Did it seem different in real life compared to how I told the story "Behind the Scenes"? Sometimes telling the story can be different because you learn new facts and have a different perspective afterwards. But in this case, I think it was all largely the same. Perhaps I made it sound more exciting in the Behind the Scenes story than it really was. 😀
In 1985, we(three seamen) got robbed in port of Jakarta on our shore visit during the broad daylight in a narrow alley between containers by a group of people, who introduced themselves as port authority without producing any ID or batch. They took away not only our wallets, wrist watch, passports, shore-going pass but also all clothings including socks. We went back barely in our underpants. Worst experience ever in lifetime.
That man who stopped you and demanded to see your passport and tell you to stop filming has no right to demand anything from you since he didn’t produce any official ID or credentials to assert his authority on you. The way he stared at you was his way of intimidating you as he sized you up. In fact these two men seem to be dubious and furtive in their mannerisms. 😅 I reckon he kind of gave up eventually as Doug was unfazed, polite and tactful in handling the situation. Don’t I just love Cool Doug! 😎 😂👍🏻
I kind of felt bad for him because I knew he had a lot to say. He really wanted to talk to me and get answers to his questions and tell me clearly to stop filming with my cameras. But because of the language barrier, we couldn't really communicate. He ended up sort of staring at me and looking me up and down and trying to figure out how to communicate. But in my lifetime, I've had so many encounters like this with police and soldiers and officials that it's nothing unusual. It doesn't bother me at all. I listen to them and do what they tell me to do (or pretend to do what they tell me) and answer their questions. And then I wait politely. And eventually, they have nothing left to say, and they go away. 🙂
Hi Douglas I think by now you in Kuala Lumpur I really think you should go and do some medical checkup we your view was just concerned about your health😊😊😊
When I watch my own videos, I end up worrying about my health, too. 😀 I always look so tired. But I think that is just the result of the long hours of editing the video and uploading it afterwards.
I dont think they’re pretending to be an army, the way he talk with his friend is pretty formal, and i dont think they want to take money from you, my guess is they concerned about your front sticking camera because they think maybe its distracting your views, they say “gak boleh dia seharusnya pake itu” at 8:48 which mean something like “he’s not allowed to put that there”.
I had the same feeling as you. My sense is that they really were connected to the army in some way. I don't think they were trying to get money from me. But I wasn't sure if they were concerned about my camera because of security issues or safety issues. If it was about safety and the camera obstructing my view of the road, he'd probably want me to take it off and put it away in my bag. But he seemed concerned only about whether it was on or not. He just told me to turn it off, not remove it. As I said in the video, I honestly thought the GoPros weren't running at that time. I thought they were both off, and that's what I told him. 🙂
Thats a weird one. Reminds me of being extorted by Mexican police in a hire car a few miles out of Mexico City Airport. A very frightening experience including being rushed back into the car. I lost 100 dollars that day, but i have a story to tell! Glad you managed it well 👍
I was watching a video the other day from some UA-camrs in Laos. They were riding on a rented scooter, and they were stopped by the police twice on the same day. And the police eventually worked their way around to saying that they needed to pay a "fine". Of course, it was a bribe, but they just refer to it as a fine - a kind of on-the-spot ticket. Is that how the police in Mexico got the $100 from you? Did they just make up some kind of law and say that you just needed to pay a "fine"? I'm always curious about these situations. Even if police or these men that I met want money, I'm so dumb that I need them to spell it out for me. 🙂
A lot of people would assume that they were just trying to get money out of me. But it didn't feel that way to me. It felt like they really did have some concerns about me shooting video. I assumed it was a security issue. Being from the army, what else could it be? Or maybe it looked unsafe to them to have a camera mounted like that. But since we couldn't communicate, and we were parked in a pretty dangerous spot on that narrow road, I couldn't really figure out what they wanted. I just said "Yes" and agreed to do whatever they told me to do and waited for our little encounter to end. 🙂
I wonder if they are familiar with UA-cam and travel vloggers like me. Perhaps they had never seen anyone taking video like this before. I got the impression that they were mainly concerned about the purpose of the videos. He asked me several times about what my job was. And I think he assumed I was recording video in some kind of official capacity for my job or a company. So I think he wasn't familiar with tourists recording their trips for UA-cam. 🙂
that is definitely a local thugs ( preman ) trying to extorted money maybe..you should hand over the video footage of those two ' army ' to chati family for further investigation about where their army camp is 😅
33 *cents* for an attraction like the waterfall? And i'm going gaga over $4 (usd) movies at the theater. Still have to steel myself against the $8 small popcorn, though.
