Insects, etc. In High Rises In Penang

I've lived on the 11th floor of a couple of condos in Kuala Lumpur. I seem to recall spiders (nothing big or scary), cockroaches and geckos. I did own a couple of places on the 28th floor and 53rd floor of condos in KL (Central Residences & KL Gateway) and never saw insects or lizards. Those places didn't have balconies and no open spaces to central airwells (they were windowed off).

So I recommend choosing a very high floor and if there is an air well then make sure it has a window rather than being left open.

Thanks for the input!  I didn't even consider the airwells issue, but will going forward.

I lived in high floors in Kuala Lumpur and had plenty of insects. I used to visit a friend on the 22nd floor of an apartment building, she had plenty, too. I never knew they would fly so high--flies, mosquitoes, etc. I had ants, lizards, spiders.

Be realistic, its the TROPICS! You get everything and have to get used to it. I kept the problem to the minimum by having screens on all the windows which I insisted be open all the time for the lovely breezes. Some people, maybe many, keep everything shut and run aircon 24/7. I didnt want to live like that.

Its probably not a surprise that, I will guess, the most popular consumer product in the country is mosquito/insect spray, offered abundantly in the markets. I also got from IKEA a net that you hang on the ceiling over the bed, a real lifesaver. Pharmacies also stock plenty of insect repellent for your skin.

I might be sounding like this is a big deal but honestly its not. At first, westerners will notice lots of bugs and things but you quickly learn how to manage it and then its forgotten. The people I really pity are those living in the villages. Feeding time is at dusk and you'll be eaten to pieces. Still, they manage it, too!

To me, of greater concern is the sun and I highly recommend high SPF cream be used all the time when out. Skin cancer is a problem.

So dont worry high floor or low floor, live where you want and deal with what comes. Really, dont worry!

My wife who is Indonesian will not go near cockroaches (dead ones too), or almost any other insect or spider. My kids also are scared of them. We live in a landed property in Indonesia now and sometimes get dragonflies and hornets and butterflies flying into the house and they all stay well away. The kids have lived their whole lives in SE Asia. So I guess even if Asians are scared then it's normal for westerners to be scared.

But in any case, as mentioned above, most of these insects are completely harmless. If you want, lay down cockroach and ant traps which you can buy in every supermarket. The cockroach traps also unfortunately catch geckos too which is a shame.