General Info

[Menteng]

Arrived in Jakarta this week. Everything went super smooth, before and after the IMEI registration. Before reaching customs, a line of signs urges you to register the IMEI of your mobile phone (s). I travelled with two phones. An IPhone pro, my daily driver and a cheaper Samsung, to be used while on vacation.

A lady behind the window started the registration and needed to know the value of my phones. The Samsung's was less than 500 euro's and the IPone's was more than 1000 euro's.

She said, that since the value of the IPhone exceeds 500 euro I will have to pay a tax if I want to use that during my stay. I told her that that was not very visitor-friendly because I believe that many visitors will have a mobile phone that costs more than 500 euro's.

So I had my cheaper Samsung registered while thinking to get me an Indonesian sim card anyway, once in the city. Alas, I already have five failed attempts. The reason? They couldn't find my IPhone's IMEI in the system.

A friend handed me a solution. Top up my Samsung and tettering with my Iphone will provide me a "normal" use of the latter.

[Gonz0]

How much do prostitutes charge in Indonesia?

Such a vague question.

Same as prostitutes all over the world, prostitutes in Indonesia charge as much as they can depending on their situation. Could be 50 K Rp in one situation and 2 million in another.

If you want more detail then read the forum. People have already posted much information about the prices that prostitutes charge in various situations.

[Upikey]

How much do prostitutes charge in Indonesia?

[Christian G]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Co...it4gSiVJFU0YF0

Indonesia to ban entry by unvaccinated foreigners.

Chinese and South Koreans are among the exempt.

July 5, 2021.

Jakarta -- Indonesia will bar foreign visitors not vaccinated against COVID-19 from entering the country, a government task force said Sunday, aiming to check the highly transmissible delta variant.

Foreigners entering the country will need to show a vaccination certificate and a negative PCR test. The visitor will then undergo an eight-day quarantine -- up from the previous five -- and will need two negative PCR tests during that time.

Government officials and diplomats, as well as those visiting under the travel corridor arrangements, are exempt. Indonesia has bilateral travel corridor arrangements with the United Arab Emirates, China, South Korea and Singapore.

Unvaccinated Indonesians returning home will receive the shots after undergoing the same quarantine and testing negative via PCR.

The task force did not give a time frame for the new measures. But an official at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, which oversees the tighter social restrictions on the islands of Java and Bali, said earlier Sunday that they will take effect Tuesday.

Indonesia bars foreigners from traveling in and transiting through Indonesian territory without a valid residence permit or certain classes of visa.

"We already understand that there is an increase in COVID-19 cases and new variants that continue to spread in various countries, so the government added special provisions to protect Indonesian citizens from imported cases," said Ganip Warsito, head of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, in an online news conference Sunday.

The new measure "intends to implement stricter health protocols for international travelers to monitor, control, and evaluate the spread of COVID-19 cases, including the delta variant," he said.

The announcement follows tighter restrictions for domestic travel announced Thursday. Those traveling long distances, including by air, bus and train, need to be at least partly vaccinated against COVID-19.

The ban announced Sunday comes as Indonesia "teeters on the edge of a COVID-19 catastrophe," in the words of the Red Cross here. Daily cases have exceeded 20,000 for the past nine days and hit another daily record on Saturday. A total of 27,233 new cases were reported on Sunday, and deaths reached a new record of 555.

The surge in new cases has been blamed on the delta variant. Indonesia has a cumulative prevalence rate of 22% for delta, according to the outbreak.info portal from Scripps Research of the USA The site defines this as "the ratio of the sequences containing be. 1. 617.2 (delta's scientific name) to all sequences collected since the identification of be. 1. 617.2 in that location. ".

[BenderOver]

I also agree asking for a flat fare is not necessarily dishonest, if the ask is reasonable (within 5-10% of the usual meter rate). Particularly in places where it is hard to find a taxi, like Kota Indah. Call it convenience charge. But if someone asks for twice the fare, then I wonder what you would call that.

Have you ever tried to use the Bluebird app near that area? It's a comedy watching the icons drive in circles trying to get to you. Then you realize the tragedy when you have to jump in a flat fare taxi.

I always offer about 1. 8 times that of the metered fare near KI. I'm too fucking tired to walk back to my hotel; it's goddamn far away; and I'm sure I'm going to encounter more mosquitoes walking than in that piece of shit taxi.

Ok, flat fare taxi it is.

Oh damn, it stinks in here.

[Engine Driver]

Thats news. Is there enough similarity for a native Indian speaker to understand a native Indonesian speaker?

Indonesian is based heavily upon Malaysian to the point that Indonesians and Malays can very easily converse. I'm wondering if the early Indian influences in Malaysia have included their language and therefore also Indonesia's??

By "Indian" are you referring to Hindi?

Cheers. G.

Many of the South East Asian languages have some root words from Tamil and Sanskrit. Malay, Indonesian and Tagalog still have many of these words. Indonesian has hundreds of Dutch words, particularly legal, commercial, financial and bureaucratic terms. Bahasa Indonesia was invented by a bunch of scholars to unify the country after WW 2. Before that it was just Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese etc.

A few examples include:

Indonesian / Tamil / Sanskrit.

Topi = Topi = Hat.

Kapal = Kapal = Ship.

Meja = Meshai = Table.

Kursi = Kuruchi = Chair.

