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If you’re planning a trip abroad, you probably have a lot on your mind. What hotel are you going to stay in? What attractions are you going to visit? What souvenirs are you going to bring home?

Chances are, however, you aren’t thinking about the legal issues you might face when visiting a foreign country. However, this is something that most travelers would do well to consider.

Remember, if you’re in a foreign country, you’re subject to that country’s laws, regardless of what country you’re from. You should also bear in mind that the freedoms that many Americans take for granted, such as freedom of speech (especially when it comes to criticizing the government or dominant religion of a country) are far from universal. In many countries, it is illegal to criticize the government, and these laws are still enforced.

This article is not meant to serve as a comprehensive guide to the laws of every foreign country a person might visit, for obvious reasons: such a guide would be tens of thousands of pages long. It is meant to impress upon travelers the importance of doing some basic research on the laws of the country they’re visiting, while providing some interesting examples illustrating just how different the laws of some countries can differ from the laws of the U.S.

For example, in many countries where Islam is the majority religion (including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) the possession or consumption of alcohol is illegal or heavily restricted, because alcohol is prohibited under Islam. In Saudi Arabia, the importation, sale, purchase, and consumption of alcohol is completely illegal, and subject to severe penalties. If you, as a tourist, attempt to bring alcohol into Saudi Arabia, you are looking at several months in jail, and the possibility of corporal punishment (lashes with a cane).

In other countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, the sale of alcohol is strictly regulated, and violations of these regulations are also harshly punished. For example, in the UAE, being caught driving with any amount of alcohol in one’s system (having a BAC in any amount over 0.00) carries a prison term of 1 year.

In many other countries, criticizing the government is illegal. This is especially true in monarchies, such as Thailand, where criticizing the King can carry long prison sentences. Of course, regardless of the legal situation, respecting the local culture of a country you’re visiting is the right thing to do, anyway.

There are other countries where, concerning what’s prohibited and what’s allowed, the law largely parallels the U.S., but where the penalties for violating the law are far more severe than they would be here.

One of the most infamous examples is Singapore, which uses the death penalty more than perhaps any other developed country in the world. In Singapore, like the vast majority of countries in the world, it is illegal to import drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, MDMA, and others. However, unlike most other countries, Singapore imposes a mandatory death sentence for importing any of these drugs. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for people executed under this law to be foreigners. While no Americans have ever been executed in Singapore, citizens of the UK and Australia have been, and there is no reason to believe that the government of Singapore would make an exception for Americans.

You should know that most countries in the world are parties to international agreements that give foreigners the right to access the nearest embassy or consulate of their home country if arrested. However, you should temper your expectations about what a diplomatic representative can do for you if arrested in a foreign country.

If arrested in a foreign country, you should stay calm, and obey all of the instructions of the arresting officer. If you do not speak the local language, you should try your best to communicate this fact in a non-threatening manner. Once you are able to speak with someone who speaks English, you should immediately request to meet with an American consular representative. This person will attempt to contact your family back home, try to ensure that you are not being treated unfairly because of your nationality, and might help secure a local lawyer, but they won’t help pay for that lawyer’s services (if payment is required). They will also not attempt to obtain preferential treatment for you, or meddle in another country’s criminal justice system.

To make a long story short, if you’re in a foreign country, and break that country’s laws (whether you were aware of the law or not), you’re likely going to be punished under those same laws. And crimes that are relatively “minor” in the U.S., like possession of a moderate quantity of illegal drugs, are punished much more harshly in some other countries – and are even punishable by death in Singapore and other nations.

Before traveling abroad, you should do at least a little bit of research on the laws of the country you’ll be visiting. Of course, many countries, like Canada, the UK, and various countries in Western Europe, are going to have very similar laws to the U.S. The laws of many other countries, however, are not based on the same traditions as the West, and they are therefore going to be very, very different. For that reason, it’s highly advisable to do a little bit of research on the subject before leaving.

John Richards is a writer for LegalMatch.com and the LegalMatch.com Law Blog. The above article is for general informational purposes only, and should not be construed in any way as legal advice relevant to your particular situation. The only person qualified to give you legal advice is an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction, who has been apprised of all the relevant facts of your situation.