Securing Your Laptop In Thailand

[GungaDin]

Got a better idea?

[paulfr]

Got a better idea?

Ummmmmmmmm ...... how about a safe.

Pay attention, please.

Already posted this a few days ago.

[torrenova]

OK, I lived in Jomtien for 3 1/2 years in View Talay 2 and never had a problem with thieves. I put an extra good lock on the door (mortace) and had a safe in the condo. Didn't have a laptop but had significant cash and a $1000+ PC. ots of other electrical stuff and some jewellery. Normal things for a couple living together.

Now you could buy a XYZ kg safe from Carrefour and the like but the overall security of the building is more important. Nowhere is perfect because the security cannot stop everything. The point is to be less of a target than other people.

Have you thought about an alarm on the condo ? Easy to install and what about colour CCTV ? Perhaps a small easy to remove safe in an easy to find place so they rob that and leave the main stuff behind.

At the end of the day I'd use reasonable security with insurance and intelligence. Choosing where to live is far more important.

[LaoPo]

Got a better idea?

This system combines a stainless steel cable, motion sensor technology, and a 95dB alarm to create a combination locking alarm system that easily attaches to your notebook or carrying case in any setting.

Post # 26

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LaoPo

[meadish_sweetball]

I feel more safe leaving my laptop at my condo in Chiangmai than in my condo in Copenhagen. These things can always get stolen if you are careless or simply unlucky. The real point is how you secure your data and how can you recover it with the least amount of stress.

I would not be so worried if I lived in a condo either, but my house in Chiang Mai (which is not inside a compound) was broken into last year, and my 80 000 baht laptop was the prime target of the theft. As somebody else said, the crucial lesson from that is that you need to back up your information. The loss of the physical laptop was a shame as well - it was a fantastic computer allround - but it could be replaced, which the information can not.

I would advice the OP to get a heavy safe to put his laptop in. Alternatively - when possible and convenient, to bring it with him instead of leaving it at home (obviously there are many situations where this won't work, but it sometimes does).

[NightOwl888]

OK, I lived in Jomtien for 3 1/2 years in View Talay 2 and never had a problem with thieves. I put an extra good lock on the door (mortace) and had a safe in the condo. Didn't have a laptop but had significant cash and a $1000+ PC. ots of other electrical stuff and some jewellery. Normal things for a couple living together.

Now you could buy a XYZ kg safe from Carrefour and the like but the overall security of the building is more important. Nowhere is perfect because the security cannot stop everything. The point is to be less of a target than other people.

Have you thought about an alarm on the condo ? Easy to install and what about colour CCTV ? Perhaps a small easy to remove safe in an easy to find place so they rob that and leave the main stuff behind.

At the end of the day I'd use reasonable security with insurance and intelligence. Choosing where to live is far more important.

Thanks for the info.

It isn't my intention to buy a place for now, just to rent. I intend to look for a place a few floors off of the ground level so window break-ins are (hopefully) not possible. I will definitely add an extra lock on the front door if the one it comes with isn't sufficient and replace the one it comes with.

Not sure if an alarm makes sense if I am renting, and same goes for CCTV. Hopefully I can find a rental that has one or both of these already.

By "choosing where to live", are you suggesting there are areas of Jomtien that are more prone to break-ins than others, or are you only suggesting I look for a building with reasonable measures of security already in place?

[NightOwl888]

Those Kensington cable lock sets are flimsy and useless IMO.

It takes only a few pounds of troque to rip it off the laptop I think.

Not much of a deterrent.

Right. This is more of a thing to keep honest people honest.

However, putting it in the safe EVERY time you leave the house is prone to human error, so I was thinking about always attaching the laptop to a solid desk or the wall or something when I am using it. That way if I ever forget I left it out of the safe it won't be totally unprotected.

[LaoPo]

I feel more safe leaving my laptop at my condo in Chiangmai than in my condo in Copenhagen. These things can always get stolen if you are careless or simply unlucky. The real point is how you secure your data and how can you recover it with the least amount of stress.

I would not be so worried if I lived in a condo either, but my house in Chiang Mai (which is not inside a compound) was broken into last year, and my 80 000 baht laptop was the prime target of the theft. As somebody else said, the crucial lesson from that is that you need to back up your information. The loss of the physical laptop was a shame as well - it was a fantastic computer allround - but it could be replaced, which the information can not.

I would advice the OP to get a heavy safe to put his laptop in. Alternatively - when possible and convenient, to bring it with him instead of leaving it at home (obviously there are many situations where this won't work, but it sometimes does).

