Watch Your Drink

Drink spiking and food spiking can be a real danger during travel with each area of the world having its ‘preferred’ methodology.


In the UK we generally assume that the purpose if ‘drink spiking’ is drug assisted sexual assault or rape, sometimes referred to as ‘date rape’.


In much of the rest of the world the drugging of food and drink is more often used for the purpose of theft.


In India for example the instances of drugged food on trains is on the increase, its primary purpose being for theft. Imagine waking up in very unfamiliar surroundings and every possession is gone; it is at this point that plan Z needs to kick-in. Only through effective planning will you have a plan Z in place, a plan for when things really go wrong.


Cosmopolitan magazine picked up on some of these issues and contacted us for expert opinion. We discussed with them the various ways to avoid drugged food and drink and highlighted the fact that it is just as important to understand that drink spiking is also done using alcohol; rather than controlled drugs, such as GLB, Ketamine, Rohypnol etc.


There is always safety in numbers and one member of your group abstaining from alcohol or a gift of food is one way to look after each other, the other is simply not to accept food & drinks from strangers and remain vigilant.


Make sure you don’t underestimate the size of alcohol measures abroad in comparison to the UK and the effects of other factors such as food, prescription drugs, altitude etc. on the rate of alcohol absorption.


Moderating your behaviour to avoid sending the wrong messages will also reduce the risks; in some countries even innocuous actions such as drinking alone, smoking and dancing can be misinterpreted.


During Our Workshops we discuss the dangers from drink / food spiking and further ways you can protect yourself.


Our expert advice is available to journalist and media outlets; please visit the Press & Media Enquiries page of our website for further details.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here (to follow)
Source – Cosmopolitan
Date – July 2010

Revellers hurt in Thailand tourist speed boat collision

Sometimes when we are teaching people how to be safe when they travel, it does rather feel that we can use the example of the ‘Full Moon’ party on Koh Pah Ngan as an example for all of the dangers and challenges faced by independent travellers across the world; the ‘full moon party’ has them all.


It is sad to see yet another tragedy unfold and more young people seriously injured when they were relying on the actions of others to keep them safe while they enjoyed all Thailand offers.


What we continually try and reinforce through our website and during our workshops is that you must not rely on others to keep you safe, but be self-reliant.


The ‘Full Moon Party’ need not be avoided at all costs, if it is something which attracts you, then by all means go, but do take extra care; by that I mean really plan ahead for every eventuality because the dangers are significant:


• Theft – Both from the person and from rooms; spend a little more for a descent room in a more secure location and make use of any additional safety facilities available. Don’t turn up thinking you’ll party through and don’t need accommodation, if nothing else have somewhere to securely leave you things; sleeping on the beach may seem a ‘romantic’ notion to you, the Thai authorities view it differently and waking up having been robbed will ruin your trip…

• Drugs – Avoid them and look after your drink, as drink spiking is common. The police patrol the beach and even holding a ‘joint’ can see you locked up with two options; a very heavy ‘fine’ or deportation.

• Sexual Assault – Sexual assaults are not uncommon and often ‘drug-assisted’ either through drink / food spiking or self induced alcohol / drug consumption.

• Medical care – Tropical disease risk is not significant, the island is not generally associated with a high risk of Malaria or many of the other diseases you vaccinate yourself against before travel. Dengue fever can occur and is on the rise in Thailand generally. You should always visit your GP or Travel Clinic before travel. Protection against sexually transmitted diseases should be a consideration.

There are regularly casualties from the party; dehydration, heat exhaustion, alcohol related conditions, accidents, injury from violence and many of the other common travel related syndromes. Make sure your Medical Insurance covers you and that your activities do not invalidate it. There are medical facilities on the island, but more serious cases need to be transferred to Koh Samui; medical facilities on Koh Pha Ngan are often overwhelmed during the Full Moon parties.

• Traffic accident – Is one of the major dangers when travelling but it is reduced in this case because there is little traffic on the island due to its size. Some people still choose to hire scooters and motorbikes (this always seems a little odd when everywhere is within walking distance…) and these present the usual dangers; injuries from accidents usually because of lack of protective clothing / equipment / lack of experience and / or drink driving.

