Laos capital Vientiane. - Image from Xinhua
VIENTIANE, Dec 3 (Laotian Times): The international security firm Global Guardian, which specialises in travel risk, classified Laos as a medium-risk country alongside the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
Aspects like vulnerability to criminality, sporadic unrest, and being ill-equipped to manage crises have resulted in the aforementioned countries being listed in this category.
Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam were ranked higher and said to be at moderate risk for travelers as their conditions were more stable than the previous countries.
The report by the US-based company says, “Countries that are moderate risk are considered resilient. These countries are capable of quickly and effectively managing most crises and threats to personal security. But criminal activity, terrorism, and natural disasters can impact travel or in-country operations.”
A total of 163 countries were ranked in this report and only Singapore was classified as ‘low-risk’ making it the safest place to travel in Southeast Asia.
Some of the extreme-risk countries on the list are Ukraine, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, and Burkina Faso. While the safest places to travel include New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, and Austria.
