Bangladesh Safety Guide
Health, security, and travel safety information
Emergency Numbers
Save these numbers before your trip.
Healthcare
What to know about medical care in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh mixes government hospitals that are crowded but free with modern private facilities in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet that cater to fee-paying patients.
United Hospital and Square Hospital in Dhaka accept international insurance. Keep discharge papers for claims.
Chain stores like ACI and Ibn Sina sell generic antibiotics without prescriptions. Check expiry dates printed in Bengali year 1430 format.
Not legally required, but mid-range travel insurance is strongly recommended.
- ✓ Pack rehydration salts. The humid climate drains electrolytes faster than you taste the salt in your sweat.
- ✓ Ask hotel doctors to coordinate directly with insurers to avoid upfront cash payments.
Common Risks
Be aware of these potential issues.
Phones lifted from shirt pockets on jam-packed Dhaka buses.
Rickshaws, buses, and motorcycles jockey for inches of asphalt. Horns act as brakes.
Tap water and raw salads can carry E. coli; you'll feel cramps within 6, 12 h.
Winter dust and brick-kilen smoke create eye-stinging haze.
Scams to Avoid
Watch out for these common tourist scams.
Driver claims meter is broken, quotes inflated flat fare, then secretly resets meter to show lower number at destination.
Unofficial guide in Srimangal demands extra 'entry fee' for tea gardens that are free to enter.
Shops polish brass bangles to gleam like 22-carat gold, sell at jewelry prices.
Safety Tips
Practical advice to stay safe.
- • Use ATM booths inside bank branches. Shield keypad from the queue behind you.
- • Photograph visa page and upload to secure cloud before heading to Sundarbans where signal fades.
- • Night coaches on Dhaka, Rajshahi highway sometimes race. Choose Green Line or Shyamoli VIP class with seatbelts.
- • Stand back from platform edge at Kamalapur Station, trains glide in silently on polished rails.
- • Reject speedboat offers without life jackets on Kaptai Lake. Insist on foam jackets, not torn inflatable ones.
- • Feel boat floorboards before boarding, soft wood means rot hidden beneath fresh paint.
Information for Specific Travelers
Safety considerations for different traveler groups.
Bangladeshi society is conservative. Foreign women draw stares but rarely face physical harm.
- → Sit in the 'Ladies Only' section on metro rail, pink signs mark the coach where you can adjust your scarf away from stares.
- → Book hotels in Baridhara or Banani that provide room-service meals so you avoid late-night street wandering.
Same-sex relations criminalized under colonial-era Section 377, though prosecutions rare.
- → Book twin beds instead of doubles to avoid hotel clerks' questions.
- → Use gender-neutral terms like 'friend' when chatting with rickshaw drivers.
Travel Insurance
Protect yourself before you travel.
Private hospitals in Bangladesh demand deposits exceeding mid-range vacation budgets before admission.
Ready to plan your trip to Bangladesh?
Now that you've got the research covered, here's where to go next.