We were burglared 2 years ago on Samui in a small compound with just 7 houses and only 2 occupied (1 manager and 1 occupied by us). My wife has a laptop and a Swedish friend of ours, staying at our place the same time said:

either hide it very high up or very low down.

We did.

They didn't find/see it.

LaoPo

[NightOwl888]

We were burglared 2 years ago on Samui in a small compound with just 7 houses and only 2 occupied (1 manager and 1 occupied by us). My wife has a laptop and a Swedish friend of ours, staying at our place the same time said:

either hide it very high up or very low down.

We did.

They didn't find/see it.

LaoPo

Ahh...security through obscurity. Maybe you were just lucky though. Keeping it locked up is still better.

[Crushdepth]

We were burglared 2 years ago on Samui in a small compound with just 7 houses and only 2 occupied (1 manager and 1 occupied by us). My wife has a laptop and a Swedish friend of ours, staying at our place the same time said:

either hide it very high up or very low down.

We did.

They didn't find/see it.

LaoPo

I've had a similar experience in the past. I was sharing a house with a few friends and someone broke in. I only owned one thing of value at the time, which I had shoved in a dark corner under my bed. My flatmates lost everything worth having, but in my room they just kind of kicked my stuff around a bit and then left :-)

[LaoPo]

We were burglared 2 years ago on Samui in a small compound with just 7 houses and only 2 occupied (1 manager and 1 occupied by us). My wife has a laptop and a Swedish friend of ours, staying at our place the same time said:

either hide it very high up or very low down.

We did.

They didn't find/see it.

LaoPo

Ahh...security through obscurity. Maybe you were just lucky though. Keeping it locked up is still better.

Agreed; but...there are valuables which you can't lock with a chain...diamonds ?

After the burglary the management delivered a large VERY heavy safe (took 3 men)

It's better if people would have the decency NOT to steal other's belongings...

LaoPo

[NightOwl888]

UPDATE:

I just ordered my new laptop. I went with the Lenovo T500 because it can be locked into a docking port that can be tethered to a desk or other secure object using a Kensington cable. This will also allow me to quickly unhook the laptop from my desk so it can be stowed in a safe as often as needed. I had to sacrifice some portability and features by going with this brand and pay a little more to get the added security. It probably will be worth the reletively minor expense compared to having it stolen, though. I made sure the power adapter and warranty will both be good in Thailand.

I also got a rather ordinary looking backpack without a computer brand name on it so I can carry it around without anyone having to know its contents. Unfortunately, the lack of hip belt and the fact I went with a heavier laptop will make traveling with it more of a challenge though.

FYI, I found another great post on Lonely Planet? concerning traveling around and staying in hotels with a laptop in Thailand, for which there was a shortage of replies on this thread.

[LaoPo]

UPDATE:

FYI, I found another great post on Lonely Planet? concerning traveling around and staying in hotels with a laptop in Thailand, for which there was a shortage of replies on this thread.

"Or leave it at the hotel reception for safe keeping. That's what I do anyway; I prefer to not leave it in my room." from your link.

I did so in a hotel in France some time ago when we went out for dinner. When we came back a few hours later, the desk help said "Oh Sir, we put it back in your room because it's safer there than behind our desk..."

Luckily it was there, but I mean, it depends, and this was a 4* hotel...(French though )

LaoPo

[NightOwl888]

UPDATE:

FYI, I found another great post on Lonely Planet? concerning traveling around and staying in hotels with a laptop in Thailand, for which there was a shortage of replies on this thread.

"Or leave it at the hotel reception for safe keeping. That's what I do anyway; I prefer to not leave it in my room." from your link.

I did so in a hotel in France some time ago when we went out for dinner. When we came back a few hours later, the desk help said "Oh Sir, we put it back in your room because it's safer there than behind our desk..."

Luckily it was there, but I mean, it depends, and this was a 4* hotel...(French though )

LaoPo

Well, true...and this was a question I had on my original post. Is it safer to leave it in your room or at reception? It seems to me if you bring your own lock and are able to lock your room from the outside, it would be safer in your room. However, if that is not an option it would seem that if the reception has a way to lock it behind a gate, a door, or in a lock box it would be a better choice. If neither of those options are available, it is time to look for a new hotel.

There was an exception to the rule of placing the lock on the outside of the room at a hotel I stayed at on Khao San road - it had a way to lock the room from the outside (and I did), however before I checked out of the hotel, I noticed that there was a window on the opposite side of the room that faced a hallway. The room had obviously been robbed before I got there, as the latch on the window was broken and no longer functional. It was pure luck nobody robbed me during my stay there by breaking in through the unlatched window.