Bali Belly: Bali Raw

By Malcolm Scott

Bali Belly is the Bali survival guide you need to read if you are thinking of living on or holidaying in Bali

By the time I finished my first two books Bali Raw and Bali Undercover I thought I had drained the well and there wasn't much left to write about Bali.  I settled on the island and I spent most of my time writing screenplay's and researching my third book based in Cambodia.

Then one day as I was staring out my office window watching the motorcycles zoom past in a bleating chorus of tooting horns. I realized that Bali is never stagnant or still and that she is continuously changing and evolving. It was at that moment I felt I had missed something when I wrote the first two books in the series.

I started on Bali Belly because I grasped that although I had shared my experiences in my first books I had never really explained the best way to survive living in Bali. This book attempts that and it also shares more of the events I experienced when I lived in the seedy heart of both Kuta and Seminyak for close to a decade.

For those of you thinking of spending a whopping $4.99 on the Bali Belly survival guide I should also warn, (like I did with Bali Raw and Bali Undercover), that this book may not be for you. Bali Belly is not always politically correct and it does contain stories involving pubs, nightclubs, prostitution , dodgy expats and the general seedier side of Bali life.

Bali has its tame area's and there will be a few latte experts slurping coffee in Canggu who will scoff and pontificate on how you don't need a survival guide to live in Bali. But in Bali Belly I discuss the Sodom and Gomorrah side of the tourist island that these buffed and blasé expats try their best to avoid.

You would be wise to save your money if this style of writing offends you or hearing the truth about what happens on the island of Bali is beyond your two week holiday experience. If you feel that only the glossy magazine type Bali where everyone does yoga and visits temples should be reported, then you should walk away happy in the knowledge that your reality remains untarnished.

Conversely, and for those of you that want to experience the gritty side of Bali. And for those who want to read a few tips tips and stories on how to survive living there. Welcome aboard I'm glad to have you along for the ride.

Best Regards

Malcolm Scott

• Language: English
• Publisher: Malcolm Scott
• Release date: Oct 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386276463

Malcolm Scott

Malcolm Scott has published three books about Bali Indonesia and one novel based around a kidnap in Cambodia and the fall of the Khmer Rouge. He has also written a number of screenplays across many genre’s from comedy to political drama to thriller. Malcolm is an author, screenwriter and blogger who has lived in South East Asia for the past fifteen years. He is currently living in Bali Indonesia while he completes his fifth book based around the murder of his friend in Thailand  in 2011. Since Malcolm began writing about about his experiences in Bali and then the tragedy in Thailand. He has preferred to keep his identity concealed and he has chosen to write his screenplays and his novels under noms de plume. Malcolm would prefer to use his real name but he also believes the people who read his books will understand the measures he is forced to undertake to keep friends and family safe by using a pseudonym. Malcolm has lived in Bali for ten years and Thailand for six and he has traveled Southeast Asia extensively. He also believes he is the luckiest person in the world to be able to earn a living doing what he was born to do in the places that he loves. Links to Malcolm’s books and to his screenplays can be found on his website listed below and we hope you enjoy discovering this innovative,  diverse and exciting writer.

Book preview

Table of Contents

1.     About the Author

2.     Introduction

3.     Home Invasions Bali

4.     Bali By Motorbike

5.     Bali Genocide

6.     Working Girls in Bali

7.     Man Handled in Bali

8.     Dating Cross Culturally in Bali

9.     The Balinese Ceremony of Silence

10.  Happy Ending Massages in Bali

11.  Singapore Sting

12.  Sexy Dancers and Stag Parties in Bali

13.  Bali Nightclubs

14.  Romance Travel Bali

15.  Personal Security and Business in Bali

16.  Gay Scene in Bali

17.  Kerobokan Jail and Breaking the Law in Bali

18.  Karaoke Bars in Bali

19.  How to deal with Bali Traffic Police

20.  Hospitals in Bali

21.  Bali Scams

22.  Crisis in Cambodia

23.  Bali Raw

24.  Bali Undercover

About the Author

Malcolm Scott is an Australian author and blogger that has lived in South East Asia for the past fifteen years. He has published three books about Bali Indonesia and he is currently living on the island while he completes a third novel based in and around Cambodia. Malcolm has lived in Bali for eight years and Thailand for five and he has travelled the rest of South East Asia extensively.

