Having been to many different countries and experienced the nightlife there, of course I have also been keen to do the same here in Kunming. I've been to Kundu around 5 times now with no incidents or problems whatsoever whenever I've been there; in fact, I feel safer here than I would in the west.
However, a spate of recent incidents, including a dead guy last night (Wednesday night 25th June) and 5 people ganging up on a foreigner, not to mention some guys storming into a small restaurant next to Kundu and dragging the owner outside has got me thinking...how safe is Kundu? I've heard of incidents ranging from a stabbing of a Thai guy by a local man last year, an Australian guy taking a leak in the DJ booth a couple of months ago resulting in foreigners getting banned from a certain club there for about 2 weeks and other incidents seems to give the impression of a shady place.
What do you guys think? Is it normal practice for the people running the clubs there to ban foreigners for a while, if just one foreigner plays up by doing something stupid, like getting drunk and pissing in the dj booth? I'm just wondering about safety, as it seems bizarre that like 4 incidents could occur in just one night....sounds like the wild west to me, rather than what I always thought was a relatively civilized place to drink and dance.
Li Ping fundraisers
发布者Hopefully enough money can also be raised in the future for her eventual kidney transplant.
Malaysian firm to invest $8.1 billion in Songming
发布者According to the article re: railroad in Laos, this Malaysian firm wants to build a 220km connection between Thailand and Vietnam NOT the one up to the Chinese border that's been talked about and cancelled, then revived again so many times.
Doors to international trade swing wide for Laos
发布者The plan by the Lao government to still go ahead with the railway project is unbelievable. Neighboring Vietnam voted not to go ahead with a planned Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi high speed rail link due to concerns about profitability (i.e. not enough Vietnamese would be able to afford a ticket despite having a reasonably sized middle class at least in Hanoi and Saigon).
Now Laos, with only just over 6 million people and a tiny middle class wants to do the same? Good luck! However, I wouldn't be surprised if in 6 months from now I read in the Vientiane Times that the project has been put on hold again.
I'd suggest stick to a normal speed train that locals will actually be able to afford, going high-speed while neither Thailand nor Vietnam, two neighboring economic juggernaughts have plans to do the same is quite far fetched, I'll believe it when I see it but it seems like a crazy idea for now!
The only good news is that Laos can take control of the railway project and not have to worry about the previous 5km land concession on either side of the tracks that was previously demanded by the Chinese side.
Mekong drug kingpin stands trial in Kunming
发布者Also, scally is correct about the reasons for Naw Kham being tried in China and logically Kunming, the closest major Chinese city to the area where the attacks occurred would be the best place to try him.
Incidentally, the 9 renegade Thai soldiers also implicated in the attacks will be tried in Thailand.
Mekong drug kingpin stands trial in Kunming
发布者Well, he killed only Chinese sailors and based on this story, he has had run-ins with the Chinese authorities before. Overall, it's good that this criminal has been brought to justice. Also, by being tried in China he will receive the punishment he deserves.
The Mekong River in the 2000s should be about tourism and trade, not murder, drug trafficking and mayhem. Those latter three things should firmly be entrenched as relics of the past.