safe in Kota Kinabalu?

My wife and I are going to Kota Kinabalu in march, and after reading about another poster in this forum gettin assaulted on a well-lit street by a gang of thugs in KK, I would like to know how safe it is to walk around in daytime and nighttime, and if there are any areas, that we should keep clear of. Any piece of advice would be greatly appreciated!

safe in Kota Kinabalu?

me too. i%26#39;m planning to visit the city proper, malls in particular and streets with hawkers after 8pm.

safe in Kota Kinabalu?

You have already read what happened to me in an upscale, well-lit area. The security situation in KK is very poor. As a tourist you are a target for the thugs.

As an expat professional I have lived and worked in 12 different countries over a course of 15 years without a serious incident until now. I have ten stitches in my head now and recognize that I was lucky to survive.

Hi we are in our 50%26#39;s and both felt very safe walking around the city, we obviously took all the usual precautions such as only carrying the cash we actually needed ect and we never frequented ';seedy'; areas.

We found the city charming and safe but as in all cities you must take care and be aware, generally we found this to be the feeling among other travellers we met whilst in KK, sadly there will always be the odd unpleasant incident and out best wishes go out to the unfortunate traveller that had to endure it.

Hi besafebesmart

As a working expat';Did you ';offenced'; any local lately at KK';

Cheers

I have found Sabah and Kota Kinabalu one of the safest places I have ever travelled. I have never fealt threatened at all in 6 years of travelling there.

Just take the usual precautions you would take in any city.

I think leopang asks a valid question - besafesmart%26#39;s posts smacks of revenge (his posts, but also what happened to him).

The few criminal incidents I%26#39;ve read of over the years usually involves a grab of a purse, the picking of a pocket or at worst being threatened, but rarely being hurt - people here are not generally violent.

When you hear about a beating it%26#39;s usually in retaliation to rude remarks and payback for angry insults - these never happen to tourists, because tourists are smart and stay safe by not offending locals and not responding to stupid comments from groups of loiterers.

KK is safe and you can walk around without fear.

Leopang, there was no offensive language or actions on my side. I was walking back to my hotel room and said nothing along the way apart from ';no thanks'; when asked if I wanted something.

The gang were prepared for a street robbery. They blind-sided me with a stick, bat or parang. Doc says the wound is clean, likely a sharp object.

If you cannot recognize that street crime in KK is increasing, perhaps read the newspaper or go see for yourself. But be smar and be safe.

The intention of my post was to raise awareness of the risks for those people visiting KK.

The stitches come out tomorrow.

I think Eastofwest does not like to hear of what really happens to unfortunate visitors to KK.

There were no offensive gestures or remarks. Simply a lone tourist walking along a well-lit pathway between The Promenade and Marina Court and three local thugs looking for a target.

It%26#39;s so easy to blame the tourist, isn%26#39;t it?

Actually, I spend a fair amount of time concerning myself with what happens to unfortunate visitors in KK, specifically monitoring the Internet for comments, good or bad.

Complaints about bad service and too much rubbish aside - you will be hard pressed to find anything about muggings or security complaints/incidents involving tourists.

To me it looks like you joined TripAdvisor for the sole purpose of an angry publicity campaign for your unfortunate incident - you%26#39;re not on here as a tourist. And it makes me think your incident might not have had much to do with you being a tourist as such either.

Bottom line: it%26#39;s unfortunate this happened to you, however tourists are generally not the target of what little crime exists in KK - and most certainly not violent crimes.

These things will have happened at every single place in the world at some point - it is certainly not a reflect of KK. Its all about probability - and in KK I would say it very low risk.

We have just returned from KK and we found it to be one of the kindest and friendliest places in the world - I wouldn%26#39;t let this report hold anyone back.

If it helps we were often out until the hours of the morning and never felt even slightly unsafe or unwelcome.