reggae bar,kuala lumpur

Hi I am a male traveller in my mid 20's and I would like to take the time to share my experience with you all and send a warning to other fellow travellers thinking about going to this bar. Also after reporting this to my consulate they told me that it was not the first time they have heard complaints about this bar.

Originally I was enjoying myself. There was good music (mainly rnb) and I met some nice people - both locals and from all over the world, but after what happened I'm not sure which of these people I can even really trust.

The last thing I remember was I was drinking cocktails in the club talking to various people enjoying myself (probably at about 1am). The next thing I know I woke up on the side of the road in China Town at about 8am completely robbed. My neck chain, my finger ring, my $1000 mobile phone, my keys, my wallet which contained credit and bank cards, hotel room card and cash in both local and international currency was all gone (lucky I didn't have my passport on me otherwise I would have been stuck in the country).

There was a hole cut through my jeans pocket to remove my wallet. I know this would have been because my wallet is hard to remove from my pants even for me.

I have no recollection of how I got there or of anyone taking these things from me. I know that I wasn't just drunk because I have no recollection of what happened at all and I only had a few drinks. When you are drunk you are definitely a lot more aware and being someone that knows his drinks I am quite aware of the difference that I felt. People I was staying with called my mobile at about 4am when they discovered I had not returned home and it was answered by someone (accidently) who could be heard talking with others in the Malay language. This is when the people I was travelling with started to worry and notified hotel staff and officials.

Lucky for me I had no real signs of physical harm apart from some grazing on my arm. The drugs in my system obviously would have caused some damage as well and I am told that an excessive amount can even kill but what I mean is that I wasn't stabbed and had no signs of someone hitting me etc.

Despite the unfortunate turn of events I do consider myself lucky as I know it could have been worse.

My warning goes out to all but especially the women. I was drugged and robbed - Meaning I lost material things that can be replaced.

What really makes me worry is that this will happen to a girl for reasons of sexual motive. If I could have all these things taken from me and not recall anything I could have just as easily have been raped and I'm lucky I wasn't picked up by homosexuals. Apparently 1/5 spiking happen to males and the other 4/5 happen to girls. So girls, be careful because once these drugs are in your system you will have no idea what is happening to you and will have no control at all. And don't think it can't happen to you because I had no idea this would happen to me!

Some advice that I would pass on from this experience is:

1 - Avoid bars and places like this if you can. If you are stubborn like me and know that you are going to go clubbing even though you are aware that this type of stuff goes on just be very careful and alert.

2 - Be aware of anyone acting suspicious. Hanging around close proximity, talking to you trying to find out information about you etc. Anything you get a gut feeling about that isn’t quite right

3 - Travel with a friend that you trust and always stay with them watching out for each other and don't let them leave with someone you don't trust. If your friend is acting weird or different don't assume they are drunk. They could have been drugged!

4 - I recommend buying bottled drinks rather than cocktails etc and always request that these bottles be opened in front of you. If you have a bottle you can keep your thumb over the top when holding it. I was drinking cocktails which require all sorts of things to be thrown/mixed into the drink, fruits various liquor shots etc. I can't tell you who spiked my drink because I don't know but I can tell you that what happened to me seemed very organised and I would not be surprised if my drink was spiked by the bar tender when it was made as I had a pretty close eye and grip on my drinks the rest of the time. I am not saying this is what happened but just that it is a possibility and that it should not be ruled out.

5 - NEVER leave your drink unattended.

6 - NEVER let someone else buy you a drink.

7 - Don’t keep you cash all in one place. I was very lucky when I woke up that I had $30 in my back pocket that wasn’t taken that allowed me to get a taxi back to my hotel. Don't ask me why they missed this - they took everything else.

8. Don't carry things you don't need. I should have been using a cheap phone but I was using a very expensive one. I lost a lot of cards in my wallet that I really didn't need to be carrying etc. The less the better but if you need it then ofcoarse bring it.

I wish you all safe travels and hope that this may have in some way helped or prevented future incidents of this nature.

If anyone else has something like this to say please post it up here so we can help cut down on this type of stuff.

Thankyou

I just thought it’s worthwhile to warn other fellow travelers about this place. Went there with some friends for drinks and foods as we stayed at the guesthouse nearby. The foods and music are OK and price is reasonable.
The most annoying place about this place is the bar manager, a young Chinese guy (I learned that his name is Robert) keep on interrupting our group conversation and being very rude. At the end of the night, he tried to make some very rude sexual proposal, which I find it very disgusting. I also learned there are few incidents in reggae bar where girls unconsciously raped after their drinks being spiked. So be careful!