That was something I noticed about a couple of the tourist attractions I visited in the Bukittinggi area. There would be an official ticket to enter, such as this ticket to the waterfalls. And there was a similar ticket to enter the Harau Valley. And, of course, because of the currency conversion, many things in Indonesia end up being cheaper than they would be in Canada or the United States. But even so, the ticket prices for these tourist attractions seemed far too low. It hardly seemed worth it to even charge 5,000 rupiah. If you're going to go to the all the trouble of setting up a booth and having staff there to collect the money and sell tickets, you might as well ask for 10,000 or 15,000 rupiah. Five thousand rupiah (thirty-three cents) hardly seems worth it. But I guess it is an official fee set by the tourism department of the government.
Seems they are army or police and just checking on you. They just ask you some basic questions for foreigner. I have foreign friend visit some years ago and got the same treatment because he like to walking around the town alone where foreigner is not common thing. The police even call my office told me they would come to my office to questioning me, but they never come. They are maybe more concerned about your safety than your money and your camera hanging in front of your bike for anyone to grab. They just have really bad english to tell you that. So please dont be too worry or even stop filming
I wasn't worried at all. This encounter didn't bother me in the slightest. I've been stopped by the police and by soldiers many times in my life in different countries. I always just smile and answer their questions and do what I'm told and say "Yes" to everything they tell me to do. There's no point in arguing with them. 🙂 And I didn't stop filming. At the time, I didn't even know that my GoPros were recording. I thought they were both turned off. And even though I agreed that I would stop recording with the cameras, I had no intention of stopping. I just said that to be polite while I waited for them to finally let me go.
Sketchy A F… glad you were able to avoid any further hassle. I’m also unconvinced they are serving in any capacity as authority. My thoughts are they were concerned with being recorded doing something illegal. Certainly share the evidence with your friends and connections there. Continue to be safe…
It's tough to say what was really going on. It's entirely possible that this man really did have some kind of position in the army, and he just had an inflated sense of what his role and his duties were. And when he saw the unusual sight of a foreigner going by and recording everything from his scooter, he felt he should investigate to make sure there were no national security issues at play. 🙂 But pulling over a foreigner and then communicating with him and finding out what is going on are two different things. 😂 I remember getting stopped by the police in Taiwan from time to time. And after a minute or two of trying to fight through the language barrier, they'd simply give up and wave me on my way. That's what usually happens in these situations. I was always disappointed because in Taiwan I went to the trouble of being fully legal. I had proper ownership papers and registration papers and I had a Taiwanese license and insurance. I worked so hard to get all that stuff that I really wanted to show it to the police. But we never got that far. They just waved me away without ever asking to see any of it.
@@PlanetDoug your vast experience has certainly given you greater air of confidence in those situations. A calmness that rubs off on authorities and possible troublemakers. Haha… I’m definitely part of the problem here. I’m completely illegitimate on the road. Any time an officer tries to wave me over or speak to me I play dumb, smile, wave and keep on driving… or confound them with my English “skills”
I'm not that concerned about it. It's normal for police and the military to check up on a foreigner like me out there all alone. It looks unusual to them if they don't have a lot of experience with travellers like me. It happens in every country, and I'm quite used to it. I don't know for sure, but I had the feeling that these men really were connected to the military in some way. I'm sure they didn't have actual authority to stop people and ask for ID and tell them to turn off their cameras. But it's no big deal. And I don't think they were criminals. Stuff like this happens all the time and you simply smile and answer their questions until they get a bit bored with you and then let you go. 🙂
Personally, for my own safety and for evidence if necessary, I think I would want my camera recording while driving a scooter in any third-world country and also have the camera recording any and all interactions with local officials who might be tempted to demand bribes.
