Hand Held Tazors

[AmeriThai]

The weapon being discussed here is not a taser, but rather a stun gun. A taser shoots a dart into the body of the assailant and then the electric charge is applied through a wire. A stun gun administers an electric charge by direct contact with the assailant. Think cattle prods.

You're correct that there's a difference between a taser and a stun gun. However, they both use an electrical discharge to stun and immobilize an assailant. For some reason though, it seems more people are using the word "taser" when referring to "stun guns".

T.A.S.E.R. is an acronym for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle and was developed in 1969 by Jack Cover, a NASA researcher. The darts of a taser are connected to the unit by wires and uses a propellant, usually a compressed gas canister to shoot out the darts.

The advantage of a taser is that it keeps you at a distance from the assailant. With the stun gun, you have to get close in and make physical contact with the assailant. The drawback to using a taser is that if you miss (you have to make sure your aim is correct), that could be a problem because you won't have a repeat shot. There are some expensive professional models that include a second "packet" to load for a second shot though. Many police forces are equipped with tasers, not stun guns, for the obvious reason.

Both stun guns and tasers have their advantages and disadvantages.

As for stun guns that are sold off the street, many, if not most, are so cheaply made that they can quickly fail to operate. That makes them worthless in my opinion. If a person feels they must by a stun gun, then for pete's sake get something that's high quality from reliable suppliers. But in my opinion, relying on a stun gun as a sole source of protective home security can be pretty risky, especially if an assailant has a metal bar, knife or a gun.

As I stated before, equipping your home and property with bright outdoor motion detector lights can certainly be one way to help discourage potential prowlers from entering.

[Nignoy]

Never mind Tasers, dogs, security systems, we used to have a crazy scots neighbour who had a bloodstained shirt on a post in his garden , with a notice in 3 languages ,to beware this was all that was left of the last person who tried to break into his property, and it worked just fine, no problem Nignoy

[t.s]

Get her some pepper spray to go with the gun, a double hit should render the intruder incapable for enought time to call for help.

PS What happens if you are being burgled and you call the Thai police do they turn up right away?

Pepper spray can be effective, but it too can have some drawbacks. If any wind is blowing at you that could be a problem. Also sometimes pepper spray doesn't bother some people very much. Also, you need to aim directly at the eyes and face. Not always easy to do when you have to react quickly.

pepper spray in the confines of an enclosed room will only result in a very angry blind assailant and a victim suffering the same fate. a cheap taser or stun gun could have the same effect on the assailant with worse consequences to the victim.

that said, a taser depends on a decent shot, a real stun gun under the pillow can be an effective weapon for someone who appears to be passive and can run like hel_l given the chance.

any weapon could be turned against you, so calculate the risks vs the benefits carefully.

[Eric1949]

I have 2 of these 'stun guns' bought in Thailand.

One is pretty useless, they both have torches build in, I accidently zapped myself whilst using the torch. It felt the same as household electric shock, not pleasent, but not crippling.

The larger one is capable of knocking out a Tokay lizard for about 10 seconds.

When I used to travel to the US a lot, I saw many 'stun guns' with the prongs much wider apart than the ones here in LOS, and therefore will be much more shocking. They are also far more expensive.

The noise of the sparking puts most stray dogs off of approaching too close, that's probably the only use for them.

Saiyan, where did you get yours from?

[klikster]

I have 2 of these 'stun guns' bought in Thailand.

One is pretty useless, they both have torches build in, I accidently zapped myself whilst using the torch. It felt the same as household electric shock, not pleasent, but not crippling.

The larger one is capable of knocking out a Tokay lizard for about 10 seconds.

When I used to travel to the US a lot, I saw many 'stun guns' with the prongs much wider apart than the ones here in LOS, and therefore will be much more shocking. They are also far more expensive.

The noise of the sparking puts most stray dogs off of approaching too close, that's probably the only use for them.

Saiyan, where did you get yours from?

