I Dont Want My Room Broken Into

[Grover]

I while back there was a thread about a member who got his laptop stolen from his room. Ive heard a lot of these stories.

Eventually ill be moving to LOS and DONT want this to happen, and I will make any reasonable effort to prevent a break in.

any tips? obvious and non-obvious tips pls.

[alexth]

It all depends on where you choose to live, condo, house, etc. The security provided by the condo or the village should give you a start point.

[ColPyat]

I while back there was a thread about a member who got his laptop stolen from his room. Ive heard a lot of these stories.

Eventually ill be moving to LOS and DONT want this to happen, and I will make any reasonable effort to prevent a break in.

any tips? obvious and non-obvious tips pls.

Burglaries are very common here, and are rising.

You can protect yourself to some extend by living in one of the very expensive ghettos for the rich with round the clock security, and lots of security systems.

You can also find out which areas of town have higher incidents of burglaries, and which don't.

If you live alone, then there will be periods you leave your abode alone for longer periods of time, and then you will have to get used to the thought that being too attached to material goods will cause you mental stress.

We life in a house. We have dogs, we have chosen the area we live because burglaries are somewhat lower than in many other areas. And whenever we go away we always have relatives stay in our house.

Burglaries and home intrusions are never nice, but they are a fact of live here, one of the draw backs of living in a country with such enormous social problems, a huge gap between rich and poor. Get used to it.

[Phil Conners]

I bought a Laptop lock - a piece of steel wire with a lock that fits into the laptop. You can buy them in most computer shops for a couple hundred bath. The wire loops through the cable hole in my computer table so to run off with my laptop a burglar would have to run off with the table too. Of course it doesn't prevent a determined burglar to eventually run off with it or break it in an attempt to do so, but with the other measures, burglar alarm etc, at least it makes it a little bit more difficult.

[Jet Gorgon]

Only broken into in a bungalow room. After that, my dogs took care and so did the neighbours. Oh, except for a weird farang neighbour who stole my rent money once. Never lived in an upscale place, so guess burglars thought my hut/small house wasn't worth the effort. Guess the most important thing is not to leave your place looking neglected and/or have someone checking it for you.

[webbew]

If you are only visiting, you should have no problems with hotel staff. No guarentees, but I've never had issues with things being stolen at hotels. Then again, if you protect your valuables and don't have them stolen and I fail to protect my valuables and they wind up being stolen then you ended up being the smart one.

[Youbloodybeauty]

Own a laptop that is <2kg (~12" screen) and carry it everywhere in a backpack.

That's what I do!

[dgoz]

A friend of mine bought a house in East Pattaya and after 3 months he was broken into and ripped off twice.

He's now had the place up for sale for a million cheaper than cost for 3 months without an inquiry.

Anywhere outside of the main Tourist/expensive spots have bad reputations for theft, especially if you are a Farang.

[Jingthing]

I left my condo a few times for months at a time. The only thing I did for security was use one of those door knob metal "sleeves" or whatever they're called. These are hollow circular metal things that you put over your door knob and attach your own padlock. Stops the bad guys from picking your door knob lock, but they could pick the padlock first also or kick the door in. I thought this might as well have been a public announcement that I am away for a long time, but no breakins both times.

Edited March 11, 2007 by Jingthing

[Boo]

When I moved out of a single room bungalow into my first house in Samui, I paid to have one of those metal security doors installed inside the front door, so when I went out I would padlock the metal door & then close the front door which had a push button lock.

It was good for hot nights too as I could leave the main door open & get a lot of air in but didn't have to worry about someone wandering in as it was padlocked whilst I was inside. I did come back after one night out & the main door had been forced open but of course, the metal security door was still there so they had given up, so it obviously worked. The padlock I used was also a fairly expensive one brought from the UK too.

I did the windows too, they look nice as well IMO. Total cost for door & 3 windows was about 1500 baht & took the firm 2 weeks to make & install them.

[THAILIBAN]

I bought a Laptop lock - a piece of steel wire with a lock that fits into the laptop. You can buy them in most computer shops for a couple hundred bath. The wire loops through the cable hole in my computer table so to run off with my laptop a burglar would have to run off with the table too. Of course it doesn't prevent a determined burglar to eventually run off with it or break it in an attempt to do so, but with the other measures, burglar alarm etc, at least it makes it a little bit more difficult.

this sounds interesting..... would u mind to take a picture of it and post it here ?