That's one advantage of having a GoPro mounted on a chest harness. You can have it recording all the time without any problem. I sometimes come across the "Auditor" videos from the United States. These are people who deliberately go out filming in public and provoke the public and the police. And when the police try to stop them, they can argue about the law and how the US constitution gives them the right to film. However, the police will often slap the smartphone out of their hands or take away their cameras, and then they don't have any proof of the encounter when they try to sue them or take them to court. I often wonder why these Auditors don't use GoPros and have them mounted on a chest harness or a shoulder harness or something like that. Then even if the police handcuff them, the camera is still recording. And when you're driving a car, it only makes sense now to have a dash cam recording at all times. If there's an accident, you can show who was at fault. If I were driving in Canada, I'd definitely want to have cameras recording all the time.
Listening to you share on "Planet Doug Behind the Scenes" channel and seeing it for real is quite something. You handled it very wisely and tactfully.
Did it seem different in real life compared to how I told the story "Behind the Scenes"?
Sometimes telling the story can be different because you learn new facts and have a different perspective afterwards. But in this case, I think it was all largely the same. Perhaps I made it sound more exciting in the Behind the Scenes story than it really was. 😀
In 1985, we(three seamen) got robbed in port of Jakarta on our shore visit during the broad daylight in a narrow alley between containers by a group of people, who introduced themselves as port authority without producing any ID or batch. They took away not only our wallets, wrist watch, passports, shore-going pass but also all clothings including socks. We went back barely in our underpants. Worst experience ever in lifetime.
Yikes. That sounds like a serious incident. Were weapons involved? Or were you just badly outnumbered by the criminals?
There is probably either a military installation or mining operations happening in a protected area nearby. That's my guess.
That man who stopped you and demanded to see your passport and tell you to stop filming has no right to demand anything from you since he didn’t produce any official ID or credentials to assert his authority on you. The way he stared at you was his way of intimidating you as he sized you up. In fact these two men seem to be dubious and furtive in their mannerisms. 😅 I reckon he kind of gave up eventually as Doug was unfazed, polite and tactful in handling the situation. Don’t I just love Cool Doug! 😎 😂👍🏻
I kind of felt bad for him because I knew he had a lot to say. He really wanted to talk to me and get answers to his questions and tell me clearly to stop filming with my cameras. But because of the language barrier, we couldn't really communicate. He ended up sort of staring at me and looking me up and down and trying to figure out how to communicate.
But in my lifetime, I've had so many encounters like this with police and soldiers and officials that it's nothing unusual. It doesn't bother me at all. I listen to them and do what they tell me to do (or pretend to do what they tell me) and answer their questions. And then I wait politely. And eventually, they have nothing left to say, and they go away. 🙂
Hi Douglas
I think by now you in Kuala Lumpur I really think you should go and do some medical checkup we your view was just concerned about your health😊😊😊
When I watch my own videos, I end up worrying about my health, too. 😀 I always look so tired. But I think that is just the result of the long hours of editing the video and uploading it afterwards.
Thanks
I dont think they’re pretending to be an army, the way he talk with his friend is pretty formal, and i dont think they want to take money from you, my guess is they concerned about your front sticking camera because they think maybe its distracting your views, they say “gak boleh dia seharusnya pake itu” at 8:48 which mean something like “he’s not allowed to put that there”.
I had the same feeling as you. My sense is that they really were connected to the army in some way. I don't think they were trying to get money from me.
