KhaoYai

Tried and failed - I just accept it - its Thailand.

If you look at the way the investigation and court case were conducted in the now famous Koh Tao murder case where the 2 Burmese guys were found 'guilty' - I can understand why any government would not allow one of its citizens to be extradited to Thailand. Without commenting on the likelihood of guilt is this case, it is very clear that people rarely get tried properly or that internationally accepted evidence standards are applied. Due process is totally ignored. Suspects are paraded on TV and in the media as if they are guilty etc. etc. etc. In the Koh Tao murder case, the defence were not provided with samples of DNA to have independently tested. Various dodgy reasons were given for that - from losing the sample material to not having enough. In most other countries, that fact alone would have seen the case dismissed if its central to the prosecution's case. Why? Well why should the police's DNA tests be trusted? The defence must be given the opportunity to test all evidence provided by the prosecution. That is internationally agreed and applied. It seems to me that once someone is considered guilty by the police in Thailand in one of these high profile murder cases, the defendant is always found guilty. Thailand wants to be seen to be doing something when it comes to the murder of a tourist or expat. I think that more attention is given to the potential effect on toursim than to establishing actual guilt. I fully support Norway's refusal to extradite this man but I also hope he is properly tried in Norway.

I used Prime Asia 5 years ago and was very happy with their work. The profiles they fitted in my house were Deceuninck - glass sourced locally. The company changed hands a couple of years ago so I can't comment on the quality of their work now. However, when I needed a part for one of my doors they were very helpful. All I would say is, and this applies to just about all UPVC doors: Do not trust the impressive looking 5 point locking systems - especially if you are installing double doors. Add some form of extra security. The problems come from the doors 'flexing'. The locks work by small bolts that slide into U shaped keeps when the door handle is lifted. The level of 'sail' into the keeps is at best around 5mm. In practice its actually around 3mm because of the heat in Thailand. In a hot country the doors must be set with a bigger gap than you might think because they expand quite a lot in the sun. If that allowance isn't made, the doors will catch on each other when hot. The bigger the gap between the doors, the less the bolts 'sail' into the keeps. I was amazed at how easy my doors were to kick in. Following the break in, I repaired them and tested their security. A heavy ram using my shoulders and they opened again. The burglars didn't do it that way though. They simply inserted something like a screwdriver between the doors (damaging the cover lath) prised them apart and applied pressure. As I say, the locking system looks great when its demonstrated in the showrooom but its actually not too difficult to defeat. Hence the security cage in my earlier photo. In the UK I've seen these 5 point locking systems fitted with mushroom shaped bolts that prevent the above problem. However, I can see why mushroom shaped bolts won't work in Thailand - the doors would have to be set close to each other - any larger gap would not allow the 'mushrooms' to seat correctly. I know this all sounds double dutch but if you visit a showroom, you will see what I mean. A 'shoot bolt' system that locks vertically as well as laterally would be far better. However, most types of entrance doors have their problems and if you're going to be away for long periods, I would fit a cage like mine. Always remember that a cage is only as good as its mountings so once its fitted, weld the bolt heads to the frame. You would also be well advised to use mounting bolts that go right through to the inside with large flat washers or plates on the inside. Its not much good having very secure security gates if they can simply be barred off the wall and concrete blocks are not really all that strong (especially the now popular lightweight blocks). I'm in the process of making some covers for the bolt heads inside my house - they are ugly but justified.

Yes, and of course, an internet connection.

No need for the quotations - she is a friend and has been for 15 years. Most of my friends in Thailand are Thai.

