I would recommend that anyone traveling to South East Asia for a
short holiday does not hire a scooter or a motorbike. Especially if most
of your time is going to be spent in pubs and nightclubs or just
lounging around the beach or pool. Depending where you are in the region
taxis and tuk-tuk’s are going to be cheap and riding a bike around any
populated location in South East Asia is fraught with obstacles.
Why don’t all cops look like this? south east asia expat
Think greedy cops staring through mirrored Ray-Bans desperately
hoping for a cashed up tourist to ride past. Maniacal local scooter
riders who although they jumped on their first motorbike at five years
old, still don’t understand a thing about riding etiquette. And greedy
motorbike rental agencies that can spot a minor scratch or bent mirror
at four hundred paces. Not to mention crashing into locals, obtaining or
riding without the correct license, travel insurance and the very real
chance of injury, who needs the hassle right?
On the other hand if you’re intending to live in South East Asia for a
long period of time then I would suggest you go all the way and you buy
a little scooter/motorbike and here’s why.
Bike anyone? south east asia expat
When you live in South East Asia for long periods of time you tend to
become domesticated after a few months, or years, depending on your
personality. Dining in restaurants three times a day turns out to be a
bit of a chore and you start to crave the good old days. You long to sit
down for an evening meal in the privacy of your own home or enjoy a
hearty breakfast in front of the TV working off a Saturday Night
Hangover. Then when you start having these cravings you also realize
that you need transport to make it happen.
south east asia expat
Okay let’s use the breakfast scenario as an example and if you don’t
mind I will relate a friend of mines experience to clarify my reasoning.
Our protagonist a content little expat called Happy decided to live
abroad and he found the South East Asian Country he wanted to spend the
rest of his life in. He then sorted out all his visa crap and he made it
through six months of living in a hotel room and partying every night.
Happy was happy for a while but eventually too many nights of fun and
frivolity started to take their toll and he decided he needed to settle
down with a lady. Luckily he didn’t have to look far and Happy met a
nice local girl called Snoozy who worked in the bar down the street. (No
snide connotation just running with a dwarf theme.)
Happy and Snoozy then lived in a hotel room or for six months until
things became a little too crowded. Then when they decided it was time
to move on Happy went out and he found a bigger apartment for them to
share.
Happy little toad. south east asia expat
One day after a very big night out on the town, (for the stories sake
let’s just say it was in Walking Street Pattaya), Happy decided he
wanted Snoozy to get out of bed and to cook a hearty English breakfast.
Sadly he then realized that the cupboards were bare and that the
refrigerator was empty. But luckily Happy also remembered that he owned a
motorbike and he knew that Snoozy would be happy to ride to the local
market why he snoozed around in bed and he watched the BBC.
The perfect combination.southeastasiaexpat
Okay that should be enough back story, let’s just say that Happy and
Snoozy lived happily ever after until he discovered that she was already
married to some Thai guy and he lost all his stuff.
But my point is this; if you decide to live in S.E.A then you are
going to need some type of transport. The choice then becomes either car
or motorbike and to be honest, unless you are living in the back-blocks
of nowhere, cars suck for a number of reasons. Consider traffic and
parking but I can think of plenty of reasons that cars are more trouble
than they are worth.
Most importantly it is wise to remember that almost anyone in SEA,
including the sleepy little girl who works in the bar down the street,
is able to ride a scooter/motorbike. And one day you will wake up with a
hangover and you will need someone to go down to the market so that
they can buy you sausages, bacon and eggs.
Author’s disclaimer: I would like to assure you that despite the
title I did not write this article so that I could attract search
engines or so that I could display pictures of sexy Asian Ladies on
motorbikes.
I have nothing, awestruck maybe.south east asia expat
I wrote this blog because I believe it imparts important advice for
anyone that is thinking of living in South East Asia. The fact that it
also allows me to post sexy pictures of Asian women and Motorbikes just
happens to be a bonus.
Since I started this blog a few years back I have had a
steady stream of readers who have wanted to learn more about Bali and South
East Asia in general. I have also had great fun sharing that information and
interacting with my readers on a regular basis and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity so thank you all so very much.
Recently I decided that the time had come to change to a new
host and to expand my blog to take in all of South East Asia, and although I am excited I also a little bit sad
to be moving on. Luckily the link to my new blog is below and I would love it if all my loyal readers would visit my new site, southeastasiaexpat.org
If you do want to continue to associate with
Malcolm Scott and Bali Raw please copy and paste the following link and I
look forward to a visit from you soon: http://southeastasiaexpat.org/
Please move across with me and I will take great pleasure in sharing my
stories and my information about South East Asia well into the future.
Visit: Malcolm Scott Books on Facebook for more information.
No Negotiation No
Ransom is the true story of the three Western backpackers who were kidnapped
and held hostage by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1994. The young men were
ransomed to their respective governments but ultimately their fate rested in
the hands of two ruthless and opposing factions who were seeking control of the
country.