But I wasn't sure if they were concerned about my camera because of security issues or safety issues. If it was about safety and the camera obstructing my view of the road, he'd probably want me to take it off and put it away in my bag. But he seemed concerned only about whether it was on or not. He just told me to turn it off, not remove it.
As I said in the video, I honestly thought the GoPros weren't running at that time. I thought they were both off, and that's what I told him. 🙂
My guess would be that they are from some kind of private security company. Perhaps some mining operations in the area ? Certainly not officials.
i think it just a random check by enforcement officer. However have a safe journey my friend ✌️
Thats a weird one. Reminds me of being extorted by Mexican police in a hire car a few miles out of Mexico City Airport. A very frightening experience including being rushed back into the car. I lost 100 dollars that day, but i have a story to tell! Glad you managed it well 👍
I was watching a video the other day from some UA-camrs in Laos. They were riding on a rented scooter, and they were stopped by the police twice on the same day. And the police eventually worked their way around to saying that they needed to pay a "fine". Of course, it was a bribe, but they just refer to it as a fine - a kind of on-the-spot ticket.
Is that how the police in Mexico got the $100 from you? Did they just make up some kind of law and say that you just needed to pay a "fine"?
I'm always curious about these situations. Even if police or these men that I met want money, I'm so dumb that I need them to spell it out for me. 🙂
interesting
I think you handled that stop quite well, It's hard to know what he really wanted.
A lot of people would assume that they were just trying to get money out of me. But it didn't feel that way to me. It felt like they really did have some concerns about me shooting video. I assumed it was a security issue. Being from the army, what else could it be? Or maybe it looked unsafe to them to have a camera mounted like that. But since we couldn't communicate, and we were parked in a pretty dangerous spot on that narrow road, I couldn't really figure out what they wanted. I just said "Yes" and agreed to do whatever they told me to do and waited for our little encounter to end. 🙂
Urang Minang ke mereka ini?Urang Minang bersopan santun,jadi kenapa mahu hentikan mengambil photo.Harus beri sbb sbb....tidak bagus utk wisatawan.
Ngapain menyuruh stop utk membuat video atau film, sebaliknya justru Douglas mengenalkan objek wisata yang ada di sumatera barat melalui UA-cam.
I wonder if they are familiar with UA-cam and travel vloggers like me. Perhaps they had never seen anyone taking video like this before.
I got the impression that they were mainly concerned about the purpose of the videos. He asked me several times about what my job was. And I think he assumed I was recording video in some kind of official capacity for my job or a company.
So I think he wasn't familiar with tourists recording their trips for UA-cam. 🙂
that is definitely a local thugs ( preman ) trying to extorted money maybe..you should hand over the video footage of those two ' army ' to chati family for further investigation about where their army camp is 😅
I would agree, and when Doug didn't panic he realized that he might not get anything.
33 *cents* for an attraction like the waterfall? And i'm going gaga over $4 (usd) movies at the theater. Still have to steel myself against the $8 small popcorn, though.
That was something I noticed about a couple of the tourist attractions I visited in the Bukittinggi area. There would be an official ticket to enter, such as this ticket to the waterfalls. And there was a similar ticket to enter the Harau Valley.
And, of course, because of the currency conversion, many things in Indonesia end up being cheaper than they would be in Canada or the United States. But even so, the ticket prices for these tourist attractions seemed far too low. It hardly seemed worth it to even charge 5,000 rupiah.
If you're going to go to the all the trouble of setting up a booth and having staff there to collect the money and sell tickets, you might as well ask for 10,000 or 15,000 rupiah. Five thousand rupiah (thirty-three cents) hardly seems worth it. But I guess it is an official fee set by the tourism department of the government.
Seems they are army or police and just checking on you. They just ask you some basic questions for foreigner. I have foreign friend visit some years ago and got the same treatment because he like to walking around the town alone where foreigner is not common thing. The police even call my office told me they would come to my office to questioning me, but they never come.
