Brunei has a GDP per capita similar to Spain or South Korea. This is kind of surprising for a small country on the island of Borneo in South East Asia with barely half a million inhabitants. This is mostly explained by Brunei’s huge oil and gas reserves. Most of these oil reserves are at sea which mean it’s been able to keep most of its tropical rainforests intact.

Sadly this is one of the few positive things I can say about Brunei and it’s oil reserves. In a similar fashion to Angola, most of the wealth from its oil ends up in the hands of its leaders. In this case, the sultan of Brunei who is absurdly wealthy.

We’re talking 7000 cars, 10 luxury yachts and 150 mansions kind of wealthy. If that wasn’t enough, he lives in the largest palace in the entire world.

Unlike the leaders of Angola, the Sultan uses a small proportion of the oil and gas wealth to buy the silence and loyalty of the country’s populous. The government provides low cost loans for cars and houses.

Sadly none of this can make up for the draconian regime’s horrific human rights violations. As Human Rights Watch states, “the penal code is essentially a roadmap for violating rights.” It requires death by stoning for sex outside marriage and homosexuality; amputation of limbs for stealing; and 40 lashes with a whip for lesbian sex. It would be kind of kinky, if it wasn’t so utterly brutal and depraved.

It’s fair to say that I absolutely won’t be visiting Brunei any time soon as I’d be stoned to death on arrival for being both gay, and criticising its insecure despot of a Sultan.

In the off-chance that this glowing write up hasn’t put you off your next holiday to Brunei I’ll leave you with a list of other things which are illegal in Brunei.