I happily move with the times when I see it as beneficial and secure. It is quite normal to not know about something until you learn - I'm yet to meet the person born with this knowledge. Having lost my phone on several occasions I am not comfortable with having my banking facilities on it. I also don't consider phones to have the best security. I was alarmed recently when, during a conversation on the subject of phone security, a friend in the UK who works in the mobile phone industry, disabled the password on my phone and gained access to it. He wouldn't show me how he did it but it took around 5 minutes. If he knows how to do that, its a cert that the criminal fraternity does too. Carrying information around in your pocket, information that could lead to losing money, doesn't make sense to me and I'll resist it as long as possible. So called advances in technology are not always beneficial. Take for instance, car security. Its got so good now that criminals have started breaking in to people's houses to steal their keys - or worse, car-jacking people at traffic lights, sometimes at knifepoint! You metioned earlier that you carry some cash around in case of some sort of technology failure. I was really talking about something much bigger. There's a certain leader of a certain country who is currently involved in a 'special operation'. He would love to get his hands on the ability to shut the internet down in some countries or cause some other damage. We are so reliant on the net and linked technology (which includes almost everything now), that if it failed it would be a major catastrophe. You can rest assured that people like the above 'gentleman' and terrorist groups etc. will be working night and day to cause some sort of disruption. Another recent technology - AI, may help them to achieve that aim. In addition, your carry around cash won't help you are trying to pay at a point that no longer accepts cash. I'm told that a growing number of outlets in London don't take cash and 5 years ago, couldn't get on a bus in Norway and pay by cash. I'm not against cashless methods of payment, I just believe that the alternative of cash should not be removed for those who either choose not to use cashless or cannot. In the UK we have a significant homeless community. How can those people, or those who've had problems and can't obtain a bank account or mobile phone access basic services or buy food if everything goes cashless? Of course companies promote cashless transactions, the technology solves a lot of their problems such as cash transit and theft. That doesn't mean its safe or reliable. A cyber attack on the NHS a few years ago created havoc and its rumoured that the NHS paid out a very large ransome to regain control of their systems. There will be a major incident with the internet before too long - mark my words. Yes, its the modern way

No, I just insert my card into the card reader as per normal.

Well I'll use cash or my card as long as I can do. I was with a Thai friend a few months back and was told I was a fossil because I don't have any payment method on my phone. Following dinner we went to a BTS station to purchase tickets for the trip home. I can't remember what method she used at the machine but it was declined. She had a very red face when I stepped in and paid with cash ????. I can't work out why the shops/restaurants etc. (that I've tried so far) don't have the card tap facility - even Lotus. The guy in front of me at Lotus last time paid using his phone but when I motioned to tap my card. the assistant shook her head. I really don't want anything to do with banking on my phone and will resist that as long as I can.

So what's the alternative to cash? I won't have banking on my phone and I'm yet to visit anywhere it Thailand that lets me simply tap my Kasikorn card - even though its a tap-able card. I've heard of prompt pay but I have no idea how it works or what I need to use it. I guess I need to have some form of banking app on my phone to pay by QR? This reliance on technology will backfire for sure. There's bound to be a major internet failure at some point - either deliberate or through a fault. That will be fun. I've never had a 'transaction failed' message when I've paid with a 1000 baht note. Shops seem to behind the trend - when I put my card into a machine to pay a retailer, they always ask me to sign the chit - even though it says quite clearly on the transaction note 'No Signature Required'.

Make sure there's no land between you and the sea - ask the residents of View Talay 1 if you don't know what I mean.

Oh, don't get me going on that one - family too. In and out without knocking, taking my tools without asking!! Thankfully I don't have to put up with that anymore, I'm divorced. When in Thailand I still live in Isaan but only just so I get the best of both worlds and I have mountains instead of endless miles of flatness.

Re: Cloud - I didn't say it was necessary but if you don't use it you would need to put your DVR in a secure location. If you rely on the hard drive or SD cards, you have to prevent the burglars from stealing them or your evidence will be gone. My DVR is in a very secure location and would be difficult to find. Obviously that means additional wiring but its worth it. The steel transom bars that I've fitted to protect both balcony French windows is at waist height inside and cannot be seen from the outside as the doors themselves have a solid transom across them. What they do is make it virtually impossible for the doors to be kicked in - any 'would be' intruder would make a lot of noise trying. Windows? My house is on stilts so everything is one floor up but a lot of people install security roller shutters to protect their windows - again though, you're virtually telling the burglars you're not home. To answer the above: I bought my siren on Ebay several years ago, I believe its actually for a car alarm. Its 12v so needed a power supply. I had a 12v power supply - a charger for an old torch so I simply removed the plug from it (torch end) and joined the wires to my siren. The power supply (plug end) plugs into a UK type 220-240v UK style wall socket via the Tapo internet switch (Tapo P100 Mini Smart Wifi Socket). My house is wired with UK plugs so no problems there. However, I only used the 12v siren because I had it already. I'm sure you can find a 220/230 volt siren in Thailand with a Thai plug (maybe Lazada) so you wouldn't need a power supply - just a wall socket. If you can't find a 220/230v one - use a car alarm siren like mine. The Tapo P100 is available in Thailand with a Thai plug and interestingly, they also do switchable light bulbs too. The App will run several devices. https://www.tapo.com/th/ The Tapo connects to the wifi in my house - wirelessley and is very easy to set up. You simply download the App to your phone and then scan in a QR code on the smart plug. That's it done. If I spot an intruder on my cameras I simply open the App and tap the button - see photo below. It will work anywhere as long as I have either a mobile signal or wifi connection to my phone. I don't know how many decibels my siren is but its very loud - no burglar would want to be anywhere near my house when that's going off - and that's the point. My cameras send me an alert, I view it and decide whether its an intruder or not. I've had 5 false alarms today - bloody Geckos!! My neighbours would not be happy bunnies if there had also been 5 siren blasts. As for the security gates - see the photo below. Those gates were made, painted and installed by a local tradesman for 20,000 baht. The lockbox is a bit large - I plan to change that soon. The problem with it is that its obvious that nobody's home if its fitted. A better design would be a smaller box, welded to one door that closed over a hasp on the other door. I made some similar gates myself in the UK and had that type on them - much easier to use and the padlock can be fitted from the inside or outside so nobody can be sure if anyone's home or not. There is a downside to all this surveillance and electrikery - if there is a power cut you've no cameras and no internet - you're battery powered cameras still need wifi to send you alerts. That's another reason for also making things as difficult as possible for any burglars and lighting them up via solar powered PIR sensor lights.

