How aggressive are the thieves here?

[Hal65]

Recently ordered a U lock to lock a wheel to the frame, and also a hardened steel chain lock for the frame to an object. My typical parking spots are also highly trafficked.

 

Means nothing though if the thieves don't care and bring an angle grinder. I'm just trying to make my bike as unappealing as possible. It's a $200 fixed gear so not ultra low end, but nicer than most Big C bikes.

 

How aggressive are the bike thieves in Thailand? I'm in Pattaya. Are there professional networks that have all the tools or is it mostly desperate people looking for easy gigs?

[YogaVeg]

I suspect thieves are universal in methodology and you should always assume some are talented and have tools, yet usually looking for the easiest low hanging fruit that gets plucked first.

I have lived in several high theft areas and lost a few bikes.

My strategies now are:

2 locks, one a high quality u-lock without a circular tumbler (those can easily be picked).

That ulock goes through the frame and rear wheel and tightly to a pole with NO room to stick in a 2x4 to bust it.

Lots of duct tape wrapped around your chain will clog grinders, and those with them know it.

Quick release hubs replaced with Allen key ones, and a drop of glue where the Allen key goes (must first be chiseled out to remove wheel and seat).

Cheap black roofing tape, and/or simple ugly neon spray paint, on the frame, rims and spokes to make a nice bike look trashy and unappealing.

All logos removed or covered.

Ratty looking seat and/or plastic bag on it.

Stickers all over to make it uniquely easy to identify and way less desirable for resale. 

Make your nice bike look like unresellable trash! 

Never spend more than $200 on the bike so it's less painful if it disappears.

Lock it up in obvious view of a CCTV (atm or store) if possible. 

Leave it out overnight as little as possible.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, YogaVeg said:

Never spend more than $200 on the bike so it's less painful if it disappears.

Nice carbon bike costs $1000, not everyone wants to ride a Tesco bike or trash their ride with spray paint.

Cheap combination lock chain for 200bht seems to work as well as anything.

Park it where you can see CCTV.

Edited December 22, 2018 by BritManToo

[YogaVeg]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nice carbon bike costs $1000, not everyone wants to ride a Tesco bike or trash their ride with spray paint.

Hey if you can afford to lose a $1000 bike more power to you. Me, I would lose too much sleep. I also consider a shiney new carbon bike 'flaunting wealth'...

And if you like to bait your town with the nicest ride out there, that is your battle to choose.

 

I buy my bikes used, right now I ride a Downtube folder that sells for over $600 new, but I bought for, you guessed it, $200. A fine ride, excellent craftsmanship, and light years beyond Tesco quality.

 

Painting a bike trashes only one's ego, if you let it ????

I personally get a thrill out of having a nice ride and I'm the only one who knows how nice it actually is.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2018 by YogaVeg

[BritManToo]

30 minutes ago, YogaVeg said:

ey if you can afford to lose a $1000 bike more power to you. Me, I would lose too much sleep. I also consider a shiney new carbon bike 'flaunting wealth'...

Most of the Thais I go out with have spent 100,000-150,000bht on their bicycles.

A 30,000bht bicycle is hardly 'flaunting wealth' unless you live in a rural Issan village.

Nobody would steal my bicycle.

[richard_smith237]

23 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Most of the Thais I go out with have spent 100,000-150,000bht on their bicycles.

A 30,000bht bicycle is hardly 'flaunting wealth' unless you live in a rural Issan village.

Nobody would steal my bicycle.

 

Likewise...  Looking at the bikes at the skylane there are a lot of 300k+ bikes...

 

I wondering when thieves will become wise to the value of these bikes and their theft becomes more common. 

 

Can you get Bike insurance in Thailand? 

 

Regarding how aggressive thieves are - a friends Brother was killed in a street robbery, he tried to prevent the thief from steeling his phone - he got stabbed with a 9" blade under the chin and into his brain... he died instantly. The full thing was on CCTV - this is a rare event though... such crime against Westerners is not common unless someone makes a poor decision and instead of walking away from a situation instead reacts. 

 

 

 

 

In reality...  Thai's tend to be non-confrontational in nature... Until that is, a confrontation starts... Fight back and you may get into more trouble. 

 

But, if you are robbed you are unlikely to be attacked physically if you don't put up a fight. 

 

That said, I find confrontational crime extremely rare here. Opportunists could strike at any time, but not when you are around to catch them.

 

Edited December 22, 2018 by richard_smith237

[neeray]

A lock only protects you from your best friends.

[suzannegoh]

On 12/22/2018 at 12:16 PM, neeray said:

A lock only protects you from your best friends.

They can deter casual thieves though.  Often bike thefts are comes of opportunity and even a cheap chain lock will stop someone from grabbing the bike on a whim and running away with it.  And the U-Lock plus cable lock method that someone mentioned above would require the thief to have two different types of tools to steal the bike. 

[Hal65]

I now have the U Lock and 6mm chain lock. Haven't put it to use other than going to get groceries one time. The peace of mind feels nice. $30 spent defending a $200 bike is worth it just based on that

Edited January 13, 2019 by Hal65

[StreetCowboy]

6 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

They can deter casual thieves though.  Often bike thefts are comes of opportunity and even a cheap chain lock will stop someone from grabbing the bike on a whim and running away with it.  And the U-Lock plus cable lock method that someone mentioned above would require the thief to have two different types of tools to steal the bike. 

You can be sat watching your bike, and someone can jump on it and be off faster than you can chase them; but you can be off giving them a bit of a boxing before they've got their bolt cutters back in their bag if it's locked.

[madmen]

Any thief can get anything they want if they are committed.

Is there no insurance for 150k bikes. That's the only thing that will work

[StreetCowboy]

50 minutes ago, madmen said:

Any thief can get anything they want if they are committed.

Is there no insurance for 150k bikes. That's the only thing that will work

Insurance just encourages thieves, because the owners care less.

[madmen]

Insurance just encourages thieves, because the owners care less.

Just because you insure your car doesn't mean you could care less and leave the doors open.

You don't leave your house open because it's insured

Why wouldn't you still lock your bike?

[Ks45672]

On 12/22/2018 at 7:25 AM, BritManToo said:

Nice carbon bike costs $1000, not everyone wants to ride a Tesco bike or trash their ride with spray paint.

Cheap combination lock chain for 200bht seems to work as well as anything.

Park it where you can see CCTV.

A 200thb lock is laughable tbh

A thief would be through it in one snip