Life in Doha!!!

"I like surfing the net, occasional online game, download mp3's, watching DVD's, meeting people and having coffee."

-Most of ur activties are limited to a computer .Here you get decent internet speed .so that wont be a problem.

Why are there loads of old threads being posted on?

Hey, .. looks like you are a WOW fan. From your profile you like online gaming. I did not try WOW yet, but I'm a big fan of 'Guild Wars' which is no less than wow too. It is a very nice game too and have no subscription and that it what I like about it. You play whenever you feel like playing, not because you've paid to play :)

Good Luck & Nice to see you here.

Best Regards

Hello Vic and londonalgiers.

Thanks for your replies.

Vic, thanks a lot for the article. :)It came in handy in a discussion about the traffic last night.

Londonalgiers, I know roadworks on Al Waab is pretty crazy at the moment and people are frustrated, but still it a pity for the workers who are set back days every time.

I am still not any further than laughing out loud every time they block the road right in front of me because it is so absurd and surrealistic. I am sure that will change soon. :)

Have a nice evening and stuff.

Camilla

It is one of the biggest in qatar. good company and employeras far i know. they are the developer of the pearl qatar.

www.thepearlqatar.com see for yourself.

jaguarken,

Alfradan is a very big company and good employer as well. they are the developer of www.thepearlqatar.com.

visit the website and see for yourself.

Well Steve, my husband now feels relieved that he isn't the only "kept man" to be living in Doha, and he has lots of questions for you about computer geek stuff and would be very interested in getting together for a LAN party. What is the best way of getting in contact with you...perhaps a link to your personal website? We don't arrive in Doha until the last week of November.

Look forward to hearing from you

Belinda & Phil

Hi everybody! may be I am crazy.. but recently my girlfriend got a job offer in Doha.. and I can not stop thinking, what if it's some fraud.. I am just interesting if there is an illigal "escort service" in Doha. I am afraid that they might bring her to Doha, take away her passport and all documents and to make her serve men in Doha. I have hear about these cases in the world: they promiss the job, and then they put you on the drugs and turn you into the prostitute.. please help me to find the answer!! I don't want my friend to get in troubles!!

They are one of the major groups in Qatar. Depends on which company in the group you are looking for......

I am the husband of a "bread-winner" wife here in Doha. I also am a computer geek. I spend most of my days and nights glued to my desk chair creating websites and flash graphics for advertizing my favorite games on my personal website. I am an avid gamer and living here has given me ample opportunity to enage in these types of things. I also host one of two local UnrealTournament Servers. I change the gametype daily and hope to see more locals on it. I hope to get a LAN party together for some Unreal and some NFS Most Wanted. I have the software and will let anyone who comes to the events install it. The only stipulation is that it be uninstalled before you leave as my CD key is mine. I will let us all use it to play but to keep it is out of the question. Sorry, but I like my online stats to be my own. Besides, I can give anyone who wants it a copy of the software. Getting the CD key is easy from the manufacturer. It's just an email away. Hope to hear from you.

-Steve-O

Hi Bugboy,

I am also an Australian Nurse and will be in Doha in 3 weeks to take up a position in a new hospital which will be opening in the next couple of months. While I haven't been to Qatar before, I have some friends who have nursed in various parts of the Middle East who have enjoyed the experience. Compound living will give you the opportunity to meet others with the same interests as you. My husband is coming over with me and he is a computer geek who spends alot of his time on-line gaming[mostly W.O.W]. You should have no problems meeting people at work, I'm sure there are quite a few Aussie nurses coming over soon, and the girls would probably appreciate a guy tagging along when they go out. It is a great opportunity to experience a new culture and meet new people. I reckon you would regret it if you don't try it out. We are looking forward to our adventure, perhaps we will meet, its probably the same hospital.

here's the article itself:

Road accidents costing govt QR45m a year

Web posted at: 7/3/2006 7:23:13

Source ::: The Peninsula

DOHA • Road accidents are costing the state QR45m per year and this figure is likely to go up to a whopping QR1.8bn in the future if remedial steps are not taken to curb rash and reckless driving. So far this year, there have been 4,507 road accidents.

With 200 new drivers and their cars hitting the road daily, the accident figures are likely to go up even further from the present frightening numbers. According to the Traffic and Patrol Department's statistics, in 2001 there were 85 deaths, 142 (2002), 159 (2003), 164 (2004) and 206 in 2005, an Arabic daily reported.

Taking 2003 for example, the figure works out to 23 deaths per 100,000 population which compares very unfavorably with the global norm of seven fatalities per 100,000.

