If you really have to cross the road, just find a chicken.[/quote]
Why?
If you really have to cross the road, just find a chicken.[/quote]
Why?[/quote]
To get to the other side…BOOM!
Taiwan is a very dangerous place if you’ve spent your entire life behind padded walls while wearing shin guards and a helmet.
Otherwise, no.
If you start a confrontation, it’s easy for it to get out of hand. But isn’t that the case everywhere in the world? Be a decent human being, watch out for bad (though not malicious) drivers, and know when to swallow your pride and you are almost guaranteed not to have any problems.
No, Taiwan is not violent.
[quote=“afterspivak”]Sometimes yes there’s violence, and sometimes there’s not. And sometimes the violence is slow:
Guy[/quote]
Slow violence, swaying to the music
Slow violence, just me and my girl
In other words, Boston minus the violence. And the Chinatown is way bigger.
Here’s the murder rate which is highish, imo, but which is probably mostly gang stuff and domestic violence, like in most countries.
miamiherald.com/2012/01/12/2 … rates.html
As a foreign guy, you’re probably more at risk from ‘did you look at my girlfriend?’ shit from strangers, as a foreign woman, you’re more at risk from drunk foreign guys or boyfriend shit than from random stuff from the locals. Most guys seem to get into fights over traffic and at bars through messing with some wannabe gangster’s girl, but if you use your brain and don’t act like some dumb FNG, you’ll be fine.
Only the psycho xiaojies are violent.
If you really have to cross the road, just find a chicken.[/quote]
Why?[/quote]
To get to the other side…BOOM!
[/quote]
Man I set that one up for you and fell right in…
I prefer to think that you bowled it nice and softly for me, and I slogged it right out of the stadium.
the driving really is a problem though, being a pedestrian raises my anger level far higher than it is back home. much easier to get into a confrontation when your life is at risk from nob ends who think they are playing GTA.
99% of potentially volatile situations can be diffused with a bit of common sense. The trouble is there are some white fucktards running around with a chip on their shoulder under the false impression they are tough, and so many locals with hardwired, ingrained, moronic ideals of face and manliness that shit can go horribly wrong when it begins to skew aggressive. The punchy, drunken, insecure big nose, the little man syndrome local with the mini Louisville Slugger under the drivers seat, etc…these characters are all classic meatheads who might take a swing at the wrong time, but all of this can be easily avoided. As for the gangsters, they will only fuck with you if they really have to, and if they really have to, you’ve fucked up my friend and likely deserve a bit of a beating.
Completely agree with the above, the foreigners who I’ve met who have gotten into fights out here have either usually started it or deserved it. You meet some strange expats in Taiwan. For 90% of us and the locals violence is unheard of, my 1 incident of crime is that somebody once stole my $100 NT scooter helmet, which I used to leave on my scooter every day on a major road unattended, I also think it was a friend that took it.
Violence to your motor vehicle is all too common unfortunately.
I don’t really think Taiwan is violent. Then again, I don’t go to bars, drive a scooter, or go to gangster areas. So I think that minimizes chances of violence.
You’re more likely to meet various forms of discrimination and racism, than violence (usually passive-aggressive in nature, but also outright).
Funny this thread came up; just watched the news and saw a report on 4 youths attacking a 7-11 in Taichung with clubs and baseball bats. One employee has a broken arm, manager has a serious head wound, thousands of dollars of damages to the shop. Reason for this crime? One of the gang says he was given the wrong change.
EDIT: news.chinatimes.com/society/1105 … 00687.html
There is a problem with violence here, and that is the lack of justice. Probably nothing will happen to these kids, even if the police actual bother prosecuting they’ll just say sorry, pay a little fine and nothing more will happen. If you’re a foreigner and you’re attacked, then forget it, you’ll probably end up paying them for bruising their knuckles.
It is far from being a dangerous or violent place, if compared with the rest of the world. There’s road rage, though, and more than average, I’d say. I have had a couple of issues on the road with red necks trying to kill me, which I consider something violent and abnormal in a developed country, but if you stay out of the roads, things are pretty chilled out.
There’s mafia, but as pointed out before, normally these people mind their business, and you are not supposed to be his business, right?
[quote=“jesus80”]It is far from being a dangerous or violent place, if compared with the rest of the world. There’s road rage, though, and more than average, I’d say. I have had a couple of issues on the road with red necks trying to kill me, which I consider something violent and abnormal in a developed country, but if you stay out of the roads, things are pretty chilled out.
There’s mafia, but as pointed out before, normally these people mind their business, and you are not supposed to be his business, right?[/quote]
It’s fairly violent, in terms of crime figures. Not as scary as Thailand or the US, but less safe than a lot of the world.
The point is, though, as a middle class foreigner, you’re pretty untouchable as long as you avoid bar fights.
I’m a bit surprised looking at the numbers. Combined, Taipei, New Taipei, and Keelung (pop. 7 million) had 248 murders, 64 robberies, and 681 rapes in 2012. That yields 3.5 murders per 100,000 people, which is the rate for Europe as a whole. Taiwan as a whole is 3.2 murders per 100K people, putting just above the Asian average of 3.1 and far above Japan’s 0.3 people murdered per 100,000. Taiwan is also high for East Asia (3.2 compared to the regional average of just 1.2.
The incidence of rape in northern Taiwan (9.7!) is also much higher than in Japan (1) or Hong Kong 1.6 (2010 figures). Taiwan’s incarceration rate is also relatively high at 248/100k. The only country in Asia that is higher is Thailand (381).
For East Asia, Taiwan appears to be a relatively violent place. That contrasts sharply with my subjective impression that it is very safe. I would have said that it is almost as safe as Japan.
[quote=“Feiren”]I’m a bit surprised looking at the numbers. Combined, Taipei, New Taipei, and Keelung (Jilong) (pop. 7 million) had 248 murders, 64 robberies, and 681 rapes in 2012. That yields 3.5 murders per 100,000 people, which is the rate for Europe as a whole. Taiwan as a whole is 3.2 murders per 100K people, putting just above the Asian average of 3.1 and far above Japan’s 0.3 people murdered per 100,000. Taiwan is also high for East Asia (3.2 compared to the regional average of just 1.2.
The incidence of rape in northern Taiwan (9.7!) is also much higher than in Japan (1) or Hong Kong 1.6 (2010 figures). Taiwan’s incarceration rate is also relatively high at 248/100k. The only country in Asia that is higher is Thailand (381).
For East Asia, Taiwan appears to be a relatively violent place. That contrasts sharply with my subjective impression that it is very safe. I would have said that it is almost as safe as Japan.[/quote]
While I am very surprised by the numbers and a big believer in numbers usually don’t lie, I am not sure how accurate the reporting of these crimes are. Do all rapes in for example India get reported and if so are they then classified as rapes or women being promiscuous? I wonder how many of the rapes in Taiwan were date rapes as opposed to (I want to say violent assaults but am afraid that it might be taken that I consider date rape a non-violent offense which I do not do) non-date rapes.
Anyway, Thanks for the numbers Feiren. I for one am surprised but still consider it fairly low compared to other places.