I've lived in a few parts of Isaan and a couple of words sums most of them up - too far. I guess if you're staying put its not so bad but I travel quite often and those long journeys to Bangkok are just too much. Buriram and Yasothon bored me to death. Yes you can always find the odd 'farang bar' but those places make this farang bah! Sitting in a bar all day, swilling beer and talking rubbish is not my idea of a better life - though so many choose to do just that. Pak Chong/Khao Yai on the other hand, is just a couple of hours away from Bangkok and I'm still discovering new nightlife and places to visit even now. Someone said 'dry and dusty' - add flat and boring and that sums up much of Isaan for me. Each to his own I guess.

I bought the Siren in the UK on Ebay years ago - sorry can't remember any more details but its 12v so I run it off a 12v power supply plugged in to a normal socket. It is deafening and that's what you need - not many burglars will stay around with that racket going on. As I said before, its activated by a TP Link Tapo internet switch from my phone. As for my system - its wired, I am often away for months so wouldn't trust a battery system. I previously had a Swann system that again, I bought off Ebay in the UK. I had a lot of problems with it and Swann were less than useless - long story but one example is that they took 5 months to reply to an e-mail. Eventually I decided that I couldn't play around with security as I'm not in Thailand full time. Prompted by the lack of service from Swann I bought a Watashi system from a local supplier called Advice. They installed it but the power supplies for the cameras and the conduits (metal) for the wiring to reach the DVR were already in as I'd installed them for the Swann system. I've had a few problems with the Watashi system but to be fair - mostly because they failed to make their new App compatible with Android 13. I'd been running the system for 3 months when it stopped working following an App update. Again long story but once they accepted that their App was at fault and not my phone, they made changes and it worked again. The other problem I had (and currently still have) is that the monitor I use at the house was hit by lighting or a power surge recently and although it was turned off, it was plugged in to the DVR and consequently burned out part of the DVR circuit board. It wasn't the end of the world though - the damage wasn't covered under warranty but the supplier sent the DVR back to Watashi who have installed a new circuit board for 1000 baht. Its now waiting for me to return. Fit good quality surge protection and don't leave any monitor connected to the DVR. I found it a pain that Advice had to send my DVR back to Watashi for repair and that it took a month - I was returning to the UK 2 weeks after it was damaged and didn't want my house unprotected so I bought 3 Vstarcam IP cameras to cover the main areas on Lazada and installed them. I've had Vstarcams before and for the price, they are very good. They are 'last year's' model so they were very cheap - 750 baht each. I'll be re-fitting the Watashi DVR when I next return but the little IP cameras will remain as a back up. After having 3 different systems at my house to date I would comment thus: CCTV systems can be troublesome, regularly send false alarms and can be pretty easy to disconnect. They should only be used as PART of your security - you will quickly realise that yes, you can see an intruder at your house but what are you going to do about it? Unless you have a neighbour or friend that can be on the scene quickly, your evening's entertainment is likely to be watching the burglars break into your house and carry off your belongings. My house was broken into - that's what prompted me to install CCTV and I quickly realised the above. I had a small Vstarcam system at the time and got photos and videos of the incident which I presented to the police who did absolutely nothing other then make out a report. The guy on the videos looked well dodgy and I'm pretty sure he would have been known to the police if they'd actually bothered to check. Burglars are in the main, opportunists and will pick out easy targets. They don't like to be on the scene long and they don't want to be visible. If they arrive at a difficult target, they will move on unless they have specifically targeted your home for some reason. Spend time looking for weaknesses - my UPVC doors for example, were very easy to 'kick in', despite the impressive looking 5 point locking system. Doors and windows that are out of sight should be given particular attention. My main entrance is now protected by a steel gate with a metal box over one of the three padlocks to prevent the lock being barred off - its ugly but needed. I had my gate made locally - I wasn't impressed by what's available from Homepro and the like. Its bolted to the walls, the bolt heads are welded on the outside and the bolts go right through the wall. There's not much point fitting a security gate that can be easily barred off or unbolted. I have 2 sets of UPVC glass French doors on my balconies that again would be fairly easy to kick in - I installed a removeable steel bar across the middle of each of them on the inside to prevent that. Yes, the glass could be broken but that's not as easy as it seems and unless they are professional burglars, doing that would be noisy. Light is something burlars don't like - install solar powered high level lights with PIR's. Good quality ones are not expensive now and very easy to fit. Take a look around your house and decide how you would get in if you lost your keys - those cheap rubbish Chinese sliding windows can be opened with a penknife. CCTV installers will usually pick the easiest way for them - try to avoid visible/reachable cables and locate your DVR in a secure, non visible location. Its not much use recording a break in if the burgars carry your DVR off. Any cables that are reachable should be carried in steel conduit. Cloud storage may be useful but will your local plod do anything with any recordings you provide? My Vstarcams used to send me videos of any events without cloud storage - that seems to have stopped but I'm trying to work out why. Overall, make it so that an intruder would have to spend time getting in and try to make them visible, the chances are that they'll move on. Don't rely on CCTV as your only form of protection.