• Transport – This is the danger highlighted in this latest accident. There is only one way of getting to the island and that is by boat, but it is the choice of boat which will dictate your level of risk.


As a general rule I would much rather get on the slow ferry rather than the ‘speed boats’, they strike me as more regulated, more robust and there is an element of safety in the regular schedules which would allow rescue to have a much better idea of where to start looking.


The speedboats are much more haphazard, often waiting till they are ‘full’ before leaving. The drive for profit is often at the expense of safety. There has undoubtedly been an improvement in the regulation surrounding these speedboats in the past 15 years, but how strong the enforcement of these regulation is remains in some doubt.


The trip from Koh Samui to Koh Pha Ngan is not long enough for the additional risk of speedboats to be worth the time saved.


On any boat journey there are factors to consider:


• The seaworthiness of the vessel and reputation of the company
• The capacity – is it overloaded
• The safety equipment – life rafts, life jackets, communication equipment, pre-departure drills etc.
• The weather
• Visibility


In this case some people do seem to have been wearing lifejackets, which is a start. The two points from this report which would worry me most would be the weather conditions which seems to have been far from ideal and travelling at night which is something to be avoided on all but the best equipped vessels (such as those which cross the English Channel).


Maybe more facts will come out from this particular accident in time, although it seems for now that the two boat drivers have disappeared, which would be a worrying sign.


It would be remiss of us to make assumptions in such a case, especially when people have been seriously hurt in an accident; however from personal experience of this region, I have seen boat drivers, showing off, racing each other and using vessels they clearly know are unsuitable or not in perfect working order.


Few would be surprised to hear that corners are cut in an effort to increase profit and to get those tourists who arrive late, across the water and to the party, even in the middle of the night; trust me, the full moon party is not that good that it is worth risking you life for.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 27th June 2010

One Hell of a Hole

Tropical Storm Agatha has caused havoc across Central America resulting in hundreds of deaths, devastating communities and reminding us of the massive destructive force of nature.


When travelling we have to factor in the climatic conditions, try and avoid those areas susceptible to hurricanes, cyclones and tropical storms (during the season).


These areas do not need to be boycotted completely, but as much as reducing risk, it’s also not much fun unless you happen to be a ‘storm chaser’.


An element of planning to avoid areas during the worst seasons is a start, but planning for the worst case scenario should factor in all travel plans.


When I visited Bikini Atoll (in the Marshall Islands) one of the most remote islands on earth, I felt reasonably safe from the worst weather patterns (despite having been diverted some 10,000 miles on my flight there thanks to a hurricane over Guam).


Bikini is generally considered to be too far north to be affected by tropical storms, although now from personal experience I can tell you this is not the case; even if the one we made it through was the first one anybody could remember.


In our case the eight people who were on the island at the time could not rely on anyone else to help us out and we were acutely aware that the destruction caused could well have isolated us for weeks; not an appealing prospect on an island where most of the natural resources are still too radioactive from the US Atomic Testing programme to be consumed…


The point is (and the appearance of this sinkhole in Guatemala proves it beyond any doubt), we can reduce risk from natural disasters to a point, but we can never eliminate them; some planning should be made to deal with the challenges of weather when they are encountered.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – Metro
Date – 2nd June 2010

Backpackers pack their bags and leave Bangkok in droves

Common sense seems to have prevailed amongst travellers and they have abandoned Bangkok in favour of other parts of Thailand and South East Asia.


This is very bad news for Thailand and the tourist industry which makes up such a large part of the economy in that country, but individual safety concerns have to supersede these concerns for now.


An uneasy calm seems to have descended on Thailand for now, but no one is denying that the problems which led to the recent unrest have not been solved, but rather brushed under the carpet and oppressed by the force of the Thai army.


While these political challenges remain unresolved we can expect to see sporadic protest and it would not surprise many if these occasionally turned violent.


We should also point out that the violence was not restricted to Bangkok but did spread to other parts of the country, most notably the popular northern city of Chiang Mai.


For now the FCO has changed its travel advice (25th May 2010) for Thailand and Bangkok (and Chiang Mai) in particular; it advises ‘against all but essential travel to Bangkok’, rather than the previous advice which was ‘against ALL travel to Bangkok’.


