The New Year's holiday is a good time for Chinese people to travel collectivelySoutheast Asia has always been a hot spot and a key region
Compared with Europe and the United States, Southeast Asian countries are not only close to each other and have low consumption (not only lower than Europe and the United States, but even far lower than Hainan and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), and visas are easier to obtain, and some do not even require visas, so they have become the first choice for many tourists who want to go abroad.
However, today, a hot search news has given everyone enough warning-There have been a number of traffic and drowning accidents involving Chinese tourists in Indonesia.
Don't let overseas self-driving become a "misstep and a hatred for eternity".
The original text of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Denpasar is as follows:
During the Spring Festival holiday,A number of traffic and drowning accidents involving Chinese tourists occurred in Bali and Komodo National Park in Indonesia, resulting in a number of Chinese tourists**The Consulate General is deeply saddened and regretted. In order to reduce the occurrence of such accidents, the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Denpasar once again reminds Chinese tourists who plan to come to Bali and Komodo National Park
1. Do not drive a motor vehicle without a license. When riding a motorcycle, be sure to wear a helmet correctly and fasten the straps. Bali right hand drive left,Driving habits are the opposite of domesticSome sections of the road in Ubud, Kintamani, Penida Island and other places are narrow and complicated, so please be cautious when driving a motorcycle to these areas.
2. When experiencing wading projects, please be sure to strictly follow the guidance of the staff, wear life jackets in advance, and be familiar with the use of relevant equipment and emergency self-rescue measures. Before going to sea, please pay close attention to the weather and hydrological conditions at sea, and take care of each other when you go into the water together. In case of high winds and rough seas and complicated sea conditions, please do not enter the water.
3. International medical expenses in Bali are relatively expensive, please prepare the corresponding insurance before traveling, just in case. ”
There have been many cases of Chinese tourists drowning in Indonesia over the years.
In April last year, a 59-year-old male Chinese tourist was dragged into deep water by the current while playing on a beach in Bali.
And in 2015, a number of Chinese tourists drowned in Indonesia.
Also last year, an influencer with millions of followers drowned while traveling in Indonesia.
Let's talk about safe driving overseas.
Bali, Indonesia.
Komodo National Park, famous for its dragons.
Let's talk about driver's licenses and car rental pitfalls.
First and foremost, the most important thing is,You have to have a real international driver's license recognized by the United Nations, not a so-called national driver's license bought from a treasure
An International Driving Permit (IDP) is a translation document that certifies the eligibility of a driver's license in another country, and is authorized by the relevant international organization to issue it to drivers who already have a driver's license in that country according to the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic.
That is to say,You must first have a legal driver's license from any country with an IDP, and then use it to get an "International Driver's Permit", which is essentially a document, not a driver's license
At present, in many countries, if you go to rent a car with a Chinese driver's license and a translation, the car rental company will happily rent it to you and give you insurance. Because car rental companies are for profit, they certainly don't care too much.
However, if something happens, it will cause a lot of trouble. Because China is not an IDP signatory,Therefore, in many European and American countries, a Chinese driver's license is considered illegal. Although the rental car company allowed you to rent a car smoothly and get insurance, because your driver's license was illegal in the first place, you are fully responsible and your insurance is invalid!
Since your driver's license is illegal, even if you are justified in an accident, it is useless.
This is what some Chinese drivers have exchanged for their experience with blood and tears, and some ** and platforms that make money by traveling will never tell you this.
Some people will raise the bar when they see this, and the Chinese pages of the official websites of the embassies of some countries in China indicate that the Chinese driver's license can be used for short-term tourism in the country, why can't it?
Yes, but they say this to attract more Chinese tourists, but if you do have an accident, the courts will not care what the Chinese page of the embassy in China says.
And after this kind of traffic accident happens, no matter how big or small, it will have an impact on your future visa.
With the increase in traffic accidents among self-driving tourists in China, many countries have also tightened their driver's license policies in recent years.
A friend in China told his real experience, he basically has to go to Japan twice a year from Shanghai, for official business and tourism. Previously, he had been using a Chinese driver's license and a translation.
However, in 2019, he was stopped by the police when he went to Japan again to rent a car for his own car. The other party told him very seriously that his driver's license was illegal, and he should have dealt with it seriously this time, but since it was a first offense, forget it, and if he used it in the future, he would be heavily fined.
So, he spent time and energy to get a driver's license in Japan.
A similar thing happened in Thailand, where a friend rented a car in Krabi with a Chinese driver's license and a translationDuring the tour, he encountered a large number of police officers checking the car, and he was fined thousands of baht.
At present, I don't know how many countries have tightened the driver's license policy for Chinese tourists, in short, it is best to obtain a valid driver's license from the country where the IDP is signed to drive abroad, and "drive carefully for ten thousand years".