Water blaster filled with ammonia .. aim at the eyes .. works great on dogs, not sure about burglars.

[coventry]

As I stated before, equipping your home and property with bright outdoor motion detector lights can certainly be one way to help discourage potential prowlers from entering.

I have PIR senor operated lights but it never stopped the burglars on both occasions. I now have a burglar alarm. On leaving for a break I left the code with a neighbour, in case of problems. The alarm activated for some unexplained reason one night. The neighbour never responded due to Thais being hits(anagram) scared of the dark and ghosts. The police never responded either, reason being that I wont pay the police 500 Baht, a month, they want for call out.

What I do now is I that have bare copper wires attached to plugs. I zig zag the wire around the inside of my house in various locations and plug them in prior to going away. The wire is placed about waist height and difficult to see. Costs are few Baht and much more effective than your average stun gun.

Never had to take these precautions back home, How can people say the Thais are lovely people ?

[Who, me ?]

Sayan

My whole staff is now staring at me, wondering why this stupid farang is laughing and crying so much at the same time.......

What a funny stuff

Love the Private Ryan thing.......

Cheers

[ade100]

I reckon the most effective form of deterrent (after dogs, locks and bars at the windows) is loud noises. We carry personal alarms on our key rings and have them in the home. Burglars and muggers know they are in a high risk situation and are themselves very scared. A loud noise is normally enough to deter them.

I remember the one time someone tried to mug me in Europe, he pulled a knife and asked for my wallet. I just shouted at the top of my voice and he ran away. No stun-gun, tazor or pepper spray required and no one got hurt.

[himachal]

Dear OP.

PLEASE don't get a gun.

If it's really burglars you're worried about, surely a lost TV is better than a body on the floor?

I'm sure you'd agree if - heaven forbid - it was your wife's body. Dead burglar's family revenge also worth considering, I reckon.

Perhaps your wife can have a friend stay over when you're not there. Might help allay fears.

All da best

Get the gun. The first time I got burgled the guy was walking around our bedroom. Only for the fact he knocked something over we'd never have heard him. We got done again a few weeks later but we were away. This time my 2 dogs were poisoned due to them needing time to remove the safe from my house. They took nothing else even though they had all night to do so. Burglars here always come tooled up. To use a stun gun you'd have to have physical contact which I'm sure he aint going to allow and you wouldn't want either. Also they're after small things like mobile phones, money or gold. TV's and the likes are no good to them.

Dear Coventry

very sorry to hear about your break-ins and loss of your dogs. However, would a gun have helped you? As you say, first time you were asleep and second time you weren't there.

TV, mobile, gold, whatever. If you're prepared to kill or die for it, get a gun, sure.

Sorry to be so frank, but that's what it may well come down to if you're unlucky enough to have uninvited guests again.

Take care - H.

[rick75]

With all the "accidents" that seem to happen to Farangs and all the stories of psycho Thai women, a gun is the last thing I would want in my house.

[lilBob]

Always wonder myself - unfortunately no one wants to be a test subject.

Only hearsay but I have heard a guy jokingly tazored his mate induced a heart attack which killed him.

best be careful

[clausewitz]

Sayan

My whole staff is now staring at me, wondering why this stupid farang is laughing and crying so much at the same time.......

What a funny stuff

Love the Private Ryan thing.......

Cheers

Hw long has this story been out for. Two years, three?

I get tired of reading it again and again. Does anyone know which country it originated in?

Anyway all kudos to the poster who cut and pasted it, what an effort.

[A_Traveller]

^ Not saying its the point of origin but I first came across it in South Africa a couple of years ago.

Regards

[coventry]

Dear OP.

PLEASE don't get a gun.

If it's really burglars you're worried about, surely a lost TV is better than a body on the floor?

I'm sure you'd agree if - heaven forbid - it was your wife's body. Dead burglar's family revenge also worth considering, I reckon.