Bahasa = Bashai = Language.

——————————————.

Indonesian / Dutch.

Apotik = Apotheek = Pharmacy.

Bengkel = Winkel = Workshop.

Bioskop = Bioscoop = Cinema.

Gratis = Gratis = Free.

[Goferring]

Thanks, in most of the Indian language Basha means language, there are some similarities in the words.

With Indonesian.

Thats news. Is there enough similarity for a native Indian speaker to understand a native Indonesian speaker?

Indonesian is based heavily upon Malaysian to the point that Indonesians and Malays can very easily converse. I'm wondering if the early Indian influences in Malaysia have included their language and therefore also Indonesia's??

By "Indian" are you referring to Hindi?

Cheers. G.

[CodeName47]

He absolutely DID NOT add that illegally. There is an airport fee for him to wait at the airport and also the tolls.

What country are you from where you are so un-trusting of people? LOL. That's sad.

Enjoy Indonesia. The people are among the most honest you will find anywhere in the world.

I find it very relaxing when I visit Indonesia. I don't get that feel anywhere else. To a degree I feel safe in Singapore. But talking about a relaxing vacation Indonesia is the best so far.

I don't understand the hype about manila either. People try to scam if you are not very careful. Comparing to those, I feel very comfortable with Indonesians in general.

[Menteng]

Menteng, you can use a VOA extension. At 35 USD. Gives you the initial 30 days plus another 30 days, 60 days in total on a tourist visa. You can get the extension on the designated entry points, no need to do a visa run. Have a great time.

Thank you! Appreciate your reaction.

[Tommy Suharto]

Thanks for the reaction. I will only stay there for 40 days total, so a KITAS, would be too large an investment for the extra 10 days. Someone suggested buying a VOA that can be extended for another 30 days. But alas, no answer if someone that in principle does not need a VOA can purchase one.

Menteng, you can use a VOA extension. At 35 USD. Gives you the initial 30 days plus another 30 days, 60 days in total on a tourist visa. You can get the extension on the designated entry points, no need to do a visa run. Have a great time.

[Egy Monger New]

Only a few countries are eligible for the VOA visa. For my passport I can only get stamped 30 days and there is no way to get the VOA.

You could overstay the 10 days but the daily overstay fee has now been raised to a whopping Rp 1,000,000 and they're pretty strict about it now. Gone are the good old days when you could discreetly slip the immigration officer Rp 50,000 for an overstay offense.

Thanks for the reaction. I will only stay there for 40 days total, so a KITAS, would be too large an investment for the extra 10 days. Someone suggested buying a VOA that can be extended for another 30 days. But alas, no answer if someone that in principle does not need a VOA can purchase one.

[Menteng]

The best long-term solution for this problem is getting a dodgy visa agent to get you a KITAS. A 6-month one would cost you about Rp. 25,000,000 but you would still need to apply for it via an overseas Indonesian consulate at any country of your choice. PM me if you want to know the agent I use for my own KITAS.

Doing visa runs every 30 days is OK too but after a few times Immigration will start to question whether you are working here illegally. It might be better to wait a week or two before returning. I haven't actually heard of anyone doing visa runs being rejected entry though (at least in Soekarno-Hatta, not sure about Denpasar).

Thanks for the reaction. I will only stay there for 40 days total, so a KITAS, would be too large an investment for the extra 10 days. Someone suggested buying a VOA that can be extended for another 30 days. But alas, no answer if someone that in principle does not need a VOA can purchase one.

[Egy Monger New]

My last visits to Jakarta, each time lasted only a couple of weeks. Now I'm considering to stay longer than a month.

For the first entry I will not need a visa, but as you know, that stay has a max of 30 days (not travelling on Sosbud because it is a hassle to take care of that here in Spain).

In the past I used to go to Singapore and return for another 30 days max: The Visa Run, leaving and returning the same day. But now somebody has told me that there is a minimum stay abroad required, before being able to return to Jakarta.

Please info me on this matter.

The best long-term solution for this problem is getting a dodgy visa agent to get you a KITAS. A 6-month one would cost you about Rp. 25,000,000 but you would still need to apply for it via an overseas Indonesian consulate at any country of your choice. PM me if you want to know the agent I use for my own KITAS.

Doing visa runs every 30 days is OK too but after a few times Immigration will start to question whether you are working here illegally. It might be better to wait a week or two before returning. I haven't actually heard of anyone doing visa runs being rejected entry though (at least in Soekarno-Hatta, not sure about Denpasar).

[Smoothy]

Now the only place I have seen where every single taxi driver is completely honest is Singapore. No where else in the world.

You must have missed the story where the guy took a taxi in Singapore and needed to go to the ATM so he had the car stop for some money to pay the taxi. He had left his bag on the seat in the car, and inside that bag there was an iPad. He didn't notice the iPad was gone until he got to the gate to check in.

[Menteng]

My last visits to Jakarta, each time lasted only a couple of weeks. Now I'm considering to stay longer than a month.

For the first entry I will not need a visa, but as you know, that stay has a max of 30 days (not travelling on Sosbud because it is a hassle to take care of that here in Spain).

In the past I used to go to Singapore and return for another 30 days max: The Visa Run, leaving and returning the same day. But now somebody has told me that there is a minimum stay abroad required, before being able to return to Jakarta.

Please info me on this matter.