Kazakhstan is a country where the population has a long history of balanced, harmonious, multi-ethnic social interaction, where both guests and locals are treated with respect during everyday life, with certain exceptions described below in more detail.
Visitors will experience hospitality and warmth in this lovely country. However, your personal safety may vary from very safe to relatively unsafe depending on your location, time of the day, circumstances, and your personal behaviour. Generally, Kazakh cities are safe during the day, but certain parts of major cities should be avoided at night to reduce risk e.
Taraz, Balkhash, Shymkent, Taldykorgan, Uralsk, Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk, going out at night should not present a significant risk, though infrequent muggings do occur; and iii all smaller towns such as Shar, Stepnogorsk, and Temirtau may present a higher risk of mugging and violent crime. Although illegal, unfortunately prostitution has become widespread in many big cities lately. Usually prostitutes work in hotels, night clubs or saunas. Also, local classified newspapers typically have a whole section dedicated to escort services.
Many sex workers in Kazakhstan are in fact from neighbouring less economically developed states such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Keep your passport or a certified copy of your passport and visa with you at all times. While the situation has improved lately, police might still try to extort money from foreigners, especially on trains and long-distance buses.
Unless the officers involved are drunk, it is possible to avoid paying them by pretending not to understand, or by claiming poverty. The risk of violent crime is comparable with Eastern European countries and rougher parts of major US cities. An ordinary tourist should not experience any violent crime and is unlikely to be a target of minor crimes, if their behaviour stays within generally accepted norms in public places.
