While at the middle of my trip in Batam few days back,i received a PM from a credible bro on this thread, (what I meant by credible is he shares quite a lot of useful information before) which disturbed me a little and below is the PM he sent me and I have his nick censored off to protect his privacy :
Quote:
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Originally Posted by censored
Hi Bro Nono,
I think I wont want to post this out.
But I feel I have to share this out.
I had been reading your BTM postings n have benefit greatly. But....I think I wont want to visit BTM or any other Indo states anymore....at least for the time being.
A few days ago, I went to JKT....first trip.
I was detained at customs inspection after chopping passport.
They suspect me harboring drugs.....the machine say so. They claimed. Could be due to 2 slabs of panadol n box of pochai pills.
They went through my stufs item by item....
Check my pp....ask me what i doing in jkt.
Told him holiday.....check my pp n see many batam stamps.
Was brought into room for further investigation n interrogation.
At one time got 6 officers...i was scared. Even strip search.
They went thru my HP n Tablet and ask many questions. What I work n what I work as...any namecard....
Quite sway my tablet have sexy gal pics n worst xx vids....they went thru the vids with interest n laughing.
Later was brought to a local hospital for xray. They say will release me if xray ok.....later i was release at the hospital.
Took a taxi to my hotel.
I felt uneasy the entire day n night...
After talking to a friend over wechat....he advise me not to stay on....so i book an extra ticket.....n fly back next day.
I guess im sway to the max....my friend say most likely im identified as sex monger n suspect drug abuser.
Anyway, i dun think i will ever go back to jkt n also batam.
Coz i might face problems.
Anyway, i exited smoothly at jkt depature airport.
This experience had rattled me greatly.....but Im glad I make it back to SG.
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His pm involve his worries on traveling to Batam as well,so I am now posting a reply in related to his PM and hopefully a solution if I were to ever encounter a similar situation. So far,all my trips to Batam has been fine and I have also checked with a handful of bros who recently traveled there on a regular basis; all's been well so far. But do note that security checks has obviously been stepped up on the Batam custom side when I witness a luggage-check on one of their indo locals via Harbour Bay during
my 31st Batam trip. It was the 1st time I witness a luggage-check in Batam custom after they were being scanned.
In my most recent trip which I brought some aunties/uncle over,one of the auntie was queried for about 5 mins at the custom counter before being 'release' to join me. That however was quite a normal procedure becos I have been queried by the custom officers over the same thing few times before (asking all the questions like why you come Batam,where you stay etc).
For precaution reason/s, I would urge travelers to keep a copy of the below if you are traveling to Batam (its what i always do) :
Below is the link of my words to another bro previously in this thread when he ask about a similar situation :
https://sbfjust.rocks/showpost.p...postcount=3143
There are many reasons for a more intense custom check in Indonesia,below were some reasons I gathered on another thread in this forum :
The terrorist threats/s around the Riau islands, Batam and even other major cities of Indonesia :
https://sbfjust.rocks/showpost.p...&postcount=506
May also be a tit for tat issue when a reputable ex.general of Indonesia was reject entry from Changi airport which result in some protest outside the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta recently :
https://sbfjust.rocks/showpost.p...&postcount=507
https://sbfjust.rocks/showpost.p...&postcount=508
And lastly,there were news on early July 2016 that the Indonesia Gov is stepping up on checks for tourists from Malaysia and Singapore traveling via Jakarta airport due to some drug issues :
https://sbfjust.rocks/showpost.p...&postcount=511
And in case if any of you guys are traveling to Indonesia and has encounter similar issues or worse, accuse of breaking some law/s unknowingly, do feel free to reference to the below :
I would suggest bros who are traveling there to keep a copy in your wallet in case you are somewhat "lucky enough" to be hit by a situation. I do that all the time whenever i travel,hehehe... (i kiasu and kiasi ma..)
Above info were taken from the below website :
https://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/o.../overview.html
Every decent person who travel overseas also want peace of mind and not to seek trouble,but if trouble occurs that arent within our control, the least we should know is how/where to look for help. While the above mentioned may not be 100% foolproof,i would say little help is better than dont know where to seek help (especially so for solo travelers). And do also keep in mind that custom officers in all countries has every rights to do their random routine checks. Its their duty. Always remain calm and polite when being prompt.
Note : I have relate the bro who send me the PM stated above to a few bros i knew in person and one of their reply to me sounds interesting. He says it should now be EVEN EASIER for that 'bro' to pass thru the Indonesia custom for his future trips becos he has already been proven 'clean' after all the hospital checks and all that ;and there are records in their systems that would certify so for other future trips.
As for pornography material,i have not heard of laws that says such material in a personal laptop/phones/devices for a tourist were illegal unless its being broadcast/sold to the public. Of course ,that would be rather subjective as there will always be grey areas around.
Above notes were just hearsay.
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Since I am already consolidating some Singapore Embassies/Consulate of Indoneisa,so in this post I would just put up some of the other Singapore's Embassies/Consulate in other more popularly traveled-to Asia countries for bros who plan to travel solo,just in case you run into any situation since I believe many countries would likely step up on their security checks to fight against global terrorism. It may not be your turn to suffer the similar experience but who knows it could happen 2morow? Below may not be of any great help at the end of the day but a tiny little help is afterall better than zero help at all.
Singapore embassy/consulate contacts for most major Asia cities
(that i find popular in this Forum)
Safety has always been my number 1 concern,hehehe...hope you guys will find it as useful as much I do.
Happy cheonging! Cheong safely! Return home safely and cheong with a peace of mind....