craigguy

Is the city dangerous? Many cities in many places of the world are very dangerous. Being so crowded and busy, criminals have it easy and police have it hard.

Frank

I don´t think it is dangerous if you stay within the safe areas. I didn´t feel extremely safe in Casco Viejo but everything else seems fine. I don´t feel that Panama City is crowded even though they build houses very close to each other. But in the streets it´s not crowded. And it seems safe: There are armed policemen (that look like soldiers, but Panama has no military so they must be policemen) in many places.

mariee

I agree with Frank. I don't think it is very dangerous. Of course, the only way to know is to compare crime statistics.

Anyway, armed soliders/policemen are a little scary themselves.

Lalaguayaba

Panama City is far safer than the city in Florida of the same name...merely because it doesn't have the influx of drunken college students every year. Most of the tourism horror stories come from overly trusting (read:American) tourists who trusted someone w/money, papers, land, etc. and got scammed. I didn't feel unsafe when I left the casino one night after winning a bit of money; but I also got directly into a cab, went right to hotel, dropped off the cash and then went out.
The basic question is; what behavior do you engage in when in your home city that you would classify as dangerous in another city?
Take the subway/Metro late at night? Go out and close bars down? Spend a lot of money on drugs or prostitutes? I don't mean to be too graphic, but most crime happens to criminals. Don't do anything that you wouldn't feel comfortable doing in the confines of your hometown and you greatly lessen the chances of a minor crime happening to you.
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Funny, I always feel a little safer when I see armed officers or troops.
Israel and Lebanon are excellent examples of that; every where you go there are well-trained, really good-looking, English-speaking guys with machine guns--and one just feels really secure that a mugger is not about to pop out of the shadows.

The most unsafe I've ever felt was in England--there is apparently at least one surveillance camera for every 3 persons, that's crazy. And it didn't make me feel one bit safer at all! The cops don't carry guns; the criminals do. That equation just does not work for me.

As far as staying safe in cities, well, that's fairly easy, right? Don't go out at night, don't go off the beaten path, and don't talk to strangers. Oh, and don't have any fun while you are at it!! I just can't live scared like that; I'm not about to go bungyjumping, but I'll walk through a dark neighborhood at night? Oy. No thanks.

Take taxis. Don't carry a ton of cash. Smile a lot. Don't drink too much (unless you're taking a taxi...), etc.

Cheers.

expatplayer

I would probably feel safer around a armed police officers or soldiers. Of course, I can see how that's not rational. More civilians get killed by soldiers than by criminals.

PanamaPat

I don't like the in-your-face militarism that's so prevalent in Latin America... there seem to be armed policemen or security guards everywhere. (And with armed, I mean shotgun or machine gun armed.) But then again, this is not "my" country so if they believe it keeps them safe, and there's no objection on part of the population, then why not. It's part of the culture I guess.

themark

I agree. It's up to the local people of any country to decide whether or not they want to have armed guards.

dsc

I'll be in Panama City in a couple weeks, so in traveling to any new destination you read about which areas of the city are bad, of course.

Here's the potential "trouble" areas I've read about:

La Exposicion
Calidonia (one travel guide I was browsing, said from about Calle 35 south, it starts getting more dodgy)
Casco Viejo (at night)
Chorillo
Curundu

This website has some 'good' pics of the bad areas: http://www.travel-images.com/panama-city9.html

Of course, bad things can happen anywhere, so I'll be aware as normal even when out & about in the better areas of town..

dsc

Actually I did a little more reading and it said down to Calle 28 is OK during daylight hours..

Panamax

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"Few cities in Latin America can match the diversity, cosmopolitanism and sheer energy of Panama City..." - THE ROUGH GUIDE

dsc

Nope, won't need to go to El Chorillo.

Nor would I want to based on this pic (from the site I posted above):

http://www.travel-images.com/photo-panama136.html

kyle

as an ex-military us soldier, properly trained soldiers don't scare me. what scares me are people in uniform (soldiers and police) who are poorly trained, use excessive force and don't think.

GeekZ

I think like any major metropliton area in any major country there are safe and unsafe areas.

Nat

As far as I've Read on the subject, Panama looks like a safe place to be. My brother is living at Bocas del Toro and never told me about any violence, crimes or stuff like that... Like ANY other place in the world there must be some rapist murderer and stuff but I don't think Panamen are bad people, they seem very friendly.

GeekZ

There are a lot of drug lords in Panama that make it difficult in the crime scence.

MRWOOHOO

Lol, those darn crime scene drug lords are always getting in the way(-wink-). For the most part people are pretty friendly here. It is not as safe as Canada though. Use common sense.

GeekZ

You know, its soon gonna be like Grand Theft Auto.... or is GTA based of from Panama... j/k

MRWOOHOO

Lol, I have to agree with you Geekz. I was down on Calle Uruguay two weekends ago with my friends and got to point out the shooting crime scene that had just occurred.