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Originally Posted by Dhurr
Don't say ANYTHING in English in Dhaka. Your accent would be a dead giveaway that you are 'foreign maal'. Learn to call people 'tumi', instead of 'apni'. That means rickshaw wallahs, CNG wallahs, servers at restaurants and so on, no matter how old they are. Don't say 'please' and 'thank you' when somebody does something they are supposed to do, such as a server bringing you your food, or a shop keeper giving you your change. Bangali etto bhodro nai ar, so any time you are polite, people can sense that you live abroad and they will try to take you to the cleaners.
As far as being safe from mugging goes, don't travel by CNG or cabs by yourself after dark. Never take a shared car (private cars that act like taxi cabs). When you are on the street, try not to be on the phone, and if you absolutely have to be, make sure you keep an eye on those around you.
I've been mugged before, and I could have been mugged another four times but didn't because I learned from my mistakes.
1. Late at night, I was walking towards Gulshan 2 circle from Banani. Two guys started tailing me. Then one crossed me, the other stayed behind. I stared at both the guys, let them know I was watching them, and crossed over to the other side of the road (less dark, better lit, etc). They stood there for about five minutes, then left.
2. In the evening, I went to buy phone cards at the corner store and 4-5 guys, outta nowhere, just crowded around me, pretending that they were customers of that stop too. I walked INTO the corner store, and sat down in the shopkeeper's chair, called our darwan on the phone (lol. darwans, rickshawallahs... everyone has a phone these days in BD), told him to bring some people with him, called out to the darwan of the house next to the store, told him to come over. When everybody came, these guys milling outside the store just left, without buying anything. It was the 1st of the month, and I had quite a bit of cash on me. These guys KNEW I had money on me. They really, really scope out the situation before they pounce on you.
3. The time I got mugged, it was because I had given money to the poor kids on that same intersection two days in a row, around the same time. The kids pointed me out to the muggers. We caught the muggers eventually, and they said that's why they targeted me. Lesson: don't help people just because they look poor, or because you feel sympathetic.
4. Got off a CNG in Farmgate because the driver was acting shady, talking on his cellphone, looking at me in the rearview mirror every few minutes, asking me what the time was, even though he had his own cellphone. I told him I don't have a phone. Then he tried to take a sidestreet, even though there was no traffic ahead. I told him I just remembered about some work I have, and could he just drop me off right there and then? BE firm when you do stuff like this. Chipa goli te jakei nise, tar chokhei morich er gura and molom lagaye tarpore mugging korse.
5. Stay away from Dhanmondi golis at night. 8/A, 9/A etc. Eigula te shondha bela te besh mugging hoito. Not sure what the situation is like right now, because I've stopped going there because of those damned people. Some of these kids will drive a pajero or even a land rover around (heard of only one such land rover case though, but lots of pajero stories) and try to mug old uncles and aunties for 400 - 500 taka.
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