Crime & Safety in DR

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El Rey de Mangu

Guest
Unfortunately, the MSM sees the DR through the eyes of the short-term AI tourist. Even if not AI. Imagine if they only had Everything Cabarete/Sosua as their base of knowledge - 20K people, the majority of who have no clue about the DR or it's people
 
C

chico bill

Guest
Celt202 said:
She's an "Instagram Influencer."
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't insta-nothing but microwave popcorn so I would never see it, but every selfie loving woman under 30 does it, so she might have a following. Heck she made news in NY.
 
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El Rey de Mangu

Guest
Lol, just got done reading through the comments on the Barbara Corcoran brother piece on FoxNews site. Priceless
 
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carlos

Guest
I am going to reopen this thread and move it to the General forum. I’ll also merge similar new threads into this one.

Let’s stay on topic so I won’t have to permanently close it.
 
F

Fulano2

Guest
Retire said:
No not at all . I just see it for what it is . I've had very few problems here . But I attribute that to the fact that i'm not living free and enjoying my life as I should here . I'd love to walk the malecon sip a coffee watch the stars at night . ETC. Not going to happen here . I'm a pretty big guy . I'm not easily intimidated . But Ladrones being what they are 3 , 4 at a time with a stolen pistol , or machettes not one man is a match . I just see a better life for myself and family . Believe me , I WAS the DR's biggest fan . I am just tired of having to pay the prices here for paradise . I'd like to say I'd come back to visit but , for what ? Where ? To an all inclusive ? More of the same if not worse . I guess I just can't see having 5 dogs , a pistol , shotgun and hiding in the house at night , eyes in front and back for thieves and robbers and crooked cops . , as opposed to being able to walk relatively free . There are many places one can enjoy the beaches and flora and fauna , without the heavy price we're all paying here . My feelings . Not trying to sway anyone from THEY'RE D.R. dream .
Click to expand...
I understand your point of view perfectly. I decided, (my wife was never enthousiastic to move to the DR from the beginning), to leave the country when one night I shot with our caliber 12 just over our wall to deter a bunch of guys approaching our house. I thought, I better shoot now than when they climb over the wall, then I will kill them.
The day after, I realised what risk I had taken and how this country had changed me in short time. The next day we went out for shopping in Cabarete and on the way back, through GH, I said to my wife, "Que desorden este pais". Then we stopped at the supermarket in GH to greet our very good friend, Sandy and Fatima, the owners. She doesnt like the DR at all but is staying a couple of years more for the money the supermarket pays off.
She said, after I told here what happened."Nunca he entendido lo que haces aqui, procedente de un continente tan bonito".
Next day our mind was made up.
We will be back now and than for our family. Our daughter likes it and decided to return to the DR and is studying right now.
We hope she will come to Belgium when finished.
 
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the gorgon

Guest
Wishing you well said:
When it rains, it pours.

"Tourist returns from nightmare Dominican Republic trip: ‘Just don’t go’ "


https://nypost.com/2019/06/12/tourist-returns-from-nightmare-dominican-republic-trip-just-dont-go/
Click to expand...

you gotta love it. everybody who ever got sick in the DR is going to claim that the place is worse than Afghanistan, and warn whoever will listen to stay away. here is a guy who had stomach pains. at the end of reading his account, we still do not know the cause. he never discloses. all he knows is that everybody should stay away, lest they get a tummyache, too.
 
M

mountainannie

Guest
El Rey de Mangu said:
aka spoiled millennial drama queen
Click to expand...

Actually she is reporting a very accurate picture of what the experience of being a woman traveler in the Dominican Republic is like.

I was there for 14 years. I am far from a Millenial - having arrived when I was 55.

Because I was already an experience world traveler - was intending to actually move and live there - had being having a 6 months correspondence with an American that I had met via a connection here on DR1 and had been reading this web page - Plus had the lending hand of the venerable and beloved Ginnie Bedgood... I was OK -

I moved first to Las Terrenas - and stayed for 2 years...

Certainly the amount of cat calls & propositions sent me back to the old days of NYC - from the construction workers in the 70s. Finally I had to make a very public stand at the Moto Concho Stand - with my umbrella in the chest of one of the young drivers. I was doing volunteer teaching at one of the local schools.