This may not be reassuring, but in effect it reflects that fact that the situation in Bangkok in particular has calmed down, but could easily flare up again at any time and without warning. This advice excludes transit through the airport which is deemed to be ‘safe’.


Travellers should also inform themselves of curfews which are still in place and vary in different areas of the country. If you find yourself in a curfew area, make sure you observe it; local police / army will not discriminate between locals and tourists and police / army in areas under curfew tend to be more on edge than normal; not a great combination in a country where all police carry guns.


For the latest advice from the FCO on Thailand, please Click Here.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – Independent on Sunday
Date – 23rd May 2010

Surviving a plane crash

The recent fatal air crash in Tripoli, Libya was only survived by one 9 year old boy and analysing why he survived will be of some use to professionals in air safety, but to most people it is just a small miracle or extreme good fortune.


Over-analysing how to survive a plane crash doesn’t help greatly in generating confidence in those who may be concerned about flying. What has to be remembered is that flying is still one of the safest forms of transport in the world.


It is still worth taking a few basic precautions:


• Fly with reputable airlines – Any airline flying into, out of or within the EU, USA / Canada, Australia / New Zealand has to undergo the most rigorous safety checks; outside of these areas it may be worth undertaking a little research into the airline you are flying with. As a general rule the ‘poorer’ the country the more in-depth checks you might want to make; especially on internal flights where regulation may not be as rigorous.

• Always listen to the safety briefing – If nothing else it is polite to do so, but more importantly the more you listen the more you will take in and the more likely your instinctive reaction will be the right one. In the case of a real accident you will have to rely mainly on your instincts, it is unlikely you we be able to draw on your rational thought process, which is unlikely to be working properly.

• Practice the ‘brace position’ and your seatbelt release – Studies have proven that in the case of a crash one of the problems people have is getting out of their seats. It sounds silly to think you will not be able to unbuckle yourself, but when under the most extreme pressure the brain does not work very rationally and instinct will take over; your instinct will be to get up and get out. The rational part of your brain may not work sufficiently under such extreme stress to understand that you must undo your seatbelt to achieve this.

• Sit near an emergency exit – It should not take a rocket scientist to work out that the closer you are to an exit the quicker you will be able to get out in an emergency. Wherever you are seated count the number of seats between yourself and the nearest exit in front and behind you; that way in the case of an emergency and the lights failing or smoke filling the cabin you can feel your way to the nearest exit.

• Don’t panic – Easier said than done. However it is worth trying to control your mind, adrenaline will be pumping through your body and you can do little to stop this (in reality you don’t want to stop this as it will help in your attempt to ‘escape’), what you want to do is control and channel the consequences of adrenaline and use them to your advantage. Respond rather than react to the challenges you face.


This is all very well to write, it is completely different to put into practice in case of a real emergency.


Don’t panic about flying, it is likely to be one of the safest parts of any travel experience; you are likely to be at much greater risk on arrival when driving from the airport to your final destination.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


Date – 16th May 2010
Submitted by – Peter Mayhew

Change travel advice for Thailand

The FCO has changed it Travel Advice for Thailand. Their advice now reads as follows:


“We advise against all but essential travel to the city of Bangkok, in light of ongoing political demonstrations. This advice does not apply to passengers transiting Bangkok airport on their way to other destinations in Thailand or internationally.


Today the Foreign Office amended its travel advice for Thailand to advise against all but essential travel to Bangkok.


This advice reflects our concern for the safety of British nationals planning to travel to Bangkok, given the risk that violence could break out without warning during the increasingly volatile political crisis.


The situation is changing on a daily basis, and we recommend that British nationals living in Thailand or travelling to the country check our travel advice regularly for details of further developments.


If you are in Thailand and are planning onward travel, please note that Suvarnabhumi airport is operating as normal. The route to the airport from Bangkok city remains open.


British Nationals should exercise extreme caution throughout the country, and avoid demonstrations and large gatherings, some of which have recently turned violent. If violence breaks out again British nationals are advised to remain indoors and to monitor the media and this website.


British nationals requiring consular assistance should call 02 305 8333 (in Thailand). British nationals are encouraged to register with our LOCATE service.


For further information, see our travel advice for Thailand.”