[Phil Conners]

I bought a Laptop lock - a piece of steel wire with a lock that fits into the laptop. You can buy them in most computer shops for a couple hundred bath. The wire loops through the cable hole in my computer table so to run off with my laptop a burglar would have to run off with the table too. Of course it doesn't prevent a determined burglar to eventually run off with it or break it in an attempt to do so, but with the other measures, burglar alarm etc, at least it makes it a little bit more difficult.

this sounds interesting..... would u mind to take a picture of it and post it here ?

Sure ... one end of the cable has a lock which fit into a special slot in the Laptop. Most, if not all, recent Laptops have such a lock-slot somewhere.

The other end of the cable ends in a noose. I choose to loop it through the cable slots in my desk, but you could loop it through any fixed, heavy or large object that would prevent the easy lifting of the Laptop.

As I said before, a burglar with an appropriate cable cutter (or axe for that reason) would of course not be stopped by this but it does prevent anyone from just picking it up and running away with it just like that. Also remember this is part of a larger system with burglar alarm and on-site security.

[Sakeopete]

When I moved out of a single room bungalow into my first house in Samui, I paid to have one of those metal security doors installed inside the front door, so when I went out I would padlock the metal door & then close the front door which had a push button lock.

It was good for hot nights too as I could leave the main door open & get a lot of air in but didn't have to worry about someone wandering in as it was padlocked whilst I was inside. I did come back after one night out & the main door had been forced open but of course, the metal security door was still there so they had given up, so it obviously worked. The padlock I used was also a fairly expensive one brought from the UK too.

I did the windows too, they look nice as well IMO. Total cost for door & 3 windows was about 1500 baht & took the firm 2 weeks to make & install them.

I have the same as Boo and highly recommend it but be sure that they design the door to have the locking mechanism on the inside of the door with a sliding cover. It is a bit harder taking the padlock off and putting it on but a burgler can not pick the lock.

[jayjayjayjay]

I while back there was a thread about a member who got his laptop stolen from his room.

A small digital safe sells for about 6000 baht. I've used one for about 5 years now. Takes only 5 seconds to open (same as the ones you find in hotels for passports etc). If your a little handy you can secure it yourself to a wall with bolts or have a tradesman do it for you. Either way, prevent the easy grab-and-run losses. A laptop fits easy into this safe along with all other basics. Good luck..

[jayjayjayjay]

A friend of mine bought a house in East Pattaya and after 3 months he was broken into and ripped off twice.

He's now had the place up for sale for a million cheaper than cost for 3 months without an inquiry.

Anywhere outside of the main Tourist/expensive spots have bad reputations for theft, especially if you are a Farang.

I beg to differ. Have lived in various locations in Thailand, have at times gone for years without having lost anything...... Even had restaurant staff chase me 300 metre down the street to return a wallet I left on a table!!!

[THAILIBAN]

When I moved out of a single room bungalow into my first house in Samui, I paid to have one of those metal security doors installed inside the front door, so when I went out I would padlock the metal door & then close the front door which had a push button lock.

It was good for hot nights too as I could leave the main door open & get a lot of air in but didn't have to worry about someone wandering in as it was padlocked whilst I was inside. I did come back after one night out & the main door had been forced open but of course, the metal security door was still there so they had given up, so it obviously worked. The padlock I used was also a fairly expensive one brought from the UK too.

I did the windows too, they look nice as well IMO. Total cost for door & 3 windows was about 1500 baht & took the firm 2 weeks to make & install them.

thats sounds interesting as well, my new landlord wanna make the appartement more safe and ordered a company to install an iron door and iron grilles on the windows...... but that costs him about 40.000 baht. how can urs be so sheap ? can u take a foto of that and show it here ?

[sarpesius]

Some apartment buildings have someone in the downstairs office 24 hours a day. Well, at least they are in theory.

There are also cameras in the hallways.

It is also impossible to get in the downstairs door without either having a key or being buzzed in by someone already inside. Then they would still have to get into your door.

Try to live on an upper story and with your window situated so that no one can climb in. Never leave valuables near a window in any case.

When moving into a new place or even a short term hotel, check the locks on the windows. Sometimes a window or door will have a lock on it but it can easily be pulled out or somehow unhinged from another side.

A lot of apartment buildings have a room-cleaning staff. Sometimes one of the cleaning staff will steal from a room. Grand Apartments in Chiang Mai had a reputation for that.