Perhaps your wife can have a friend stay over when you're not there. Might help allay fears.

All da best

Get the gun. The first time I got burgled the guy was walking around our bedroom. Only for the fact he knocked something over we'd never have heard him. We got done again a few weeks later but we were away. This time my 2 dogs were poisoned due to them needing time to remove the safe from my house. They took nothing else even though they had all night to do so. Burglars here always come tooled up. To use a stun gun you'd have to have physical contact which I'm sure he aint going to allow and you wouldn't want either. Also they're after small things like mobile phones, money or gold. TV's and the likes are no good to them.

Dear Coventry

very sorry to hear about your break-ins and loss of your dogs. However, would a gun have helped you? As you say, first time you were asleep and second time you weren't there.

TV, mobile, gold, whatever. If you're prepared to kill or die for it, get a gun, sure.

Sorry to be so frank, but that's what it may well come down to if you're unlucky enough to have uninvited guests again.

Take care - H.

Yes is the answer regarding the gun. I make it know to all that we have one. Word gets around and that in itself is the deterant. Not only that. After having been burgled while one is asleep, just try having a good nights sleep after that ? A gun now ensures I do. I don't just speak for myself, in that a farang who got done at the same time I did, got a gun and also sleeps well at night. Edited May 15, 2008 by coventry

[Ulysses G.]

I remember the one time someone tried to mug me in Europe, he pulled a knife and asked for my wallet. I just shouted at the top of my voice and he ran away. No stun-gun, tazor or pepper spray required and no one got hurt.

You could easily have been stabbed. A 45 auto would "even" things out a bit in your favor.

Edited May 15, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[petedk]

I have 2 of these 'stun guns' bought in Thailand.

One is pretty useless, they both have torches build in, I accidently zapped myself whilst using the torch. It felt the same as household electric shock, not pleasent, but not crippling.

The larger one is capable of knocking out a Tokay lizard for about 10 seconds.

When I used to travel to the US a lot, I saw many 'stun guns' with the prongs much wider apart than the ones here in LOS, and therefore will be much more shocking. They are also far more expensive.

The noise of the sparking puts most stray dogs off of approaching too close, that's probably the only use for them.

Saiyan, where did you get yours from?

Water blaster filled with ammonia .. aim at the eyes .. works great on dogs, not sure about burglars.

Where does one buy ammonia from in Thailand. I've looked for some earlier but couldn't find any.

[AmeriThai]

I have 2 of these 'stun guns' bought in Thailand.

One is pretty useless, they both have torches build in, I accidently zapped myself whilst using the torch. It felt the same as household electric shock, not pleasent, but not crippling.

The larger one is capable of knocking out a Tokay lizard for about 10 seconds.

When I used to travel to the US a lot, I saw many 'stun guns' with the prongs much wider apart than the ones here in LOS, and therefore will be much more shocking. They are also far more expensive.

The noise of the sparking puts most stray dogs off of approaching too close, that's probably the only use for them.

Saiyan, where did you get yours from?

I agree. The stun guns in Thailand may produce a nice crackling noise to scare off stray soi dogs, but are too cheap in quality to depend on as reliable in a potential threat. A lot of the cheapo stun guns seem to be made in China. While the ones (though not all) in the US are often high quality and powerful, I personally wouldn't want to depend on them simply because you have to get too close to an assailant to use it. If an attacker has a club, knife, or a gun, a stun gun would be pretty useless.

[AmeriThai]

As I stated before, equipping your home and property with bright outdoor motion detector lights can certainly be one way to help discourage potential prowlers from entering.

I have PIR senor operated lights but it never stopped the burglars on both occasions. I now have a burglar alarm. On leaving for a break I left the code with a neighbour, in case of problems. The alarm activated for some unexplained reason one night. The neighbour never responded due to Thais being hits(anagram) scared of the dark and ghosts. The police never responded either, reason being that I wont pay the police 500 Baht, a month, they want for call out.

