Asia Adult Guide

Reference

Emergencies

Step-by-step for the small set of emergency scenarios that account for most adult-traveller incidents in Asia. Read once before you go; come back to it from your phone if needed. None of this is legal advice — it is procedural orientation so you can ask the right questions of the right people quickly.

If you are detained by police

  1. Stay calm and compliant. Do not run. Do not lie about your identity. Do not destroy any physical evidence; that is a separate offence in most jurisdictions on this site.
  2. Request consular notification immediately.Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, you have the right to have your embassy notified of your detention. The phrase "I request to contact my embassy" or "I am a citizen of [country] — please notify my embassy" should be said clearly and repeated. In Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea this is routinely honoured; in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia it may need to be requested repeatedly.
  3. Do not give a statement without a lawyer.In every country on this site, you have the right to remain silent until you have legal representation. Anything you say in initial questioning is admissible. Polite refusal — "I will answer questions once I have a lawyer present" — is the correct response.
  4. Sign nothing in a language you cannot read. This is the second-most-common avoidable mistake (after talking without a lawyer). If a document is presented for signature and is not in English, request a translation.
  5. Ask for your embassy to contact your family or designated person. Embassies do not contact family automatically; you must ask.

If a "police officer" demands cash on the street

  1. Ask to see warrant card.Genuine police in every country on this site carry official ID and will produce it on request. Hotel-style plastic ID cards with "police" in English are not warrant cards.
  2. Ask to be taken to the nearest police station. Genuine police will either escort you or summon a marked vehicle. Fake police collapse at this point — most fake-police shakedowns end with the "officers" declining the trip and walking away.
  3. Do not pay cash for "on-street resolution". Genuine police do not collect fines in cash on the street in any of the countries on this site (with rare exceptions for narrow traffic violations in some jurisdictions, which adult-entertainment context is not).
  4. If escalation continues, call the tourist police hotline. Thailand 1155 (English-speaking); Korean Tourist Helpline 1330 (24/7 English); Singapore 999; Taiwan 0800-011-765 (24/7 English); Japan dial 110 (Japanese, but a koban is usually within 200 m). The act of dialling itself often defuses a fake-police shakedown.

If you have been scammed (financial loss)

  1. Cancel cards immediately.The card-issuing bank's 24-hour fraud line, not the local branch. Most issuers can lock the card from the app first, before you make the call.
  2. File a local police report. Even when recovery is unlikely, the report is required by most travel-insurance policies and by card-issuer chargeback procedures. Tourist police where they exist (Thailand 1155; Philippines Tourist Police) speak English; metro police often do not.
  3. Document everything.Photograph receipts, card machine outputs, the venue exterior, any text messages or app records. File these to your insurer and to your bank's dispute team.
  4. Embassy can help with: emergency funds (a small loan against your home account, varies by embassy); replacement passport; documenting the incident for insurance. Embassy cannot recover the money or prosecute the venue.

If you suspect HIV exposure

  1. Go to the nearest major hospital emergency department now. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a 28-day antiretroviral regimen that must be started within 72 hours of exposure. Sooner is much better. The 24-hour window is the meaningful efficacy threshold.
  2. Say: "I need PEP for HIV exposure." The term is universally understood across the region in medical English.
  3. Pay private rates if necessary; it is worth it. PEP costs vary across the region; in most countries the full course costs significantly less than a flight home. Insurance with appropriate coverage will reimburse.
  4. Follow up. A 28-day course requires daily adherence. HIV testing at 4-6 weeks and 12 weeks after exposure is standard follow-up regardless of PEP completion.
  5. See the per-country health-resource pointers in the health page.

If your passport has been stolen or lost

  1. File a police report. Required for the replacement process at the embassy.
  2. Go to your embassy with the report and a photo ID copy. Most embassies issue an emergency travel document within 24-48 hours for citizens with intact home records.
  3. Inform your hotel. Local immigration regulations in most countries on this site require the hotel to record passport details for stay registration; the loss creates a separate administrative issue that the hotel can flag at check-out.
  4. Inform immigration on departure. Carry the emergency travel document and a printed copy of the police report; expect additional scrutiny on departure.

If you are hospitalised in an adult-travel context

  1. Insurance first call.Even before treatment, the insurer's 24-hour claim line can authorise direct billing at most major Asian private hospitals (the "cashless" arrangement), which avoids large upfront cash demands.
  2. Embassy notification. For serious cases, the embassy can liaise with the hospital, contact family, and help coordinate medical evacuation if covered. Singapore and Hong Kong embassy consular networks are particularly responsive; Cambodia and Vietnam may require persistence.
  3. Confidentiality. Most Asian hospitals do not automatically disclose admission reason to anyone other than the patient. Embassies will assist with family contact only as you authorise.

What your embassy can — and cannot — do

Consular services across most embassies in the region are broadly similar in scope.

Embassy can: issue emergency travel documents; provide a list of English-speaking lawyers; notify family on your authority; provide consular visits if you are detained; liaise with hospitals on your behalf; in some cases provide a small emergency loan against your home account; communicate proof of your nationality to local authorities.

Embassy cannot: bail you out of a lawful detention; recover scammed funds; argue your case before a local court; influence a criminal prosecution; pay private medical bills; expedite removal from a hospital that is properly providing care.

English-speaking legal aid by jurisdiction

Crisis lines (English-speaking, 24/7 where indicated)

For routine pre-trip preparation rather than emergencies, see before you go.