Cambodia is slowly
recovering from a recent civil war and the genocide of over half its
population. But the country is still controlled by the Vietnamese and Khmer
Rouge resistance fighters still operate within its border regions. Despite the
recent dark history and the current unstable environment, young backpackers
flock to the country lured by adventure, inexpensive travel and the abundance
of cheap marijuana.
Australian
backpacker David Wilson (29) is a Melbourne based social worker who coaches an
underprivileged boys’ soccer team in his spare time. English factory worker
Mark Slater (28) is on his first overseas holiday and French world traveler Jean
Michel Braquet (27) has just returned from trekking the Himalayas.
The three young
backpackers are traveling to the Cambodian beach town Sihanoukville. To get to
the holiday resort their train must cross the Khmer Rouge controlled Kampong
Province. They have been warned that it is a dangerous route to travel, but
they have not heeded the warnings.
For more information copy and paste following link
The backpackers
train is attacked by a Khmer Rouge raiding party. They are taken hostage and then
marched for six days to a mountain hideout and Khmer Rouge stronghold, Phnom
Vour (Vine Mountain). The young men survive the march only to be beaten,
starved and forced to work for over two months while ransom negotiations take
place.
The ransom amount is
agreed upon and a percentage is paid, but the backpackers are subsequently put
to death in a field and then buried in shallow graves. Englishman Mark Slater
and French National Jean Michel Braquet receive bullet wounds to the head,
while Australian hostage David Wilson is hacked to death by a machete.
The parents of David Wilson, Mark Slater and Jean
Michel Braquet seek justice for the kidnap and murder of their sons. They do so
for the next twenty years and they live to see all the major players in the
tragedy, except Pol Pot, jailed for life.
The case is then taken through the Australian court
system and in June 2012 after a
13-year Colonial Inquest it is ruled that the Australian Government did all it
could to secure the release of Australian backpacker David Wilson.
Visit: Malcolm Scott Books on Facebook or Bali Raw on Facebook for more information.
Hero’s 2002 is the third screenplay I have written in my
attempt to break into the movies. Wish me luck it ain’t easy.
The screenplay highlights the heroes of the Bali
Bombing as opposed to the terrorists, whose pictures we saw in papers and on
our screens constantly. When I was writing Heroes 2002 I discovered there were
so many unsung heroes and this screenplay seeks to celebrate their selfless
acts of bravery and their dedication in solving the crime.
I also intend to turn both Heroes 2002 and No Negotiation No
Ransom into novels, as soon as time and money permits, so please feel free to
wait until that happens. However if want a sneak peak now’s your opportunity, anyone
wishing to read my screenplays free of charge, can contact me on malscott123@hotmail.com
I will personally send a free PDF copy and all I ask is that
if you enjoy the stories, you send a quick e-mail to an Australian Movie Production
Company to let them know.
Best regards
Malcolm Scott
For
more of Malcolm Scott writings and if you are interested in reading his
three new screenplays, 'Heroes 2002' 'Dog House' and 'No Negotiation No Ransom,' visit:
https://www.facebook.com/baliraw.
Prentice Meredith Sculley runs a
skydiving school in Mexico. In her spare time she hoards animals and she
dreams of becoming a surgeon like her mother. When she discovers that
gangsters are using her school to smuggle drugs, she extracts her
revenge with her own unique and savage style. Armando and his
wife Ashley have moved into Armando’s grandparents’ house in Mexico. The
young couple intend to stay for six months in an attempt to save money.
They have no idea that they have moved in next door to a psychopathic
killer disguised as an old lady.
Meme Sanchez, Trenton Snark
(A.K.A. Lizard), and the mysterious Cutter, an Australian hit man are
more than willing to take on the Mexican Mafia in a gun battle. What
danger could a little old lady who rescues mistreated animals pose?
The
three drug running gangsters are about to find out that Prentice
Meredith Sculley is a lot more capable and dangerous than she appears to
be.
The protagonist of the story David
Wilson is the 29 year old Victorian social worker who was kidnapped and
murdered in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge in 1994. David was abducted off
a train while traveling with English national Mark Slater 28, and
French national Jean Michel Braquet 27.
The backpackers were then held
captive in Southern Cambodia for two months while negotiations were held
between the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Government. . It was widely
felt at the time that David was let down by the Australian government,
namely, Prime Minister Paul Keating and Foreign Minister Gareth Evens. A
Colonial Inquest was held into their actions in 2013, but their
activities during the crisis were kept from the public.
The
script traces the movements of the three backers from the day before the
kidnapping right up until negotiations were derailed. It speculates on
the actions of the politicians involved, referring to them by title
rather than name. And it charters the personalities of those
responsible for the kidnap and the ransom.
.jpg)