Try to get an apartment or house, rental or purchase, that has cabinets and drawers and closets with individual locks on them.

If you plan to leave for a few days, such places often have special storage rooms, that might be more secure or at least are less known to would-be burglars.

One trick I use when traveling is to dump all of my stuff from my suitcase and bags onto the floor or bed as soon as I come in. That way, if a burglar gets in, he will only steal the one or two things that he wants, rather than walking off with the entire bag.

One of the main concerns of burglars is to get in, find the valuables, then get out as fast as possible.

This tells you that you should not leave your money or valuables in the obvious place for such things. The burglar does not have the time or the brains to sit down and play sherlock holmes in your room. So, put them someplace that a person will not think of on the first guess. Divide your money up into 3 piles, each of which you hide in a different place.

Finally, never rent or buy from a guy with greased-back hair and a pencil mustache who keeps saying "who loves ya, baby."

sarpesius

Edited March 12, 2007 by sarpesius

[Boo]

but that costs him about 40.000 baht. how can urs be so sheap ? can u take a foto of that and show it here ?

Sorry no, moved out of that house several years ago. We may have got cheap as it was 1) samui 2) 3 houses being done in one go 3) we only had 3 windows & one door in each house 4) the person negotiating could have carried a quarter in her bum cheeks all day even when she pooed, she was that tight & good at bargaining (bkk thai buisness women)

Just wanted to add on that, don't know the quality of the ones we had or what your landlord has ordered but ours were basically metal pieces soldered together to make a patterned door. They were fairly crude & not very intricate but we only needed it for security purposes, they guy who came just fitted them into the wooden door frame so I suppose several really good kicks could have splintered the frame but with all home security someone will always find a way to get in if they want to bad enough but visual prevention & too much effort is usually enough to make them move on to somewhere else.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Boo

[qualtrough]

The burglar 'bars' found in most Thai houses and apartments are little more than decoration. They might deter the opportunistic burglar, but anybody with a relatively small bolt cutter can just snip them at a few places t and then peel them open like a door or window. Real protection would have to be something that would be too thick for a large bolt cutter and take too much time to hack saw. I saw some nice ones made out of 1 inch sq. metal at the US embassy. Probably a bit much for most houses!

Be aware that a very common mode of entry for houses is through the roof. Just pull off a few tiles and theyre in like Flynn.

[kratindaeng]

I while back there was a thread about a member who got his laptop stolen from his room. Ive heard a lot of these stories.

Eventually ill be moving to LOS and DONT want this to happen, and I will make any reasonable effort to prevent a break in.

any tips? obvious and non-obvious tips pls.

simple.

KD

[andook]

Be aware that a very common mode of entry for houses is through the roof. Just pull off a few tiles and theyre in like Flynn.

I can testify this to be true, unfortunately.

[Donz]

Put a sign up that says "Donz Lives here"

So simple and saves alot of money

[Boo]

or even better put a photo of donz up & it will scare them away

[Grover]

Put a sign up that says "Donz Lives here"

So simple and saves alot of money

hmmm. ok lets try it and add your photo:

BEWARE, DONZ LiVES HERE

yes, maybe it will work.

[endure]

I bought a Laptop lock - a piece of steel wire with a lock that fits into the laptop. You can buy them in most computer shops for a couple hundred bath. The wire loops through the cable hole in my computer table so to run off with my laptop a burglar would have to run off with the table too. Of course it doesn't prevent a determined burglar to eventually run off with it or break it in an attempt to do so, but with the other measures, burglar alarm etc, at least it makes it a little bit more difficult.

this sounds interesting..... would u mind to take a picture of it and post it here ?

It's called a Kensington lock.

[Donz]

or even better put a photo of donz up & it will scare them away

Yes scare the thiefts, but will attract 1000's of young females

[endure]

or even better put a photo of donz up & it will scare them away

Yes scare the thiefts, but will attract 1000's of young females

Not to mention turning all the straight blokes gay...

[cdnvic]

or even better put a photo of donz up & it will scare them away

Yes scare the thiefts, but will attract 1000's of young females

....and here they come now!

[endure]

or even better put a photo of donz up & it will scare them away

Yes scare the thiefts, but will attract 1000's of young females

....and here they come now!

[Donz]

If you guys wear a badge with my picture on it, it would scare away all thiefts and also be a chick magnet all in one.

Sheeet I think im on to something here.

If you like one then PM me