For the safety of more people, even if you offend people, you have to say it
In the past decade, there have been many major traffic accidents caused by Chinese self-driving tourists in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, continental European countries, and even as far away as Iceland.
For example, in July 2016, an SUV collided with a sightseeing bus in a tragic car accident in the territory of the West Rim in Arizona4 Chinese passengers in the SUV died on the spot! The vehicle was driven by a 52-year-old man with two 52-year-old women and a 19-year-old girl inside, all four were wearing seat belts. They were all tourists from Chinese mainland, and they brought a lot of cash that day to travel to the Grand Canyon.
The cause of the accident was to ignore the "STOP" sign and turn left quickly, and did not give way to the bus that was going straight normally.
Many major domestic ** have reported the tragedy in detail.
In 2018, there was a similar accident in Australia.
A 26-year-old female tourist from China drives herself on Indian Ocean Drive in Western Australia during the 2018 National Day holidayBecause of wrong-way overtaking, she drove a Camry and collided head-on with the tour bus, and the lives of the whole car hung by a thread. Adam, the operator of the tour bus company, said that the Chinese driver was solely responsible for the accident.
Just last year, a similar accident occurred in Japan.
On April 14, 2023, a two-vehicle collision occurred on a highway in Gero City, Gifu PrefectureAs a result, two Japanese women died, and a Chinese man was arrested on suspicion of driving negligence。**The cause of the accident after the investigation is: the wrong lane!
There are many similar cases in other countries, so we will not repeat them one by one.
A few years ago, in a variety show, the special guest was a European who had lived in China for many years. He is fluent in Chinese and has traveled all over China. He expressed his usual opinion on the show:Chinese drive like monkeys!
Then he explained that the purpose of saying this is to attract enough attention to the problem of indiscriminate driving, rather than discriminating against and belittling Chinese.
It is precisely because he is full of affection for China that he would rather be scolded and say that "Chinese drive like monkeys." It can be described as a good medicine and bitter mouth, and his words are contrary to his ears。Instead of being like many other foreign Internet celebrity bloggers in China, blindly praising and boasting to earn enough traffic.
Cutting in line when passing through intersections, merging and turning without turning signals, crazy merging without warning, motor vehicles not yielding to pedestrians on zebra crossings, wanton crazy honking, driving with mobile phones to play **brush short** and even fatigue driving, occupying the fast lane for a long time, ignoring the solid line or double solid line (or not understanding the role of the solid line at all), squeezing each other when entering the roundabout (instead of giving way to the vehicles on the island), reversing when missing the high-speed exit, and express vehicles, takeaway trucks have no scruples about running red lights, going in the wrong direction and spreading wild on the sidewalk......
These have become commonplace, and people have long been familiar with them.
A few years ago, I was playing in London with a friend from China, and he rented a car for himself, and I sat in the passenger seat. On a downtown road, he scrambled with a female pedestrian who was crossing the street in a proper manner, and the other person looked at him angrily.
I reminded him not to drive like that. He looked at me with a look in his eyes and a look on his face as if to say, what's wrong?
If these "stinky problems and bad habits" are not changed, we sincerely do not recommend that you rent a car abroad for self-driving, otherwise it will harm others and yourself, and the originally happy travel may become a tragedy that will never be recovered.
So, for the sake of the safety of more people, we say the same thing as - we would rather offend people.
When the ocean devours a life, it's as if nothing happened
There have been more than one or two incidents of Chinese tourists drowning while traveling in Southeast Asia.
In addition to Indonesia, other Southeast Asian countries, especially Thailand, have also experienced similar incidents.
December 2016,A Chinese female tourist drowned in Koh Samet, Rayong Province, making her the second Chinese female tourist to drown in Koh Samet that week, and the water where the woman who drowned that day was only 1 meter deep.
And just last month, in January 2024, a 44-year-old male Chinese tourist drowned in the waters off the island of Similan in Thailand.
On July 5, 2016, a yacht full of Chinese tourists was sunk in Phuket, Thailand, killing more than 40 people.
Here we also want to point out in particular that Sensei says that a person who cannot swim or is not good at water, ieEven if the water is very good, try not to swim in natural waters, natural rivers, lakes and seas, because there are too many unknown uncertainties.
Whirlpools, shore currents, aquatic weeds, jellyfish, deadly fish, etc., these will not let a person go just because he is good at water.
Finally, let's also mention travel insurance.
Generally speaking, when traveling to European and American countries, it is mandatory to take short-term insurance, but I don't know if some Southeast Asian countries have the same policy. If you don't have compulsory insurance, it's important to buy one before you go.
If something happens, be sure to call the police immediately and contact the insurance company in time.
To sum up: during the Chinese New Year, everyone is happy to travel overseas, and safety should come first and be the top priority. Without security, there is nothing. Be well prepared to drive and understand the local driving rules and habits. When playing in natural waters such as rivers, lakes and seas, do not go deep into the water, be sure to ensure safety and do what you can.