Pattaya: Foreign pensioner robbed of 560,000 baht in Euros left in his safe

[Mac98]

I had an 800 lb. safe at home in U.S. House broken into twice in 22 years. Never lost a penny.

[Basil B]

On 5/4/2019 at 6:19 AM, RotBenz8888 said:

That looks like he had one of those hotel toy-safes. Keep some fake gold in one of these and let the thief walk away satisfied

Probably a bit more secure, but looks like the cut the hinges off, so would not have had vertical locking bolts, I doubt it would meet UK Insurance rating for £1,000 Cash (£10,000 valuables) let alone £15,000 cash.

[Basil B]

7 hours ago, Toknarok said:

      Friend of mine bought one of those cheap small safes from Makro. Unfortunately he died. His passport that we wanted to hand into the Thai Police was in the safe. Took the safe to a local mechanic who had a large angle grinder. Took him just three minutes to cut it open.

•        Talking of safes, another mate of mine was working on Cape Town docks as a crane operator. He was off loading a large imported bank safe from a ship when he accidentally dropped it quite hard onto the dock. The safe thought that someone was trying to blown it open and immediately went into lock solid mode. There wasn't a locksmith in South Africa that could unlock, they had to fly someone out from the country of manufacture (Germany I think) to open the damned thing. Needless to say my mate got the sack.

Those safes have a glass plate to prevent drilling the lock mechanism, it is designed to shatter if drilled and activate relocking pins, a real bugger to open when the pins are activated.  

[smo]

On 5/4/2019 at 3:19 PM, soalbundy said:

On 5/4/2019 at 3:07 PM, Lacessit said:

Some of us are not slaves to punctuation.

My favorite headline is the body that was discovered in the woods by a tramp in a state of advanced decomposition.

wrong punctuation can cost thousands, I remember reading a story about a guy losing his firm because of a missing comma

On the other hand, an extra comma could be the reason why a panda walked into a restaurant, ordered a meal and before leaving fired a shot into the wall. (- "Eats, shoots and leaves.")

Anyway my favorite was "the flag was slowly hoisted to the top of the pole along with the fat lady singing the national anthem."

[tabarin]

Must have been a old fashioned security and cctv system and configuration.
At my house the motion sensors would go off if a rat walks even near and in the house aside of the lights turning on and notifying my phone and my wifes & a deadman switch manually programmed.

On armed mode the alarm would start going as well and really become a bitch, there are also switches in every room to activate the alarm in emergency.
This entire system with extensions costed me less than 100 dollars (Xiaomi 5in1 set Lazada). I like tech so i went full on with it.

Aside of that, CCTV would at least record them entering before they get a chance disabling or turning things off and would be uploaded in seconds, cloud recording, aside of a UPS back-up power system of 20-30 minutes for the router, 4G simcard internet and alarm speaker (sensors are on battery). Wishing them good luck, my house is ordinary and cheap, but high tech secured.

Would only use a safe for bait and never stash anything obvious in the house if I kept such amounts. For at home the old fashioned proper baseball bat and some 2.5 / 5KG dumbbell weights to throw. It almost makes you hope someone is stupid enough to try.

[AlexCanada]

Christopher Knight?  Isn't that Peter Brady from the Brady Bunch?

[Isaanbiker]

On 5/4/2019 at 1:12 PM, bluesofa said:

And they say money doesn't grow on trees, after twenty years it will.

Yep, and I've seen it with my own eyes! Money can grow within hours.....

[Isaanbiker]

1 hour ago, tabarin said:

Must have been a old fashioned security and cctv system and configuration.
At my house the motion sensors would go off if a rat walks even near and in the house aside of the lights turning on and notifying my phone and my wifes & a deadman switch manually programmed.

On armed mode the alarm would start going as well and really become a bitch, there are also switches in every room to activate the alarm in emergency.
This entire system with extensions costed me less than 100 dollars (Xiaomi 5in1 set Lazada). I like tech so i went full on with it.

Aside of that, CCTV would at least record them entering before they get a chance disabling or turning things off and would be uploaded in seconds, cloud recording, aside of a UPS back-up power system of 20-30 minutes for the router, 4G simcard internet and alarm speaker (sensors are on battery). Wishing them good luck, my house is ordinary and cheap, but high tech secured.

Would only use a safe for bait and never stash anything obvious in the house if I kept such amounts. For at home the old fashioned proper baseball bat and some 2.5 / 5KG dumbbell weights to throw. It almost makes you hope someone is stupid enough to try.

Let me guess, you don't have a safe, nor any items that are worth to visit you.....

[GAZZPA]

On 4 May 2019 at 1:04 PM, RobMuir said:

I have always thought keeping money and valuables in a safe is a stupid idea. If someone breaks into your house they will be looking for the safe.

 

I have always used the bury in the garden method. It is a bit more work, but much safer.

until someone notices you going back and forth with a spade. assuming its not dodgy money the bank is the best bet

 

[GAZZPA]

10 hours ago, JimSaints said:

Amazing so many fellow expats enjoy this guy got robbed by some low life (thais ?) but just show how bored people are living in Thailand - try get a life aka move to a more enjoyable country ...

I have fella, settled now, soon family follow. Thailand, to me is a horrible place that's on the slide. Feel sorry for this guy losing so much cash, probably hurts a lot unless he is very wealthy.

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, Banana7 said:

If anyone has a similar amount of money and wants to keep it their home, a decent large safe costs 15,000-20,000 baht at the safe store on Pattaya Klang opposite side of Foodland.