If you want to really P off your neighbours. I've fine tuned my cameras - set them to the optimum detection sensitivity, masked off any areas where they might pick up innocent activity (passing cars etc.). The cameras are also only supposed to pick up human activity through infra red heat sensing but they still send me at least one false alarm per day. My siren is independent from the cameras and operated by an internet switch (TP Link Tapo) so if I get an alert and it is an intruder, I set it off - quick tap on my phone.

The point is, these things will continue to happen - especially when people are on holiday. That is why I said earlier that the Thai state bears some responsibility in these matters. They want tourism so they have to accept that a lot of people won't get proper travel insurance unless its compulsory. Even then, people will continue to do things that their insurance won't cover. That could be mitigated to some extent by making sure that hire vehicles are properly covered but there are many other types of accidents or illnesses that require treatment. Instead of whinging about tourists having accidents and doing stupid things, the only way to make sure that people are taken care of and the hospitals get paid is: 1. To introduce a levy on all tourists that covers the bills of the unfortunate and the stupid. 2. To make sure that such people are treated by establishments that don't overcharge. However, it would have to be a proper levy with all contributions used as intended not just another 'cash cow' for the Thai government/corrupt officials. People here talk about the UK's NHS as if its free - its not. The NHS is paid for by contributions and taxes such as National Insurance. What it does however, is to provide medical treatment for all, not just those who can afford it. I have good travel insurance that covers me for most things I'm likely to do in Thailand but I wouldn't mind paying say 1000 baht so total cover could be provided for others. That cover would also apply to me if I did something that was outside of the scope of my travel insurance. Having people in hospital, racking up biils that they can never afford is a ridiculous state of affairs. Then don't do stupid things I hear you say, well that's easy to say and what about illness? None of us plan to get ill whilst on holiday but it happens. Thailand needs to accept that accidents and illnesses are always going to affect non-residents and do something about it. Whining and whinging about it is not going to solve the problem. I doubt that there are many of us that haven't done something stupid/risky whilst on holiday - maybe in the past but we have still all done it. I've heard that some travel insurance doesn't cover Jet Ski's by way of example. How many of us with that sort of cover would turn down a chance to Jet Ski when it wasn't planned but a friend offered it? The likelyhood is that most would say yes and believe that nothing would happen to them. Thailand can't have its cake and eat it. They can't expect everyone to buy travel insurance when its not complusory and in any case, such insurance never covers everything.

Ask the manager at your local Kasikorn bank. They use a countrywide locksmith company than comes long and opens their safety deposit boxes when stupid foreigners lose their keys. ????