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – FCO
Date – 22nd April 2010

At least 10 die and 500 injured in Thai riots

Trouble in Bangkok… it is not the first time I have written those lines…


As predicted another wave of protests have been taking place in Bangkok and sadly they have once again turned violent.


There is little point in going over the reasons again, as I have covered this in previous blog articles and the fundamentals of the arguments have not changed significantly; this time it is the ‘Red Shirts’ doing the protesting.


It has to be said that the end does not seem to be in sight for Thai protests and if the ‘Red Shirts’ get their way, it will probably just lead to the ‘Yellow Shirts’ taking to the streets as they have done in the past.


What this means for the traveller is two-fold.


Firstly it should go without saying that those areas where the protests are taking place should be out of bounds to travellers. I say it should ‘go without saying’ but watching television reports earlier today it was clear that some of the people milling round the scene of the previous nights violence were tourists with cameras flashing… These places are not tourist attractions; they are dangerous parts of the city where violence can flare up at any time and where live bullets were used against protesters. More-over these are places where the previous night people died.


Take heed of the FCO advice which recommends against travel to certain parts of Thailand and do not forget that when the FCO recommends against travel it usually means your travel insurance becomes invalid in those locations.


The second point to note is that the chance of these protests spreading is significant. Previous protests have spread to other parts of the country and more significantly for travellers, the tactics used previously have included shutting down the International Airports by protestors ‘occupying’ them. This led to major disruption last time round, with many hotels filling up and this hub of air travel for South East Asia closing down completely.


Thailand is still open for business and there is at this time no need to cancel trips if you avoid those areas which need to be avoided. However if you plan to travel to or through Thailand make sure you are aware of the latest situation and once in-country stay in touch with developments so you can change your plans if it becomes necessary.


The FCO also suggest you register with the British embassy in Thailand on arrival.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – Independent
Date – 11th April 2010

Chunders is You Tube hit on his ‘gap yah’

We’ve all heard them and most people who have taken a Gap Year will have been a ‘travel bore’, it can be hard not to be.


I regularly hear myself start a sentence with ‘when I was in…’, these days I check myself and look closely at the body language of the person I am talking to before I continue.


Many people prepare for Culture Shock when they travel, few prepare for ‘Reverse Culture Shock’; the effect of coming home.


Especially when travelling for an extended period of time it is vital to make sure you think about what happens when you return; it makes the difference between the ‘holiday blues’ disrupting your life for a couple of weeks and reverse culture shock affecting you with months of lethargy. Will you be able to afford being unproductive for months on end after you get back?


A big part of avoiding reverse culture shock is understanding that the amazing experiences you will have can never really be shared with those who were not there (in the same way that no photograph can ever replicate the amazing sights you encounter). Stay in touch with the people you had these experiences with and when the ‘blues’ kick-in contact them.


Don’t blame your friends from home for their lack of interest in your stories, you might be just as uninterested in their tales from the commute they make on the tube every morning…


‘Orlando’ may have proved a big hit on YouTube (Click Here) and I remember seeing a similar sketch at a Burma Campaign comedy show (Click Here), but take the subtle warning; don’t be a ‘gap year bore’ or a ‘gap year boaster’, share your stories with people who want to listen.


The other effective way I find of dealing with reverse culture shock is to start planning your next trip…


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – Metro
Date – 25th March 2010

Mongolia’s worst winter on record

Mongolia is a truly stunning country, its beauty lies in the vast open expanses, incredible culture, the friendly and generous people you meet and the feeling of being in one of the last true remote areas of the world.


The hardiness of the people who live there is a reflection of the incredibly harsh conditions. If evidence were needed of exactly how ‘easy’ our life in the UK is by comparison, during our harsh winter this year all most of us had to deal with was a few days off work and a little inconvenience in not being able to use our cars as we usually do for a week or two.


How would we survive a whole winter at -40°C?


How can you be self-sufficient when permafrost means that growing anything to sustain yourself is near to impossible for a large part of the year?


Can you really survive these conditions year after year when you live in a Ger (traditional felt tent)?


The fact is the Mongolian people are amazingly resilient, over a third of the population maintain the traditional nomadic lifestyle, but sadly as in many cultures the traditional way of life and the modern world with its integrated economy are not always compatible; this is very much the case in Mongolia today.


