Neighbours CCTV camera

[recom273]

I posted before about issues with my neighbour, he’s a bit of a bully. 
 

I notice he has 8 CCTV cameras on 4 corners of his house. I’m sure in the past he had them facing along his boundary, as you would expect, but now he has one turned directly to observe my construction.

 

I’m not totally paranoid in regard to CCTV, infact quite the opposite, I will enjoy playing with a the advanced capabilities of my own system when building work has completed, such a using a Thai ANPR system to open my front gate. I’m also very aware of catching his property in my cameras and will be positioning them carefully. 
 

When the garage is complete, it will obscure my house from this camera, but it seems obvious that this camera has no security purpose, its sole purpose is to film my builders and myself. 
 

I’m sure the system connects to a cheap NVR and he views the feed on his tablet. 

 

Could his actions be illegal? Could I ask him to point his to camera in along his boundary line as it should be and not directly at my property (it’s not at my property, it’s directed at my house, for no security purpose, basically he’s spying on me) 

[liddelljohn]

Point a camera directly back at his ,, He sound like a paranoid character , most so called bullies are ,, Ignore him unless he gets aggressive ,, then crush him ,,

[rwill]

A lot of the cameras have a setting that will follow movement.  So maybe that is what that camera is doing.  I tried setting my perimeter cameras to do that and would often find them pointed at the surronding properties.  So I ended up turning them off.

 

Also I have 128GB chips in the camera that record.  They hold about 30 days of video.  Which you can view on your cellphone.

[Srikcir]

Legality of CCTV pointing at your house - it wouldn't be illegal for use in the "public domain" anymore than an individual could view with their own eyes. Should anyone walking by your house shield their eyes from your publically exposed property?

If you want ordinary protection from public viewing, then you need acreage, blocking landscaping, etc. Then there is the issue of public viewing from overhead, ie., drone cameras.

You might have an illegal use argument if shown CCTV use was intended for an illegal use, ie., plan a robbery, assault, injury, etc. But the "bar" for proof of such illegal use will be high, ie., personal opinion or speculation is not proof.

[JustinCredible]

Try building your garage first. Problem solved!!.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

Did you talk to your neighbor about it?

 

I think maybe the reason he is pointing that camera in your direction is that "intruders" might come from the direction where some strangers are working.

Maybe without the camera some workers would look what is going on on the neighbor's property. And with the camera maybe they will think twice about what they are doing.

I think pointing a camera to a possible risk area is not unreasonable.

But I think best is, ask him - with an open mind.

[Tropposurfer]

Simply put up a blind e.g. 2 poles hammered into the ground add a sheet of light plywood between those on your side of the property close to the camera. 

[Dante99]

Why do you care that he may be filming your construction?  Why does it matter at all?  

[Mickeymaus]

I don't have such cameras. But if you put something there that always moves with the wind for example this should create a lot of data and also make intruder warnings impossible. Would this help or are there better options to annoy such a neighbour with his cameras? 

[Tropposurfer]

16 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

Simply put up a blind e.g. 2 poles hammered into the ground add a sheet of light plywood between those on your side of the property close to the camera. 

If you can maybe plant a lovely tall green hedge/screen and spend time nurturing them so they grow nice n healthy, green, and tall (narrow growth habit species of course).

You can buy these 'Asoka trees' (Saraca asoca) in quite mature sizes in LOS from good landscape nurseries (ask a decent property developer if your having trouble and they'll steer you to a nursery).

 

 

 

You describe the fella as a 'bit of a bully'. Screening like this - tastefully and structurally well done will beautify your garden/home and separate you from him as well.

 

If the space is concrete and really narrow between your land and the boundary line maybe add a framed wire screen on your side of the property to extend up above the top of the existing wall/fence height and see if you can grow a green wall with beautiful Chinese/Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). Some water regularly, a bit of plant food every now and then and this species will thrive (and its easy to prune and keep tight to a wire trellis and smells divine). In LOS it will tolerate lower light and still grow well.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Tropposurfer

[OneMoreFarang]

8 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

I don't have such cameras. But if you put something there that always moves with the wind for example this should create a lot of data and also make intruder warnings impossible. Would this help or are there better options to annoy such a neighbour with his cameras? 