In 2005, 3,740 road-related injuries were reported, which works out to more than 10 per day. Dr Hani Al Khilani, a counselor with the Accidents and Emergency Department of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) said: "For each death case there are three cases of permanent disability. Of these, 79 per cent are in the 15-42 age bracket."

Statistics show that between 1980 and 2003, there were 2,357 fatalities and 30,637 serious injuries due to road accidents. In the same period, there was a total of 63,662 accidents.

The Accidents and Emergency Department has reported that in 2004, 79 per cent of its cases were admitted because of road accidents.

Dr Ali bin Saeed Al Ghamdi, Professor in Traffic Engineering and Transportation at Saudi Arabia's King Saud University, who provided the figures on financial losses to the state, said: "Some of the reasons behind such a high accident rate are the number of new cars on the road and construction work."

Ali bin Saeed, who presented a paper during Road Safety Week in March said: "It is not just the Traffic Department who should be responsible. There needs to be a strategic national plan to bring down accident levels by 10 per cent annually. The Traffic Department has already taken several steps like intensified patrolling and imposing severe financial penalties."

Road Safety Week was first launched in 2004. However, ironically, the situation worsened as the number of accidents increased. When the Supreme Council for Family Affairs probed into the reason why this happened, it noted that the campaign was not properly carried out and there was no coordination with the media to spread awareness.

Among other reasons cited for the alarming increase in road accidents is the easy availability of car loans from banks thus making for more vehicles on the road. National and expatriates alike favor their personal vehicles over public transport and the number of conferences being held here means several roads are often sealed off to facilitate VIP movement.

Ali bin Saeed has put forward some ideas which may cut down on the number of accidents. Chief among these is awareness to be spread by family, schools and even mosques. Youngsters should be encouraged to look for other diversions other than driving cars fast which would mean encouraging sports and the setting up of social clubs.

Fawzi Al Buhairi, associated with the Qatar Technical Inspection Company (QTIC) says 17 per cent of the tyres on vehicles running on Qatar's roads are not suitable for the country's extreme weather. A further 22 per cent of tyres in use are five years' old or more. Fifteen per cent of accidents are caused by bad tyres, he said. Fake spare parts are also another cause of accidents, he said.

Among his suggestions to improve the accident situation are improved road design, well-lit streets, proper pavements for pedestrians, skid-proof road surfaces, main and branch roads should meet international requirements and speed bumps placed in residential areas.

I live off Al Waab Str and although i feel the same way about the workers I do sympathise with the drivers...the real culprits here are the infrastructure and project managers who probably have not yet recovered from the Eid festivities.

Every couple of days I have to find a different way get home. If I want to go shopping at the new Villagio I have to go all the way down to Alsad and then U-turn and that’s after I figured out how to get on the Alwaab. I find Road Traffic management in Doha appalling, I have not yet seen a sign mentioning a diversion.....and may I just add that It is taking them too long to do a simple job....what takes 4 weeks in Dubai and 3 weeks in Shanghai to built takes 3 months in Doha.

Free

Hello Ferran.

Do you have some sort of www.link to that traffic fatality rate? I'll like to show it so someone who is of the opinion that the traffic is not so bad. :)

Btw. I can't help feeling sorry for the workers who plant all the grass by hand alongside f.i. the Al Waab Str. How must it feel to come back in the morning and see that people have just driven their cars though the grass distroying everything, just because they wanted to skip a que... *sigh*

Camilla

Bugboy,

I just moved from Karratha, WA about a month ago and so far I am surviving. The red dust of the Pilbara has been replaced by construction dust but other than that all is right with the world, kind of!

Good luck with the move.

Kerrie

those u mentioned, u might be able to get them here, except instead of kangaroooo, u might hit some camels.....or landcruisers / nissan safarisss on the sand dunes.

To those that I may have upset or come across rude and arrogant I apologise.

My point, which I fear may not have been well expressed. Was to suggest that even though Doha has issues with transport, I am sure it has many other excellent things to offer a mild and open mind man such as myself. I will hope that the tragic loss of lifes on the roads can be reduced by the transport improvement talked about. I worked in many emergency departments and know first hand the devistation motor accidents cause. Sudden tragic loss of life is the worst, not that any loss of life is not tragic.

I believe one should always and it is essential that one does respect the right of everyone to live their life as they choose to live. I am not Islamic, however I do not believe that being Islamic makes you a lesser or better person. Relationships with God are (I believe) an individual thing and I never judge a person on the basis of their believes. I listen to their points of view and respect them for the being they are. It is their faith that can make them a better person. Maybe if we all learnt tolerance first, we might move forward to living better together.

Myself I look forward to learning a new culture and way of life. This I hope will make me a better man, in turn I may effect those around me and hopefully the world we live in will become better for our childrens future.

