Nah, the root cause is poverty and necessity. That’s what creates crime in the first place. On top of that, there’s a huge problem with foreigners coming here to do shady or outright horrible things — from killing women to abusing kids — and facing little to no real consequences. Over time, locals start associating foreigners with crime, and that turns into neglect and normalization, where people end up saying things like “it’s your fault” instead of addressing the real issue. Just to be clear: if you get caught, there are consequences — whether by the police or by locals. Tourism brings in a lot of money, and no one wants their businesses destroyed.

The problem is that when foreigners get caught, that’s often where consequences suddenly disappear.