I stuck the point of the umbrella in his chest and explained in a loud voice - in Spanish - that I was old enough to be his Grandmother- that I was a teacher - and that I expected to be treated with respect.

I never had any trouble again.

With some empathy to the concho guys - there were lots of single women in Las Terrenas who traveled there explicitly for that sort of attention (See the movie "Vers Le Sud" which was filmed there - although supposedly about Haiti).

When I moved to the Capital, I once went out for a walk on the Malecon in a dress which was a perfectly respectable summer dress - but clearly too form fitting and flouncy for the DR. I had cat calls, cars stopping - etc.. The dress got relegated to the back of the closet for evening wear only.

My sister, while visiting, in broad daylight, walking in Gazcue right across from the PLD HQ was attacked in an attempt to have her handbag, which was a shoulder bag, slug around her back, taken.The attacker pulled her to the ground. The police came quite quickly and she was not hurt. But-- well-- safe?? Not so much.

I know another woman who had a gold necklace - just a chain with a cross- nothing flashy - ripped from her neck outside the Episcopal Church on Independcia.

A Black woman that I knew from the Embassy and another Black woman who was studying at a university complained quite bitterly about how they were always addressed as "Negro"

My Haitian friend - when she worn her hair naturally - had constant finger pointing and comments of "feo- feo" - (I am sure that most folks are aware of the "pelo bueno- peso Malo" distinction.

I have gleaned from some posters on this Board that the DR used to be a place where foreigners were treated with great respect. This is simply no longer the case.

We are, for the most part, treated as "marks" for one purpose or another.

I learned how to navigate the country. I traveled around via bus, guagua, motoconcho and never felt unsafe.

As a journalist, however, I was cautious since I was often closely followed. I had more than one death threat. I always made an effort to find stories that could paint the DR in a positive light. While I did often write about the plight of the Haitians in the DR, I made an effort to put the issue into historical context - with the help from many members on this Board who informed me of facts that were not available in English print.

In the end, I told my editor in NY that there were only two stories left to write about - Cocaine and Corruption - and - while I had alluded to them- I could not actually write either story without being deported. So I returned to the USA.

I do not blame the Dominicans for the level of insecurity there as much as I blame the foreigners (and DomYorks) who have come there to exploit the people who are there-- for the sex tourists, the cocaine traffickers,the foreign business owners who exploit the locals (really? An international shipping company paying a completely bilingual college graduate $500 a month for full time work? really?), the money launderers.

But it is BEYOND time that the reality of life in the DR be exposed for what it is.

Even Puerto Rico and St Croix are dangerous islands.

The Bahamas - Hawaii - Key West - Those are the places that Americans can go for their safe/secure/untroubled "Islands in the Sun"

(Perhaps there are others still - I adored my year in Grenada - and Barbados and Tortola are gorgeous - probably ditto Turks and Caicos -- etc.. etc.. but most middle budget travelers who are drawn to the DR will not be able to afford those islands-- they certainly would not be able to afford Martinique/Guadeloupe.)

ya gets what ya pay for
 
E

El Rey de Mangu

Guest
The pro-DR campaign has started folks. The DR higher-ups have brought in consultants to counter all this "defamatory" press about the place. Check your FB, Twitter and IG feeds
 
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the gorgon

Guest
mountainannie said:
Actually she is reporting a very accurate picture of what the experience of being a woman traveler in the Dominican Republic is like.

I was there for 14 years. I am far from a Millenial - having arrived when I was 55.

Because I was already an experience world traveler - was intending to actually move and live there - had being having a 6 months correspondence with an American that I had met via a connection here on DR1 and had been reading this web page - Plus had the lending hand of the venerable and beloved Ginnie Bedgood... I was OK -

I moved first to Las Terrenas - and stayed for 2 years...

Certainly the amount of cat calls & propositions sent me back to the old days of NYC - from the construction workers in the 70s. Finally I had to make a very public stand at the Moto Concho Stand - with my umbrella in the chest of one of the young drivers. I was doing volunteer teaching at one of the local schools.

I stuck the point of the umbrella in his chest and explained in a loud voice - in Spanish - that I was old enough to be his Grandmother- that I was a teacher - and that I expected to be treated with respect.

I never had any trouble again.

With some empathy to the concho guys - there were lots of single women in Las Terrenas who traveled there explicitly for that sort of attention (See the movie "Vers Le Sud" which was filmed there - although supposedly about Haiti).

