rural areas and of course you might be followed by the village kids all day. You already learned some bahasa? Then you'll be ok. Wish you a good time.