Introduction

By the time I finished my first two books, Bali Raw and Bali Undercover, I thought I had drained the well and there wasn’t much left to write about Bali. I settled on the island and I spent most of my time writing screenplays and researching my third book that is based in Cambodia. Then one day I realised Bali was never stagnant or still and she was continuously changing. I then started thinking that maybe I had missed something when I wrote my first two books in the series.

I started on Bali Belly that day because I grasped that although I had shared my experiences in my first books; I had never really explained the best way to survive living in Bali. The island has its tame side, of course, and the latte experts that sit in Canggu slurping coffee would say you don’t need a survival guide. But in Bali Belly I’m discussing the Sodom and Gomorrha side of Bali that these buffed and blaze expats try their best not to experience.

For those of you thinking of spending a whopping $4.99 on this book, I should also warn (like I did with Bali Raw and Bali Undercover) that this book may not be for you.  Bali Belly contains stories about male and female prostitution, and it is not always politically correct. Please save your money if this style of writing offends you or hearing the truth about what happens on the island is beyond your two-week holiday experience. I don’t want e-mails complaining that I am bashing Bali or angry readers sabotaging my Kindle star rating because they’re sensitive. Conversely, for those of you that want to experience the grittier side of Bali and you want to discover a few tips on how to survive living there. Welcome aboard. I’m glad to have you along on the ride. 

Best Regards

Malcolm Scott.

Home Invasion Bali

When I first arrived to live in Bali close to fifteen years ago, crimes against tourists were hushed up by the Indonesian authorities. Back then, it was important to uphold Bali’s reputation as a safe tourist destination at all costs. Western journalists stationed in Bali or Jakarta declined to file negative reports because they believed they would be banned from entering Indonesia and they would lose their cream postings. Thankfully, this improved with social media, but what current visitors to Bali may not realize that violent home intrusions have been happening for at least two-decades. 

The comments I have read on Bali crime websites infer that a crime outbreak has been occurring and increasing over the last couple of years. This is a misconception and although criminality seems to be on the increase, crime has always been a part of expat life in Bali. One of the first warnings I received from a long-term Bali expat over 10 years ago was to never confront a home intruder because they will be armed. This has turned out to be good advice, as I have been robbed three times in home invasions and I have lived to tell the tale.

Over the last two decades, there has been a trend for people to build villas in the out flung areas of Bali. These new arrivals isolate themselves in dark areas where there are no streetlamps, neighbours or security and they buy themselves expensive cars, phones and laptops. They hire locals to clean their houses, tend their gardens and pools and to keep them safe. Then, secure in the knowledge they can report any problems to the local Banjar (community and religious group) they head out to mingle with other rich expats adorned in gold jewellery. What many of them don’t realize is that the Banjar are made up of the same people that are cleaning their pools and watching their front gates and that most members are affiliated with Balinese Police and Balinese gangs. This creates an atmosphere where criminal activity is propagated by knowledge of the villa and a belief that if caught, an escape of prosecution will be available as an associate with law enforcement.

The victims of home invasions or minor thefts in Bali often bemoan the fact the criminals are rarely caught. And they naively claim they must have been part of a migrant workers’ group that has returned to Java. Most criminals arrested for petty crimes in Bali are from other islands like Java or Lombok but it is not because the Balinese are above crime. The Balinese are not always investigated thoroughly by Balinese police officers because there is many family, friendships and Banjar related associations spread across the island. And no matter how distant, it is uncomfortable to arrest a relative or a member of a fraternity Banjar. They also know that it is easier to hunt down criminals from other islands because most Balinese are willing to share information against these non-Balinese law-breakers.

Last year in May, Neil John Burke, a 63-year-old retired Australian engineer, was attacked with a baseball bat type weapon and killed in his Kerobokan home. There have also been other non-violent villa robberies but the worst year for home invasions in Bali was in 2013 when several Australians were attacked in the Canggu area. That year, Australian Paul Gill was stabbed many times after he disturbed and grappled with two intruders. Australian woman Denni North died after being found unconscious near her swimming pool and an unnamed Australian woman was raped at knifepoint in her villa. There was also Australian fashion designer Heidi Murphy 34, who was stabbed and violently killed in the bedroom of her Canggu Villa when she woke to find an intruder standing over her.

The assailant in the Murphy murder was arrested and