Makati stay safe · Makati travel safety advice
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Makati travel safety advice
Makati travel safety advice
Despite being the financial epicenter of the Philippines, home to the rich and famous, poverty is still evident in Makati. Venture outside of Ayala Center area and you'll see it. While the streets of San Lorenzo Village may be no-go zones for beggars and touts, if you're an obvious tourist, you will be constantly harrassed everywhere else. The civilized areas of Makati (Greenbelt, Ayala, Rockwell) are completely safe day or night, as is North Makati Avenue near P Burgos Street, but the rest of the city is just as dangerous as parts of Quezon City or Paranaque. Proceed with caution. As of July 2011, the popular scam of someone to approaching you and pretending they recognize you is still going strong. They will say they work at your hotel (i.e. room service, security, or whatever) and that they know you from there. However, there's a new twist--while the scammer is talking to you they will ask, "Where do you keep your money?" and tell you that thieves are using razor blades to cut the wallets out of pockets, etc. Do not under any circumstances indicate where you put your money, because the second you do, the scammer's hands will be in your pocket before you can move. It's the new version of a smash-and-grab. Now it's distract and grab. And then they're gone. Now, Makati Police are generally foreigner-friendly, but they can't help stupidity and there's a 0% chance they'll find the guy, if they bother to look. The best way to handle yourself in Makati is to be on high-alert at all times. It can happen in the mall, on the LRT, in KFC. Consider everyone you meet to have a less-than-friendly agenda, which is pretty much true everywhere in the Philippines. Let's face it, every Westerner, regardless of age or appearance, is considered to be rich by Filipino standards, so it should be no surprise that you are regarded as no more than a walking ATM.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Makati
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Makati - updated May 2024
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Makati Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.