Many modern cameras have different sorts of motion detection. They can differentiate people, cars, animals, and any other movement. And obviously they have setting to record i.e. only people and cars.

And storage capacity is not really an issue. 

[4MyEgo]

6 hours ago, recom273 said:

When the garage is complete, it will obscure my house from this camera, but it seems obvious that this camera has no security purpose, its sole purpose is to film my builders and myself. 

If, as you say, when the garage is complete, it will obscure your house from his camera, then instruct the builder to start work on the garage as a priority, even if it only get to the stage that it blocks his camera from looking into your place, then the builder can go back to working on the house, and complete the garage later.

 

Someone else has mentioned that in a previous post reply.

 

I am sure your neighbour doesn't want you or anyone else building a house next to him, especially if it was vacant land prior to your build, but he can't do anything about it.

 

Regardless if he is a bully or not, you are both going to be in close proximity of each other and are going to have to get used to living next to each other, just mind your own, and stay out of his way, however when you do see him, smile, doesn't matter whether he smiles back or not, just try to show him that your not a threat.

 

We have vacant land on both sides and the rear of our place and dread the day someone is going to build there, suffice to say, the owners of the lands know we would like to buy them if they ever decide to sell, hopefully they do, that said, the price would have to be reasonable as opposed to loaded, otherwise, they can sell them to someone else or build on it themselves, but not before at least a decade, which will probably be my expiry date.

[Pouatchee]

Perfectly legal... IF ... (the if here is what matters) he has posted a sign stating he has CCTV. If anyone here remembers, about 8 or so months ago it was made mandatory to post that you have CCTv's. If you want the details you will have to dig them up. Other than that it is also illegal (in no posting) simply based on the fact that it is now illegal to take a picture, or film anyone without their permission. I have 15 cameras around my house and I feel paranoid if the electricity goes out and I can't access them. I was a 1984 Orwellian fear monger before but I have simply done an about turn and I am totally happy with CCTV even if one is pointed at my house. Whenever there was a car theft or robbery committed at my old house the police would show up to view the footage of my CCTV's. If one were pointed at my house I wouldn't mind. The other guy is actually doing you a favor. Also, considering the reputation on construction workers here by the Thais, can you actually blame him? This guy would probably rather point his camera at something worth something on his own property rather than at your construction crew. I'll bet you when your house is done that he will redirect his lens. You are likely new to the neighborhood. Why risk antagonising a possible ally at this point? Right now he is actually doing you a favor, IMHO. Nowadays privacy means zilch. Hope I answered your question and gave you some kind of insight. ✌️

 

 

 

[Skipalongcassidy]

Paranoid much...

[Dazinoz]

My neighbour has one on the front of his house normally facing one of his cars parked on the road. However when I started doing some work on the pavers between mine and his house the camera was facing me each day. After a few days I started giving it the middle finger each time i walked past its aim. Got turned back to face car.

 

Also heard a powerful laser pointer aimed directly into cam for a few seconds will destroy the image sensor. Not recommended as it is destruction of property.

[bluejets]

6 hours ago, recom273 said:

basically he’s spying on me

Get a life....move on.

[OneMoreFarang]

I wonder what some people here fear that camara and the neighbor will do.

As far as I see the camera records the construction of a house, who is there at what time, what do they do, which material is transported to the construction side, and things like that.

So what's the problem? Because the camera will also record any "misbehavior" from workers, etc. It is so bad when the workers think someone is watching them?

 

In the building where I live, and I am sure in many other buildings, are cameras which record the movement of all people. Everybody in the lift is recorded, everybody in the hallways, the carpark, the entrance and exit, etc.

Personally I don't see a problem with that, and I like that possible burglars should realize that they are filmed.

 

If I had a private swimming pool or a big living room window and cameras would be pointed to them, then I wouldn't like that. But that is very different from a camera like described above. 