When I moved to the Capital, I once went out for a walk on the Malecon in a dress which was a perfectly respectable summer dress - but clearly too form fitting and flouncy for the DR. I had cat calls, cars stopping - etc.. The dress got relegated to the back of the closet for evening wear only.

My sister, while visiting, in broad daylight, walking in Gazcue right across from the PLD HQ was attacked in an attempt to have her handbag, which was a shoulder bag, slug around her back, taken.The attacker pulled her to the ground. The police came quite quickly and she was not hurt. But-- well-- safe?? Not so much.

I know another woman who had a gold necklace - just a chain with a cross- nothing flashy - ripped from her neck outside the Episcopal Church on Independcia.

A Black woman that I knew from the Embassy and another Black woman who was studying at a university complained quite bitterly about how they were always addressed as "Negro"

My Haitian friend - when she worn her hair naturally - had constant finger pointing and comments of "feo- feo" - (I am sure that most folks are aware of the "pelo bueno- peso Malo" distinction.

I have gleaned from some posters on this Board that the DR used to be a place where foreigners were treated with great respect. This is simply no longer the case.

We are, for the most part, treated as "marks" for one purpose or another.

I learned how to navigate the country. I traveled around via bus, guagua, motoconcho and never felt unsafe.

As a journalist, however, I was cautious since I was often closely followed. I had more than one death threat. I always made an effort to find stories that could paint the DR in a positive light. While I did often write about the plight of the Haitians in the DR, I made an effort to put the issue into historical context - with the help from many members on this Board who informed me of facts that were not available in English print.

In the end, I told my editor in NY that there were only two stories left to write about - Cocaine and Corruption - and - while I had alluded to them- I could not actually write either story without being deported. So I returned to the USA.

I do not blame the Dominicans for the level of insecurity there as much as I blame the foreigners (and DomYorks) who have come there to exploit the people who are there-- for the sex tourists, the cocaine traffickers,the foreign business owners who exploit the locals (really? An international shipping company paying a completely bilingual college graduate $500 a month for full time work? really?), the money launderers.

But it is BEYOND time that the reality of life in the DR be exposed for what it is.

Even Puerto Rico and St Croix are dangerous islands.

The Bahamas - Hawaii - Key West - Those are the places that Americans can go for their safe/secure/untroubled "Islands in the Sun"

(Perhaps there are others still - I adored my year in Grenada - and Barbados and Tortola are gorgeous - probably ditto Turks and Caicos -- etc.. etc.. but most middle budget travelers who are drawn to the DR will not be able to afford those islands-- they certainly would not be able to afford Martinique/Guadeloupe.)

ya gets what ya pay for
Click to expand...

500 dollars per month is good money, relatively speaking. check out how much some of the major hotels pay college grads who are fluent in English.
 
C

chico bill

Guest
mountainannie said:
Actually she is reporting a very accurate picture of what the experience of being a woman traveler in the Dominican Republic is like.

I was there for 14 years. I am far from a Millenial - having arrived when I was 55.

Because I was already an experience world traveler - was intending to actually move and live there - had being having a 6 months correspondence with an American that I had met via a connection here on DR1 and had been reading this web page - Plus had the lending hand of the venerable and beloved Ginnie Bedgood... I was OK -

I moved first to Las Terrenas - and stayed for 2 years...

Certainly the amount of cat calls & propositions sent me back to the old days of NYC - from the construction workers in the 70s. Finally I had to make a very public stand at the Moto Concho Stand - with my umbrella in the chest of one of the young drivers. I was doing volunteer teaching at one of the local schools.

I stuck the point of the umbrella in his chest and explained in a loud voice - in Spanish - that I was old enough to be his Grandmother- that I was a teacher - and that I expected to be treated with respect.

I never had any trouble again.

With some empathy to the concho guys - there were lots of single women in Las Terrenas who traveled there explicitly for that sort of attention (See the movie "Vers Le Sud" which was filmed there - although supposedly about Haiti).

When I moved to the Capital, I once went out for a walk on the Malecon in a dress which was a perfectly respectable summer dress - but clearly too form fitting and flouncy for the DR. I had cat calls, cars stopping - etc.. The dress got relegated to the back of the closet for evening wear only.

