Will Westerners be Targeted For Theft?

[gk10002000]

14 hours ago, bendejo said:

A popular myth is all farang are wealthy beyond the average Thai's dreams.  Bad that, people star making up stories of stashes of gold, etc.

The famous book In Cold Blood is about that, two drifters in the U.S. hear about some farmer who has a load of money in his house, and things go badly -- and there is no $$$ either.

 

 

saw the black and white movie as a kid at the theater when it first came out.  Truman Capote.  Donald Blake AKA Baretta was in it.

[Iron Tongue]

Of course westerners are viewed as wealthy targets.  How many Thai street criminals could afford to vacation in the West?

 

Similarly, in the US, it is common to believe Japanese tourists are all wealthy and meekly pay when overcharged/cheated.

 

 

 

 

[tropo]

19 hours ago, JimmyTheMook said:

Yeah you gonna be first targets for sure, the ppl out in the sticks who often get robbed when the know its a farang house will have more problems.

 

Then the odd farang in town will get preyed upon even more than before.

 

No job, no money = no food

 

No food equates to desperate people - so be prepared.

Several days ago my Thai neighbour mentioned there's a big theft problem right now. I don't think foreigners are the only target, but without any tourists to dilute the expats here now, we stand out more than ever.

[Titan1962]

I think a lot of us that are living in remote areas are not that well off. But the ones that have let’s say rubbed the locals up the wrong way with huge homes and flash cars might have an issue if it goes to <deleted>. They know you are here on a pension,they know you are getting a monthly income. Hopefully you have embraced the local community and helped out a few that haven’t been so lucky. My thoughts on the matter differ from a lot of others regarding the situation.

I think they should lock down the place for at least 3 to 4 weeks. If your locked down and someone in your home gets sick,call a designated number and the emergency people will come and access the situation. Then after the lockdown has been reached hopefully we would have stopped the spread and the government can gradually easy the restrictions. If they allow this to continue it will continue to spread,this was proved by the the airport debacle the other night. My wife and I have been pretty much in lockdown for about 3 weeks now. Watching tv,checking out FB,watching you tube Etc. We had to go out to the pharmacy a few days ago and we were shocked at how many cars,trucks,bikes are still on the road. How many none essential shops are still open,selling bubble tea,cakes,small hardware shops. Places still open selling tractors,cars. We both were living under a false assumption that only none essential services would be open. 
I posted a comment regarding that experience on a post and within 2 minutes I was being attacked by a Thai lady. She replied by saying that Thais needed to survive and why didn’t I say anything to the shop owners.(RIGHT). She went on to say that I was here on a pension and a lot of Thais needed to open their business to survive.

we chatted for awhile and I eventually asked her how she would solve the issue. The reply was,it’s not my problem ,it’s the government’s problem. She wasn’t happy with the way the government are handling the situation,but wasn’t willing to close her business to stop the spread.

So my opion that’s worth Jack <deleted>,shut the place down and try and see if they can stop the spread. If they continue to allow people to do as they wish,it will continue to spread. The longer it takes to stop it the more people it will infect, and the longer people will go without food,money,jobs. Then the <deleted> will start to hit the fan.

[dbrenn]

In any country in the world, people who appear to be rich are targetted by thieves. Try walking around <insert US/European city name here> at night, wearing flashy clothes and a nice watch.

[FolkGuitar]

It's time to remember...
In 1918, 50,000,000 people died from the Spanish Flu.  Fifty Million people!
It infected 500 million people, more than a quarter of the world's population then, and killed 50 million of them. The world was in MUCH worse financial shape then, at the end of W.W.I
And the world survived. And the countries rebuilt.
And life continued without turning to savagery.
And we did it without becoming a Post-Apocalyptic Doomsday Society.
And we all went on about our lives once again.
We WILL do it again.

WE will do it again.

[SteveK]

Recently my wife has started doing the following:

 

1. Leaving a light on in the house at nighttime.

2. Insisting on bringing the bikes in at night.

3. Locking the front door if we go out (we have never locked the front door before).

4. Has stopped wearing any gold jewelry.

 

So from where I'm sitting there seems to at least be a perceived threat of increased crime in the village, whether or not it comes to anything remains to be seen. Both Tesco, 7-Eleven, all the motorbike/mobile phone shops, hairdressers and markets are still open as usual around here. People are still having sit down meals at the noodle soup shops.

 

 

 

[cranki]

My wife is insisting we buy a gun, first time she's ever mentioned it, and she is serious about it !!

So I called a friend who is in a gun club and has a vast selection of guns, he agreed to sell us a CZ 75 or a Glock Gen 4 as he has a few.