 

[swm59nj]

If you aren’t doing anything wrong don’t worry about it. 
If he’s a bully and he is giving you problems. You need to stand up to him.  Bullies are usually just punks

[recom273]

1 hour ago, Pouatchee said:

Perfectly legal... IF ... (the if here is what matters) he has posted a sign stating he has CCTV. If anyone here remembers, about 8 or so months ago it was made mandatory to post that you have CCTv's. If you want the details you will have to dig them up. Other than that it is also illegal (in no posting) simply based on the fact that it is now illegal to take a picture, or film anyone without their permission. I have 15 cameras around my house and I feel paranoid if the electricity goes out and I can't access them. I was a 1984 Orwellian fear monger before but I have simply done an about turn and I am totally happy with CCTV even if one is pointed at my house. Whenever there was a car theft or robbery committed at my old house the police would show up to view the footage of my CCTV's. If one were pointed at my house I wouldn't mind. The other guy is actually doing you a favor. Also, considering the reputation on construction workers here by the Thais, can you actually blame him? This guy would probably rather point his camera at something worth something on his own property rather than at your construction crew. I'll bet you when your house is done that he will redirect his lens. You are likely new to the neighborhood. Why risk antagonising a possible ally at this point? Right now he is actually doing you a favor, IMHO. Nowadays privacy means zilch. Hope I answered your question and gave you some kind of insight. ✌️

 

 

 

Thanks .. I wasnt sure if remembered correctly about a recent change. 
 

There is a bit of a back story, the guy has done something to his plumbing, and he’s directing grey water from his house into the road infront, the neighbours asked him to stop, the water flows onto the road and then on to my land, he thinks there isn’t a problem to make a muddy swamp at the front of my lane and for people to drive through his green slime because he can’t be bothered to install adequate plumbing. No one can talk to this guy. 
 

The tessaban engineer came to check my works the other day and while he was talking to foreman, he comes from his house and shouts as he is storming out of his house “come here!!” to the engineer, and then berates him because my ex-builder may have built a wall 1-2cm too close to his boundary. We aren’t locals, but it’s a village, you can see everyone has connected to each others walls, that everyone gets along, the locals are awesome, but everyone hates this guy and his bullying ways, he isn’t a local at all, doesn’t participate in village activities. 
 

He must have been watching the engineer through his camera system, which I find weird. I have cameras myself that I will reinstall in this new place, but I only really use the front gate camera, to open the gate, the rest are for recording. 
 

Anyway, when the garage goes up he will get a pic of a rendered wall and he will change it back. I was more concerned with the legality of what he is doing rather than stopping him. 

[recom273]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Did you talk to your neighbor about it?

 

I think maybe the reason he is pointing that camera in your direction is that "intruders" might come from the direction where some strangers are working.

Maybe without the camera some workers would look what is going on on the neighbor's property. And with the camera maybe they will think twice about what they are doing.

I think pointing a camera to a possible risk area is not unreasonable.

But I think best is, ask him - with an open mind.

No one can talk to this guy, not the local government, village headman or any of the other locals that have a problem. 
 

We have tried to be pleasant to the guy, we met him the first time, he spoke nicely, showed us his garden then started talking lies to people of things that never happened in that “meeting”. Still, we invited them to our ground breaking ceremony, he didn’t attend but stayed in his house (lol maybe watching on his tablet) and then appeared in his garden  everyone had gone home. 
 

Contrary to others ideas, I’m not paranoid or actually give a flying one, he can take as much construction video as he wants, but I just wanted to learn about the legality. I actually forgotten until I read a post in another forum, which got me wondering, If he’s doing it now, what’s to stop him putting another or multiple cameras along his property line into any of my windows. Maybe he thinks he is bullying or worrying us, he’s definitely a strange one. 

[Cake Monster]

6 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

Point a camera directly back at his ,, He sound like a paranoid character , most so called bullies are ,, Ignore him unless he gets aggressive ,, then crush him ,,

Sounds to me like the meeting of Two Paranoid personalities

[Stevemercer]

As people have noted, the legality seems to be a grey area. However, your neighbour will not respond to any attempts at mediation. There is not really anything you can do, especially if your construction will eventually block his view. If he repositions his cameras to intrude on your privacy, once you are living there, that will be a different matter.