What I do now is I that have bare copper wires attached to plugs. I zig zag the wire around the inside of my house in various locations and plug them in prior to going away. The wire is placed about waist height and difficult to see. Costs are few Baht and much more effective than your average stun gun.

Never had to take these precautions back home, How can people say the Thais are lovely people ?

The copper wire sounds like a good idea. Neighbors might be afraid of the dark or ghosts, be I'd say they're probably more afraid of being afraid of getting themselves hurt. The whole point is that it's more important to take our own security into our own hands be doing what we can to avoid or discourage burglars from getting in at all. Better locks, stronger doors, bars and metal screens on windows. The security lights might not be the ultimate answer for a determined burglar, but it's one way to help.

I agree that it's a shame people have to resort to such measures of adding security, but not doing anything is just an open invitation for a break in. It's not like that just in Thailand. It's like that all over the planet.

[stumonster]

What I do now is I that have bare copper wires attached to plugs. I zig zag the wire around the inside of my house in various locations and plug them in prior to going away. The wire is placed about waist height and difficult to see.

if you have earth leakage protection in your house that is not likely to work - and you are also running a high risk of having an electrical fire starting , I would say your insurance policy would not cover you for that event.

[IMA_FARANG]

Well, I had a German friend who bought a Tazer in the airport in Frankfurt on one of his trips to Thailand. It seems there was this dog next door who insisted on running out and barking at my friend every time my friend came home, Never bit him, though. One day my friend decided to "just try out" the Tazer on the dog. Result: one dead dog.

It seems the Tazer was designed to knock a person down. It killed the dog.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Better off with a proper gun. In addition, you might consider installing an electric security fence. Wasp Security are the people to speak to: http://www.wasp-security.com/

Edited May 15, 2008 by ClaytonSeymour

[luumak]

yes, they poison the dogs. i know a few thais and one farang this happened to.

shotgun is a great idea - get the shells loaded with rocksalt

[Thaddeus]

yes, they poison the dogs. i know a few thais and one farang this happened to.

shotgun is a great idea - get the shells loaded with rocksalt

Agreed, it helps bring out the flavour when you cook them.

[coventry]

What I do now is I that have bare copper wires attached to plugs. I zig zag the wire around the inside of my house in various locations and plug them in prior to going away. The wire is placed about waist height and difficult to see.

if you have earth leakage protection in your house that is not likely to work - and you are also running a high risk of having an electrical fire starting , I would say your insurance policy would not cover you for that event.

I have circuit breakers in my house but the wire still works due to the wire not able to short circuit . As for an electrical fire starting, I doubt it. The wire doesn't get hot because it's not connected to a circuit as per a electric motor. It's just a bare extention of the wire from the wall socket.

Insurance policy ? Thanks for your concern.

[Thaiboxer]

Rock salt might be a problem if you have a very determined attacker. Best to go with buckshot; #1 is the best choice, followed by 0 and 00 or 000.

[zaza]

Saiyan,

MAN! what are you like

[mzqueenie]

I'm jealous, how can you buy tasors in Thailand? i would love to bring one back home to Australia, it would be hard to go past immigrations without notice at the airport and it's illegal here lol.

[kevc]

Thanks for all the comments I think after reading them I'll go for the pepper spray, guns are just too permanent I wouldn't want my wife regretting something for the rest of her life, we've got PIRs outside the house already and a burglar system is going in as well but the pepper spray she can carry around with her until she's in the house at the moment theres always someone follows her home to make sure she's ok.

We had a Bangeaw dog last time and as other people have said he got poisoned the week before, what saved us was that they didn't realise we also had a 10 inches high little black devil who chased them out the house, but still she sleeps with a machette next to the bed when I'm away so it's something to make her feel a bit more at ease to go along with the devil dog and our new Bangaew.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions,

[anon345535]

to the OP. the tazers you can buy from street vendors are utter <deleted>!!!! like someone else said 90000 will do nicely...