Originally Posted by Trajan
I find that question slightly amusing because as an American I feel much safer walking around at any time of day or night in Kuala Lumpur than I do in many downtown areas of some US cities... I feel safe in Jakarta too, but Im not as familiar with it than KUL (or of course BKK, my second home).... its a bit harder to get around in Jakarta (at least in my experience) just because more taxis etc. dont understand English....
Just goes to show that it is all what you are comfortable with - I would swear that it's much easier to find an English speaking taxi driver in Jakarta than Bangkok. I second your thought that both cities are much safer than than most large US cities.
I hadn't paid attention before to who the OP was. As I recall, Lucky is a bit younger than most of the folks on here. I would not recommend Jakarta for a teenager traveling alone at all.
Quill