They are maybe more concerned about your safety than your money and your camera hanging in front of your bike for anyone to grab. They just have really bad english to tell you that. So please dont be too worry or even stop filming
I wasn't worried at all. This encounter didn't bother me in the slightest. I've been stopped by the police and by soldiers many times in my life in different countries. I always just smile and answer their questions and do what I'm told and say "Yes" to everything they tell me to do. There's no point in arguing with them. 🙂
And I didn't stop filming. At the time, I didn't even know that my GoPros were recording. I thought they were both turned off. And even though I agreed that I would stop recording with the cameras, I had no intention of stopping. I just said that to be polite while I waited for them to finally let me go.
Dia mengaku tentara dan meminta paspor trus ada kata kata tolong ongkosnya dulu pak . Apakah itu tidak melanggar aturan?
Bikin malu orang Minang.
Did he actually ask for money? I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I didn't get the feeling that he asked for any money.
Sketchy A F… glad you were able to avoid any further hassle. I’m also unconvinced they are serving in any capacity as authority. My thoughts are they were concerned with being recorded doing something illegal. Certainly share the evidence with your friends and connections there. Continue to be safe…
It's tough to say what was really going on. It's entirely possible that this man really did have some kind of position in the army, and he just had an inflated sense of what his role and his duties were. And when he saw the unusual sight of a foreigner going by and recording everything from his scooter, he felt he should investigate to make sure there were no national security issues at play. 🙂
But pulling over a foreigner and then communicating with him and finding out what is going on are two different things. 😂 I remember getting stopped by the police in Taiwan from time to time. And after a minute or two of trying to fight through the language barrier, they'd simply give up and wave me on my way. That's what usually happens in these situations.
I was always disappointed because in Taiwan I went to the trouble of being fully legal. I had proper ownership papers and registration papers and I had a Taiwanese license and insurance. I worked so hard to get all that stuff that I really wanted to show it to the police. But we never got that far. They just waved me away without ever asking to see any of it.
@@PlanetDoug your vast experience has certainly given you greater air of confidence in those situations. A calmness that rubs off on authorities and possible troublemakers.
Haha… I’m definitely part of the problem here. I’m completely illegitimate on the road. Any time an officer tries to wave me over or speak to me I play dumb, smile, wave and keep on driving… or confound them with my English “skills”
Siapa mereka ?
Tukang palak Kalee..
I don't really know who they were. In English, the man said that he was from the "army". But that is all that I understood.
You should report to legal authority since you have everything recorded.
I'm not that concerned about it. It's normal for police and the military to check up on a foreigner like me out there all alone. It looks unusual to them if they don't have a lot of experience with travellers like me. It happens in every country, and I'm quite used to it.
I don't know for sure, but I had the feeling that these men really were connected to the military in some way. I'm sure they didn't have actual authority to stop people and ask for ID and tell them to turn off their cameras. But it's no big deal. And I don't think they were criminals.
Stuff like this happens all the time and you simply smile and answer their questions until they get a bit bored with you and then let you go. 🙂
2 Dude try to rob you but realize you may recording 🤣
Personally, for my own safety and for evidence if necessary, I think I would want my camera recording while driving a scooter in any third-world country and also have the camera recording any and all interactions with local officials who might be tempted to demand bribes.
That's one advantage of having a GoPro mounted on a chest harness. You can have it recording all the time without any problem.
I sometimes come across the "Auditor" videos from the United States. These are people who deliberately go out filming in public and provoke the public and the police. And when the police try to stop them, they can argue about the law and how the US constitution gives them the right to film.
However, the police will often slap the smartphone out of their hands or take away their cameras, and then they don't have any proof of the encounter when they try to sue them or take them to court. I often wonder why these Auditors don't use GoPros and have them mounted on a chest harness or a shoulder harness or something like that. Then even if the police handcuff them, the camera is still recording.
And when you're driving a car, it only makes sense now to have a dash cam recording at all times. If there's an accident, you can show who was at fault. If I were driving in Canada, I'd definitely want to have cameras recording all the time.