My sister, while visiting, in broad daylight, walking in Gazcue right across from the PLD HQ was attacked in an attempt to have her handbag, which was a shoulder bag, slug around her back, taken.The attacker pulled her to the ground. The police came quite quickly and she was not hurt. But-- well-- safe?? Not so much.

I know another woman who had a gold necklace - just a chain with a cross- nothing flashy - ripped from her neck outside the Episcopal Church on Independcia.

A Black woman that I knew from the Embassy and another Black woman who was studying at a university complained quite bitterly about how they were always addressed as "Negro"

My Haitian friend - when she worn her hair naturally - had constant finger pointing and comments of "feo- feo" - (I am sure that most folks are aware of the "pelo bueno- peso Malo" distinction.

I have gleaned from some posters on this Board that the DR used to be a place where foreigners were treated with great respect. This is simply no longer the case.

We are, for the most part, treated as "marks" for one purpose or another.

I learned how to navigate the country. I traveled around via bus, guagua, motoconcho and never felt unsafe.

As a journalist, however, I was cautious since I was often closely followed. I had more than one death threat. I always made an effort to find stories that could paint the DR in a positive light. While I did often write about the plight of the Haitians in the DR, I made an effort to put the issue into historical context - with the help from many members on this Board who informed me of facts that were not available in English print.

In the end, I told my editor in NY that there were only two stories left to write about - Cocaine and Corruption - and - while I had alluded to them- I could not actually write either story without being deported. So I returned to the USA.

I do not blame the Dominicans for the level of insecurity there as much as I blame the foreigners (and DomYorks) who have come there to exploit the people who are there-- for the sex tourists, the cocaine traffickers,the foreign business owners who exploit the locals (really? An international shipping company paying a completely bilingual college graduate $500 a month for full time work? really?), the money launderers.

But it is BEYOND time that the reality of life in the DR be exposed for what it is.

Even Puerto Rico and St Croix are dangerous islands.

The Bahamas - Hawaii - Key West - Those are the places that Americans can go for their safe/secure/untroubled "Islands in the Sun"

(Perhaps there are others still - I adored my year in Grenada - and Barbados and Tortola are gorgeous - probably ditto Turks and Caicos -- etc.. etc.. but most middle budget travelers who are drawn to the DR will not be able to afford those islands-- they certainly would not be able to afford Martinique/Guadeloupe.)

ya gets what ya pay for
Click to expand...

Well a lot of what you said rings true, and it is not the first time I have heard or experienced white women being openly harrased by Latinos, but it is not exclusive to DR.
When living in Costa Rica I had a friend in Spanish school, 6' beautiful German girl and we made plans to meet in San Jose and I told her I would pick her up in my car. She was wearing shorts and her legs were top-shelf. Well she was never so pleased to see me when I pulled up because there was a crowd of Ticos following her making catcalls. And there were other cases, an Italian & Swiss girl who experienced similar.

But any deterioration in DR is not the foreign travelers fault, if so then send the word out no more tourists welcome in DR. See how jobs evaporate. It has to be cleaned from within.

It is the drug & digital social media culture most likely and the absolute trash Reggaton which has warped the mind of young men who think wearing their pants around their knees, with a cheap neck chain while pointing their finger in the air and mouthing the words to the music while drinking cheap rum at the colmado sporting $10 sunglasses makes them a Papi Chulo.

And the women think a fake DG short skirt and twerking while wearing some fake Nine West high heels and having posted a sex tape makes them Cardi B or Kim K.

There is no value for education and hard work among Dominicans, as there are few decent jobs here if they do pursue education, heck $500 a month for full time work - most people outside of SD would think that's pretty great.

Unfortunately when a snowball starts rolling downhill it just gets bigger and bigger till it hits bottom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxLtXJzo3Ew
 
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Garyexpat

Guest
There is so much bad press in the states and I believe Europe right now that I believe it can't help but impact vacation bookings. Personally I don't think it will have long term effects nor do I think a large number of people that have already pre-paid will cancel, however I do think it will have an effect on people currently looking to book a Caribbean vacation. There are alternatives and frankly if I worked for say the Tourism board for Turks and Caicos I would inject some quick advertising monies to capture some of those immediate reservations.
I'm not a big AI person however those of us that live here might have some bargain deals coming up if they don't quickly get a handle on this.
 
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