In Reply to: Security in Bali posted by MissD on Friday, 23. December 2005 at 06:40 Bali Time:
Just returned from three weeks in Bali and I have to say that security, although highly visible, remains ineffectual, sometimes bordering on comical. Yes, comical...as in the day I went to Makro and the security at the parking entrance waved metal detectors over and under our van...duh!...the car is all metal. What the hell are they searching for?
On a trip to the Bali Deli, our driver was not allowed to drive into the parking lot, we are guessing because my wife had several suitcases in the back of the vehicle (we made several other trips to BD without suitcases and parked without incident). Our driver was directed to the rear of the BD, where he was able to park very close to the building and then enter the Deli without further confrontation.
I spent a lot of time talking with security at many different locations. The only ones I saw with any sort of weapon or tool to use in the event of a threat were at Kafe Warisan where security weilded thick truncheons. Otherwise, the guards all reported nearly the same story...no weapons, no pepper spray, no cell phones unless they happened to be carrying their personal phones on the job, no way of stopping a threat other than by sheer physical force. They are mighty proud of those uniforms, however!
My conclusions are that security in Bali at present is all show and very little substance.