Now back to Life in Doha. Does anyone on this forum work in the Qatar health system?

Live, Love and Be Kind.

It is a beautiful world lets live in peace.

We wish that roads not be crowded. We can do that by motivating Qataris to use the luxerious public transportation system. It will be great to make Qataris (and expatriates) abandon their private vehicles.

For single men who do not have families, there shall be special area of the double decker double articulated bus.

Bugboy do not worry about not being able to meet people. You can visit Qatar Guest Center where you can find expatriate people who are interested in Islam, Qatari culture, etc.

To many people, Qatar is a place to make money.

However, it is also a place to get the opportunity to learn Islam, see Qatar, taste dishes.

bbksiu have you acutally ever been on a bus? Seperate sections for familys and women??? These are buses, the cheapest form of public transportation you can not Qatarize it into some luxery limousine, if you take a bus you have to suck it up and set with the rest of the commoners.

BugBoy, tansit is a problem and there is segregation everywhere? First time to the Middle East I take it if you think transit and segregation here are anything like they are in other countries.

I am a fan of transportation. I love buses, trains, sea cruisers & airplanes. If you have a job for me in a transportation industry, please let me know.

A person who was preparing for his/her wedding died few days ago because of a car accident. He/She bought everything for the wedding.

Many roundabouts are being replaced with traffic light systems.

People look at the drawings of the bus that is put in this site.

If an improved bus system will help driving conditions, I'm sure most people would be for it. Cars are expensive and there is a huge need for inexpensive, convenient, safe transportation. Doha is a great city, but it would be a much better place to live if the traffic/transportation issues were improved. I'm in favor of buses and anything else that will help, including replacing the roundabouts with traffic lights.

for a change i agree with bajesus that you have a fetish with bus system. lol :-)

do you know alfardan group ogf companies in doha qatar? is the comapny a good comapny and employer as well? give some comment pls..

"What can I say? Where in this world is transport in a major city not an issue".

You kidding right? You are saying that because you haven't been here yet? Transport here is more than an issue.

What can I say? Where in this world is transport in a major city not an issue.

As for privacy and segregation. Where in this world is there not divisions of sort. We teach our children at an early age about being different, we put them into school classes, call them boys or girls,etc. We all have our prejudices and ways of life. Provided these do not infringe on the rights of the individual to participate in the acceptable norms of the society that they live, then one must respect their and thats society way of living. Myself I have no issues with who is what or who the represent or what they do in their own life. I am happy to respect their way of living and hope that learning from what I see and absorb makes me a better human.

It is a beautiful world lets live in peace.

I'm moving to Qatar in about a month, and the driving situation in Doha is the #1 thing I'm dreading. I've heard many horror stories about the rude, aggressive, dangerous driving. I've also been told that Qatar has the highest per capita traffic fatality rate of any nation on earth! Yikes! Why is the driving so bad in Doha?

Qataris love privacy & first class services.

They will avoid buses & trains that are crowded & have single men in them.

Single men who do not have families could have special areas in the bus.

Subways & underground trains could be finished in 20 years.

Double-decker-double-articulated buses could be manufactured whithin 5 years.

i must say that this makes me laugh ... 200 people capacity buses, u mean trains dont you?

30 minutes is still too much. An efficient public transport should still be avaiable.

Plasma screens in buses, haha.

I also do not believe in compolsory gender segregation, it creates a more divided community and it also does not sound practical

I think what should be done in tandem with road works is a metro system.

Qatar is planning in building new swathes of Doha from Scratch and many are nothing but sand right now, so it would be prudent planning to do so now b4 it has to be done later.

This should be given a priority to West Bay, with a couple of main stations and then have airconditioned, air and clean halls to other buildings as there are so many so close together.

But offcourse it will not be done, becasue it needs to be proposed by some company, given go ahead for inception, planning, design, tender for construction and then maybe start doing it, which even if it all started today nothing essential would happen for 5 years.

I think trains and largely underground trains (for Doha at least would be much better) It seems more feasible and would not add traffic and would allow for someone to go from Al Saad Stadium to go to a line at Grand Hamad (lets keep it as it is w/ buses) and then change over to a West Bay Line to go to City Centre) and will not take 75-100 minutes as it currently does with buses and will not change dramatically.

This is the case with buses, becvause they largely avoid main roads and do not go through high volume traffic anyway, but have to go at a steady speed of like 30/40 km/hr. With a train I would imagine this can be done in 20 minutes.

Bugboy1960 many people die here because of car accidents. Seems to me mostly Qatari teens.

Yes I love buses. I think of buses that are double decker double articulated which have separate entry & excit doors for men & families.

