Gunmen kill tourist and kidnap wife from Pom Pom Resort

[Midget]

I must be weird. I am spending two weeks visiting family in Baltimore - where they average one murder every 36 hours - and it never occurred to me to cancel my trip.

Not an accurate comparison.
Unless you are a drug dealer or gang member when you're in Baltimore, you won't be a target.

---------- Post added December 11th, 2013 at 09:40 AM ----------

In any event, haven't heard another thing about the poor kidnap victim. Does anyone know if demands have been made? Or worse they decided she was of no value to them after all?

Kidnap victim is safe according to this article.

 

[Jeevz]

Taiwanese tourist kidnapped at Malaysian resort found in Sulu | ABS-CBN News

 

[Hintermann]

Unless you are a drug dealer or gang member when you're in Baltimore, you won't be a target.

You can say that again. Back in 1993-4 my wife, a doctor, was doing a 3-month research stury by invitation of John Hopkins University. The was a tenant with a landlady at one of the less reputable areas of Baltimore and heard about the high crime rate all around. But even though she was forced to sometimes return late from work and with the short daylight hours of winter, she did not have the slightest problem personally....except the biting cold.

 

[Roblynn]

Does anyone know anything more up-to-date I should be aware of? We are booked (only paid deposit so far) for a sipidan liveaboard in mid-March, but are now reconsidering for safety reasons. Also wondering if the diving is spectacular enough to be worth any risk. Advice welcome.

 

[humuhumunukunuku]

we stayed at kapalai, a resort built on stilts in the middle of the ocean. they had armed army patroling the resort and big red emergency buttons in the rooms. there is also an army base on sipadan island nearby. although the philippino pirates are always a risk, i think its much less of a risk than a dive accident or being struck by lightening, etc.. so i wouldn't worry about it too much. and the diving there is great! wall dives in sipadan with huge schools of fish, turtles and reef sharks everywhere you look, and then great macro critter dives at mabul nearby!

 

[Jeevz]

Does anyone know anything more up-to-date I should be aware of? We are booked (only paid deposit so far) for a sipidan liveaboard in mid-March, but are now reconsidering for safety reasons. Also wondering if the diving is spectacular enough to be worth any risk. Advice welcome.

Just been in mabul. I felt safe the whole time and loved the diving. So for us I guess it was worth the risk (which seemed much less than I expected; almost nonexistent - though i guess it is an unpredictable risk). When you consider the number of tourists that go there every day it seems relatively safe.

BUT you don't want to be feeling worried while you are there because that could ruin your enjoyment. So it probably depends a little on how you expect to feel.

tbh I think most tourists I met had no idea about the events on Pom Pom

 

[Sorrows]

we stayed at kapalai, a resort built on stilts in the middle of the ocean. they had armed army patroling the resort and big red emergency buttons in the rooms. there is also an army base on sipadan island nearby. although the philippino pirates are always a risk, i think its much less of a risk than a dive accident or being struck by lightening, etc.. so i wouldn't worry about it too much. and the diving there is great! wall dives in sipadan with huge schools of fish, turtles and reef sharks everywhere you look, and then great macro critter dives at mabul nearby!

I hope I'm not a "white rajah" but I have to say this does not sound very fun to me. Who wants to look at armed guards patrolling whilst on vacation? Or contemplate the significance of that big red button? Can the diving really be that much better than other places? Like all divers, Malaysia has been on the top of my "must-dive" list--but the idea of terrorists attacking from the sea....Jesus.

And I say this as a citizen of a gun-crazy country, where you can get shot for texting in a movie theater. But there is something about being targeted as a tourist that is distinctly off-putting.

Of course, now you have me thinking about being struck by lightning!

 

[humuhumunukunuku]

i found the army and big red button comforting! in fact i prefer those things to people coming up to me on the beach trying to sell me crud i dont need like you find at many holiday destinations. those are the real terrorists if you ask me.

 

[Sorrows]

i found the army and big red button comforting! in fact i prefer those things to people coming up to me on the beach trying to sell me crud i dont need like you find at many holiday destinations. those are the real terrorists if you ask me.

Have things gotten so bad that you need armed soldiers to keep the pestering hawkers away?

Seriously. though, I'm assuming the resorts would be safer than a liveaboard? And is this resort--Pom-Pom--really that less safe than the ones I've heard about here in America? It looks so peaceful...and then I can see how close it is to Southern Philippines. Tempting target for desperate and angry people...

But you guys seem to feel that the diving was worth the threat of danger. (Not to mention the expense and tedium of travel to get there!) I've always heard it was wonderful--but that much better than RA, for example?

 

[humuhumunukunuku]

sorrows, yes the risk is worth it. when you look at how many people have been harmed compared to how many have visited im sure its nothing compared to the number hurt in taxis, dice accidents, other random events, etc.. RA is probably a little better than sipadan/mabul but its also more expensive. yes a liveaboard would be more defenseless in sipadan not to mention that there is no need for a liveaboard there since you just have tiny sipadan island, mabul island, and another island(forget the name) all about 20 minute boat ride apart from each other. and cant dive sipadan without permit and if you stay in the area for a week you will likely only get permit to dive sipadan may e 2 of those days. not a problem for me since i actualky like searching for strange macro critters on mabul more than looking at countless sharks and turtles on sipadan.