He insisted we needed a license (good on him) before he would sell us one, alas.....the Amphur is shut so cannot apply for a license.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise, because I've never felt the need to be armed in the 12 yrs of living here...

[roo860]

We're ready!!!!

[robblok]

On 4/4/2020 at 6:35 AM, Brewster67 said:

I have been here 10 years and never had a problem being targeted apart from the occasional overcharging.

 

I wouldn't say there is no difference though because the times are VERY different, especially if money is starting to run out in a country where there is scant government assistance... people will have families to feed and as a father, I totally understand that people will stop at nothing to feed their kids... No matter what.

If your that worried leave or fortify your house. I wont lose a moments of sleep over this. But i live in a gated village with security. Not far away from others. These theories have been out there so long about Thais going after foreigners. I remember when they were worried about the king dying and revolt anti farang actions. Never happened either. I think people watch too many end of the world movies and stuff like that or are Americans who are often a bit more paranoid about stuff like this.

[SteveK]

12 minutes ago, robblok said:

fortify your house. 

Lol, how exactly are you going to do that right now? Build a moat and drawbridge?

[robblok]

6 hours ago, tropo said:

Several days ago my Thai neighbour mentioned there's a big theft problem right now. I don't think foreigners are the only target, but without any tourists to dilute the expats here now, we stand out more than ever.

No such problems here in this gated village. I might be worried if I lived secluded from others. Still It would not make me worry much.

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Lol, how exactly are you going to do that right now? Build a moat and drawbridge?

Not sure I mean i was joking seems people have some end of world fantasies. I guess to many zombie appocolypse movies depicting looting people has tainted peoples minds. My house has security bars everywhere. But they could come through the roof if they wanted too. There is no such thing as totally safe.

[BobinBKK]

All I have to say is use your best judgment for your situation. Obviously don't wonder into seedy areas, shop during the day in well populated places.Don't carry your ATM card, credit card, BTS/MRT card unless you need it. Only carry the cash you need when you go out and don't carry your cell phone with you. Do you really think a thief is going to let you use your phone to call the police before you hand it over to him/her?

[5633572526]

On 4/4/2020 at 7:03 AM, jastheace said:

ours broke yesterday, its open for all. maintenance have disappeared back to nackon nowhere. condo jurists can't be found either. happy days.

Bad choice of place to live on your part maybe.

my condo building in bkk has added staff to monitor temps of people coming and going, supplies free sanitizer and fogs the entire building common areas weekly with sanitizer. Juristic is fully staffed, mail and deliveries as normal. Jobs will be harder to find for a while here and a properly run condo building is job security.

[Saltire]

On 4/4/2020 at 7:58 AM, Peterw42 said:

Yes thats right, if it gets really bad, temples become soup kitchens and shelter. However, I dont think its that bad just yet.

We live close to the local temple. Wifes brother was the abbot for 15 years, left 3 years ago but up until recently was still out every morning helping the monks with the food collection. There were 3 monks and one more volunteer with a bogey to transport when their bags were full/heavy

 

Now only one monk is  doing the walk, no assistant/volunteer needed, and so subsequent food distribution is low. Only the most needy are helped at the moment.

 

This I don't understand as I would have expected locals to give more in times where they are expected to help others. Presumably they are getting into survial mode for their own family.

 

And --- as the only farang in the village I have thought about this but fortunately over the last 3 years my partially demented, 95 year old, father in law has made a point of telling everyone that 'the farang has no money'. The old git may have inadvertently done me a favour.

[Saltire]

With regards to migrant workers, I live an hour from the border to Myanmar and at any one time 70% of the village are Mon people. They seem to co-exist quite happilly here, never heard of any animosity between them and the Thai. Now I would say at least 50% departed some weeks ago before the borders closed.

 

The ones left are still working the fields every day for 300 Baht per day. The area around me is all farming.

 

There are also many from Laos and have children born here, now old enough to buy land so are on long term visa the same (but different) as us foreigners. My neighbours are from Vientienne, been here 25 years and have 3 Thai children, all home now, jobless. All 3 sent money every month). One has been told his job should be ok to return in May, all have appied for the 5000 Baht and are assuming they will get it. So there is a whole house with soon zero income. I am glad I have helped them out financially several times over the years, loans all paid back on time too.

[tropo]

9 hours ago, robblok said:

No such problems here in this gated village. I might be worried if I lived secluded from others. Still It would not make me worry much.

I'm totally unworried about it myself. The strict curfew probably makes us all a lot safer.

[robblok]

14 hours ago, tropo said:

I'm totally unworried about it myself. The strict curfew probably makes us all a lot safer.

Yes later thinking about it the curfew might not be for corvid alone but also to prevent theft as some people might get desperate. Just a guess but it makes sense of course its not said its for that purpose.