 

We have a neighbour with a similar attitude. He filled his land nearly a metre above ours, and then pushed the fill against the concrete wall we had built (effectively turning it into a retaining wall). It was obvious it would cause problems once the rainy season came. It ws certainly not legal and my wife pursued a complaint with council against him. They tried to mediate, but he never responded to any requests.

 

In the meantime, the rainy season came and our concrete wall acted like a dam once the heavy rains came. Fortunately a 2 metre wall he had constructed along his perpendicular boundary (to us) collapsed before ours did and relieved the pressure.

 

After that, I went onto his property for an hour or so, every day, and dug out the fill on his property, along our wall, and put a drainage pipe at the end to direct the run-off onto the street. He didn't object, but didn't help either. That fixed that problem and he hasn't tried to move the fill again.

[Pouatchee]

4 hours ago, recom273 said:

There is a bit of a back story, the guy has done something to his plumbing, and he’s directing grey water from his house into the road infront,

 A page right out of my book. Fortunately for us our neighbor is very nice so far... a mother and her 3 daughters. You certainly picked the spot to build. Other option, hehehe point a 50 bht laser light at his camera. I tested it on my system and it works... not an urban legend.

[Pouatchee]

6 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Paranoid much...

Paranoid until you get robbed.  I got robbed 4 times before having my cctv and (knock on wood) not once since having them. I guess some of us just don't have any valuables to worry about save for a laptop, a mobile phone and a cheap led TV in a 1 1/2 condo...

[recom273]

1 hour ago, Pouatchee said:

 A page right out of my book. Fortunately for us our neighbor is very nice so far... a mother and her 3 daughters. You certainly picked the spot to build. Other option, hehehe point a 50 bht laser light at his camera. I tested it on my system and it works... not an urban legend.

When we came to look at the land, he had built a wall around his 1.5 Rai plot, grassed it over and planted some nice big trees. We never met him, there’s only two other houses in the dead end soi, one is a retired army guy, the other a teacher nearing retirement - everyone is great, people in the village are lovely, then this clown. 
 

If he doesn’t want to talk or whatever, that’s fine, but he will not stop interfering,  I have never come across anyone like him in Thailand before, his attitude is so un-Thai.
I don’t see him as a threat, I don’t think he is brave enough to do anything silly, just like the camera, it’s always small things, no one cares about being filmed - why point it at my builders? it would be beneficial to point it down the line of the wall to catch people climbing over, he has also demonstrates he monitors the feed - LOL!!!!  

[KhunLA]

Is it really a negative, as if something goes missing on your build, there may be a vid of it.

[Skipalongcassidy]

17 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

Paranoid until you get robbed.  I got robbed 4 times before having my cctv and (knock on wood) not once since having them. I guess some of us just don't have any valuables to worry about save for a laptop, a mobile phone and a cheap led TV in a 1 1/2 condo...

Then you agree that he is being paranoid... the camera is reducing his risk of being robbed and he thinks that the neighbor is spying on him... 5555

[KhunLA]

You may want to thank him and buy him a beer, for watching over your building supplies.

 

My builder wishes she had someone watching, as someone visited and walked off with any electrical wires laying around the site, 1 full roll, along with her 200m extension cord from the temp meter from the main road.   That cost her more than a few 1000 baht.

 

Probably the security guard she dismissed the week before ????

Edited February 28, 2023 by KhunLA

[Pouatchee]

7 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Then you agree that he is being paranoid... the camera is reducing his risk of being robbed and he thinks that the neighbor is spying on him... 5555

 I think he is having problems with an  obnoxious neighbor, and the neighbor is pushing his buttons. Would the Thai guy share the footage if the falang got robbed? hmmm me doesnt know but me money is on 'NOT'. Some people don't like being filmed or photographed... it is a one on one basis for this. I don't like being photographed and it has nothing to do with paranoia. I just don't like it but I don't get  upset over it. No one likes being called paranoid... hahaha I call it being prudent. But i get your point.