Not an answer to your original question but............................. Make sure that whatever you fit and whoever installs it - include decent surge protection in the power supply and don't leave any monitor hardwired to the system. I returned home a few weeks ago to find the circuit board in my DVR wrecked. The system was only 8 months old - the problem was traced to a surge caused by lightning in recent storms that had burned some connections in the HDMI from the monitor to the DVR. I didn't leave the monitor switched on but I did leave it connected to both the mains and to the DVR via the HDMI cable. Lesson learned.

Nonsense. I wrote a load more but that one word covers everything so I deleted the rest.

Not a dictatorship? Who are you trying to kid? So people in China are allowed to protest and show disent are they? They can change the government can they? Keeps the wealth in the hands of the chosen few more like.

I fully support the views of the PM Elect - as I suspect do most rational people. You are suggesting that Thailand should ignore what's going on and trade with a government that is murdering its people? That is the same as saying that money is more important than lives. All that the people of Burma want is to govern their own lives through a democratic process. That should be the right of every person on the planet. The current Thai government has done nothing to help its neighbours and failed to condemn the military coup - for obvious reasons. Quite frankly, for a country that calls itself a democracy and a government that took power under the very questionable aims of protecting that democracy to have done absolutely nothing to help the Burmese people is disgraceful. Thailand has a form of democracy and (fingers crossed) if Pita is allowed to take his rightful place, it will move towards a true democracy. I would hope that the country then puts pressure on the murderers of Burma to go. I certainly hope that all trade with the military government is stopped. As one of the most developed countries in the region, Thailand should be taking a lead in this matter and helping the Burmese people, not sitting on the fence and doing business with the illegal military government.

I understand where you're coming from but don't you think that Thailand also has some responsibility? I don't know the details in this case but people who are not eligible for free healthcare shouldn't be allowed to ride/drive/hire/buy bikes or cars without adequate insurance. There are also all sorts of other accidents and illnesses which raises the question of whether Thailand should require foreigners to have insurance or provide some sort of healthcare through a levy as they claimed to be going to do. The country wants tourists but doesn't want to take any responsibility for them - that responsibility could be mitigated if insurance was compulsory. The country itself has a lax attitude towards insurance - the cover provided by compulsory insurance on motor vehicles is woefully inadequate. Thai's are no different to other races, many rely only on compulsory insurance because that's all they are legally required to do. I was hit by a taxi in Bangkok many years ago and the taxi driver only had 3rd class insurance - apparently quite legally. How can a vehicle that can carry 3 or 4 passengers have only 3rd party insurance?? As I say, a lax attitude.

Nope, All Clear Insurance give medical cover up to £15 million provided you have a licence for the bike - no limit on cc. I have an annual policy with them - unlimited trips in 12 months with a max stay of 45 days each trip. https://www.allcleartravel.co.uk/

I never said they weren't - the unions are the collective voice of the workforce. What's the difference? What they were in fact doing is something that is still common in the UK today - producing poor quailty work and demanding more for it. I've generally worked on my own or within a small company but my experience of working in British factories is that a high proportion of the workforce would be better descibed as 'workshy'. I was once told to slow down and not work so hard - by the Shop Steward - he didn't want everyone to have to work like I did.

I'm not about to enter into an argument with you but you should read my post properly - especially its context. The British motor industry was in fact a world leader and considered the best. That doesn't imply good quality - it was just how things were. If you have a mediocre car and a bad car, obviously the mediocre car is the best buy. That's how it was at the time. As for your comments on Vauhall/Opel - not quite correct. Engines, on the whole, were built in engine plants and shipped to various assembly plants. Thus an engine built in Germany could be installed in a vehicle built in any one of a number of assembly plants - including the UK and vice versa. Oil leaks etc. were common in many European brands. I was in the motor trade for most of my working life and I can tell you that there were and still are some hideously poor quality cars built by both European and British manufacturers: Renault for example - the early Trafic van engines were terrible. More recently BMW redesigned a previously 'bullet proof' 2.0 diesel engine and totally wrecked it - cam chains snapping after just 25,000 miles in some cases. The same company used nicosil coated liners in some of its petrol engines in the early nineties - an engine that proceeded to burn large amounts of oil. Again BMW in your own country were ordered to replace the electric power steering units in its MIni brand and to give a lifetime warranty on them. Somehow and I don't understand why, BMW are still considered as a quality car A more serious comparison would be between the British/European brands and the Japs - the Japs saw what we did and did it better.