I was in Homepro on Sukhumvit only yesterday and they have quite a selection. I think it important to secure them well to a wall, where they are not easy to access. 

[brianthainess]

On 5/4/2019 at 1:04 PM, RobMuir said:

I have always thought keeping money and valuables in a safe is a stupid idea. If someone breaks into your house they will be looking for the safe.

 

I have always used the bury in the garden method. It is a bit more work, but much safer.

Install a fake sewage inspection cover near your toilet. Dam now you all know where my millions are.

[Rimmer]

Off topic removed

[elgenon]

Sounds like someone knew what they were after and how to get it.

Thief not very subtle. What the heck kind of security do they have at the "Exclusive" that no one heard the thief breaking stuff or tossing stuff into the pool? Makes you wonder.

[nausea]

Farang = money = worth a go. Probably a foreign gang. 

[CH1961]

18 hours ago, Mac98 said:

I had an 800 lb. safe at home in U.S. House broken into twice in 22 years. Never lost a penny

Because you spent your last money for the 800 lb. beast ????

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 5:54 PM, david555 said:

"Even the cheap ones with hinges outside have a projection that goes inside so it won't open even if the hinges are cut. Obviously his didn't have that feature."

 

So that is already avoided by not buying such one with hinges outside , as not knowing the one in your eye at the shop have that security !?

? Just open the door and you can see if it has the security projection.

Far as I know, all small safes have hinges on the outside.

[david555]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

? Just open the door and you can see if it has the security projection.

Far as I know, all small safes have hinges on the outside.

Far as I know, all small safes have hinges on the outside.

 

 

Just check a few places as Home Pro ,Index (just beside the escalator goin up floor ..) you can see plenty , even bigger ones with or whiteout the hinges outside

 

Could invite you to see my safe ….now wouldn't that be a stupid action ... 

[david555]

9 hours ago, nausea said:

Farang = money = worth a go. Probably a foreign gang. 

I think a certain number of foreigners just went buying a bigger one....as now copy cats getting jealous of the success of this case .. 

[BritManToo]

On 5/4/2019 at 12:10 PM, darksidedog said:

Next time he would be well advised to buy a better safe. Hopefully the CCTV will reveal some clues, though the normal situation in these cases is that the cash is gone by the time they catch up with the perpetrators.

Why would you keep so much money in Thailand?

Apart from monthly expenses best to keep it in a bank in your home country.

[david555]

9 hours ago, nausea said:

Farang = money = worth a go. Probably a foreign gang. 

Are those London  jewelers robbery thieves already in Patt's ?

[david555]

20 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Why would you keep so much money in Thailand?

Apart from monthly expenses best to keep it in a bank in your home country.

made wrong calculation post , sorry , deleted 

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, elgenon said:

Sounds like someone knew what they were after and how to get it.

Thief not very subtle. What the heck kind of security do they have at the "Exclusive" that no one heard the thief breaking stuff or tossing stuff into the pool? Makes you wonder.

Security at housing projects are not very reliable. They are mostly poorly educated older guys sitting there very bored and, lets face it, Thais don't seem to get involved if something is going on. Security guards are frequently complicit as they know which residences are occupied or not home. I can imagine a sounding alarm was ignored, if they guy was able to get to it and rip it off the wall quite quickly. 

[jacko45k]

13 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Far as I know, all small safes have hinges on the outside.

Mine doesn't. 

[overherebc]

22 hours ago, elgenon said:

Sounds like someone knew what they were after and how to get it.

Thief not very subtle. What the heck kind of security do they have at the "Exclusive" that no one heard the thief breaking stuff or tossing stuff into the pool? Makes you wonder.

Dan Tempest Gang

Entered via the pool using muffled oars.

[JSixpack]

On 5/6/2019 at 9:23 AM, nausea said:

Farang = money = worth a go. Probably a foreign gang. 

Probably, what with the needless effort, tools, and brute force. Reminds me of 

 

Police have arrested two British men in Pattaya who got the bright idea of trying to rob ATMs by ripping them out of walls with a two rope.

    --https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/news-pattaya-police-arrest-british-duo-for-failed-atm-robberies/

 

Thais know how to open the most secure safes quickly and easily by letting the owner himself do it at knife point. That's how they netted 2 million from a farang Pattaya go-go bar proprietor years ago. ???? 

[Rimmer]

Several off topic posts and replies have been removed

[sunnyboy2018]

On 5/4/2019 at 12:19 PM, RotBenz8888 said:

That looks like he had one of those hotel toy-safes. Keep some fake gold in one of these and let the thief walk away satisfied

Yes. Have a real stash hidden elsewhere in the house and a small amount in the toy safe. Better still: keep large amounts in the bank!

[sunnyboy2018]

On 5/4/2019 at 3:38 PM, theboogeyman said:

I never like carrying or keeping that much cash on me or in the house.  That’s also why I have surveillance cameras all over house my outside and inside with infrared night vision.  And I don’t even live down there Pattaya is a high crime area where I live almost nothing ever happens.  We had one incident over a year ago in our neighborhood which is the reason why I have the cameras. Other than that no problems here in 5 years of living here in my neighborhood.  

Actually I think rural areas have more crime.

[sunnyboy2018]

On 5/4/2019 at 1:12 PM, jacko45k said:

I have buried my safe in the garden.

So how do you withdraw money?