Each bus has a capacity of more than 200 passengers. Bus stops are 300 meters away from each other, they are available each 30 minutes per day all weeks day. The bus stops are air-conditioned, have bus schedule, clock, men waiting area & families waiting area, & security camera. Bugboy1960 bring busses with you when you come to Qatar to make Qataris not need to buy car & not need to drive.

Qataris want privacy for their families. Thus, the buses need to be spacious divided into sections for men, and divided into sections for families.

I agree with all the comments about driving in Qatar....can i just add, knowing that most of you would agree...it should not be called driving where Qatar is concerned, piloting is the correct word...I'm a very safe driver never in a road-rage state, but every time I'm in my Car I go to pilot mode I have to watch all four corners and anticipate 3 moves ahead...I have become an expert in predicting other vehicles movements: changing lanes, cutting in front, U turns.....

There is absolutely no pleasure in driving here...it’s a real nightmare.

BTW...we've changed the topic of Bugboy1960 about life in Doha....sorry Bugboy....I think you would love Doha..its a safe adventure try it it.

True about the dreadful driving. At 6am this morning, I left work and walked out into thick sea fog. It was so dense that visibility was down to ten metres in places, yet Land Cruisers were still thundering along at ridiculous speeds.

If they plough off the road and damage their precious 4x4 in such conditions, it would teach them a much-needed lesson. However, it's more likely that they would thump into one of the poor construction workers laying paving blocks at the side of the road.

People seem to be incapable of driving safely. It's just insane.

I Don't mean this to sound rude but I can't help it! do u have a fetish for buses or talking about them?! I don't get it. You seem to mention them over and over again in every thread.

Yeah,Police should act like police. People need to respect & feel that others are using the roads too.

I know stories of people killed people by car accidents. They had to pay money for the family of the killed.

If people ride buses, they will have time to read, talk to their children, & see the city of Doha while being on bus. If plasma screens are available inside the buses, then people will be able to view educational materials, too. As I know, educational bus screens are only available for the government primary school students in Mowasalt buses.

Countries all over the world have traffice jams and road works .. it does not give an excuse to drive like a total lunatic at the disregard of others.

Excuses ... excuses ... excuses.... WAKE UP!!!!

I know the public transport system is going to be developed, which is great. But still, the basic understanding here of driving correctly and in a responsible manner is what needs to be addressed. The police should act like police.

I also think that the punishment needs to be addressed at irresponsible driving ... it makes my blood boil, because basically the blood money stops a lot of the irresponsible drivers from seeing jail. If you pay the blood money ... generally you don't do much jail (if any!)

Pay the blood money AND do your time for the consequence of the crime.

Your alcohol comment is interesting, I like the fact there is alcohol here. I wish there was pork too. But this is Qatar, I understand the rules and respect that.

And I'm happy!!!

Hi,

Qatar is very hot in summer. Many people are upset of traffic, so they drive very fast. Public transportation is to be developed.

We are sad because alcoholic drinks are served in a Muslim country.:-(

Maybe you could save money % not buy alcohol.

right attitude and you can love any place. i love this place.

We have been here for just over a year and we love Qatar.When you are here,contact us and we can have some coffee and maybe show you around.Always nice meeting new friends.

life is quiet, no violence, sports if you look for it, other activites go on, lot of new people around,hmm you can try it out here.

if you have the right attitude you will like this place, else it can turn into a hellhole for you.

Well Austrailia is a country that is miles off Qatar in many ways indeed, what do you want to know about the place called Qatar....

Its different thats for sure...we live in a society where everything seems to get done tomorrow and if its not done tomorrow it will be done some time during the course of the year..........

Place is a construction site at the moment with a daily time stuck in trafic in the region of 2 hours, and thats just a normal run to work every morning...............................................

Shops and malls are not too bad, actually alright for a second world country, miles off your Uk based shops, but alright........

Places to go....not really much to offer, they have hotels which are the only places you can get a drink in th country, i mean a glass of wine etc...some excelent restaurants and as for the night life it is ok, remember its a very male country and a bar will have 10 men to every women, and at least 8 of those men will be some nob that wants to stare at you and all nigth. It can be a pain on that basis.

Beaches and Hotels....not to bad, the hotels are the only places you can go really in town that have beachs, very costly to do so...beaches outside of Doha are nice, well nice ish anyway....

People in Doha, come from all walks of life, the place is expanding and getting better and better i suppose, just a long way off still.

The doors are locked but the windows are open.

Don't think you should have too much of a problem!!! Net is censored in no access to so-called controversial sites and pron blocked out.

Otherwise, should do ok!