There are positive signs in Mongolia, but it is a young democracy surrounded by two of the world’s superpowers and abandoned by its former benefactor. It is starting to realise the potential mineral wealth which lies just below the surface and which China would gladly gobble up, but these projects take years to create wealth and require huge capital injections (which themselves often come at a cost of handing over large stakes to nation builders like China & Russia). Relatively small countries like Mongolia who are trying to help themselves but who have arrived late to the world economy, are always going to struggle.


All this matters little to the over 1 million nomads in Mongolia, their way of life is little affected by the world at large, but with an ever bludgeoning urban population crammed into two or three major cities divided by vast areas of steppe / desert and with little infrastructure, the lack of reliable services and the all but non-existent welfare state, creates predictable problems.


What does affect everyone be they nomadic herder or urban resident is the kind of winter they are slowly emerging from. The vast majority of Mongolians rely on their herds to sustain them and in most of the country yaks are the economy.


60% of all livestock in Mongolia has been lost this winter; while we rightly worry about recession at home, Mongolia has effectively lost 60% of their economy, an economy which is as real as the individual yaks and sheep that each family has lost.


It is difficult to quantify such a fundamental loss, but imagine if fire destroyed 60% of every business, 60% of every item of stock on the shelves of every store disappeared, for every ten loaves of bread on the supermarket shelf only four were available; the UK would go into total meltdown.


In Mongolia the end is not in sight, they can’t just restock, the summer months are short and the harsh conditions mean their cattle and sheep have short reproductive cycles and produce less offspring over their lifetimes. Hardy the yak may be, but evolution has developed this hardiness of this creature by reducing the yield to increase survival rates.


Think about this, if you rely on your livestock for food, in order to be self-sufficient you have to slaughter some and keep some for reproduction. If over one winter your herd is reduced by 60%, you need to increase reproduction in order to make up the numbers, but the number you have to slaughter to feed your family and prepare for another winter stays the same; there comes a point when this is no longer sustainable, something has to give.


There is the real possibility that come the spring this disaster will be perceived to be levelling off as the thaw kicks in, whereas in reality it is the long term effect which has the potential to be devastating.


The Christina Noble Children’s Foundation carry out amazing work in Mongolia and we are always delighted to recommend them to you. A little still goes a very long way in Mongolia and it never ceases to amaze me what good they can do with the little funding they get.


Please visit their website at http://www.cncf.org/ to discover more about the work they do and the volunteering opportunities they can offer.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – CNCF
Date – March 2010

Forget the degree go for the Gap Year / Most degrees ‘only good for coffee shops’

There is certainly an argument surrounding the number of people attending University, the courses they are undertaking, the value of the respective degrees they obtain and the cost of the process.


My personal point of view is that encouraging half the population to go to University is a bit of a one dimensional education policy; University education is just not a system which suits everyone.


However I am also of opinion is that the degree is only part of what students gain from the University experience and we should not underestimate the benefits gained by young people in simply attending these institutions.


I do have some concerns about the concept that having too many over-qualified people in the country is somehow a bad thing. Education is a privilege we take for granted in the UK and one which breeds more than just candidates to apply for the ‘top jobs’ with the ‘top companies’.


Small businesses spring up everyday fronted by entrepreneurs who have enjoyed the benefit of a University education and experience; besides why should the person working in Starbucks not enjoy the advantages which University education provides?


The arguments for and against 50% of the population attending University are varied and complex and are usually misrepresented, as few people have a 360 degree view of (or interest in) the pros and cons.


Our interest in this article is in the highlighted value of the Gap Year and the acknowledgement that despite the argument on whether University should be attended or not, a Gap Year benefits everyone.


As much as I will argue the case for Universities being more than lectures, seminars and exams and the experience of attending University being an important part in the development of those attending; there can be no doubt that taking a ‘constructive’ Gap Year adds an altogether different set of skills and knowledge. Skills gained on a gap year are highly valued by employers in many sectors; including most blue-chip companies.


At Safe Gap Year our Independent Travel Safety and Cultural Awareness Workshop considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Cultural Awareness, Travel Health, Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.


Please visit our website at http://www.safegapyear.co.uk/.


For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.


To view the original article Click Here
Source – Evening Standard
Date – 10th March 2010