It shows even while drinking he's pretty aware of where he is in the world.
I have noticed over the last yr that most of you really have no clue what life in a 3rd world country is like. Not an insult, but an observation.
You think that cops in the states have a slow response time (LOL) if he could have found a working telephone more than likily the cops probably wouldn't have shown up until about noon the next day anyway, and I use cop as a descriptor very loosly. :)
Smartest thing he could have done was keep his nose out of it, just like he did. Granted that's my opinion based on having spent time in a few 3rd world countries in the past. Foreign nationals unless extremely well armed and in at least a squad size group should stay the heck out of local affairs, especially if you want to keep your body parts in tact.