My house in Pakkret was broken into during the day on Tuesday, May 19 while I was at work. The burglars managed to escape detection of the house alarm by entering and exiting through the roof and dropping down through the ceiling. My entire house, 1st and 2nd floor was ransacked and the valuables taken out through the newly created hole in the roof.

Included with many other things, they made off with a couple notebook pc's and even managed to find my external back-up hard disk stored in another room. Every picture of my daughter from the night of her birth until now (9 years) are stored on one of the notebooks (which happens to be missing a keyboard which can not be purchased in Thailand) and backed up on the external drive. All the material things that the bastards took can be replaced over time but the thousands of pictures can never be.

I know that I will likely never get them back and the computers and hard disk will likely be reformated (erased) and the items sold off for quick cash but I still want to believe that there may be some way to get my pictures back.

Any ideas? I am literally sick over this. Of course the police were informed and reports taken but after living here for more than 3 years, I don't have much confidence they will be able to turn up with anything.

Very sorry to hear that.

Do you live in a moo baan? Or is it just a stand alone house?

like it matters now!

My wife put a sticker on the bottom of our pc with a mobile number offering a 15.000 baht reward with no questions asked for its return if stolen, who knows it might work, and like you we have all our memories on it, it will make them think twice about selling it for peanuts we hope ,. sorry to hear of your loss,

I own a house with alarm system, IR sensors, etc. and I rent it out. Unfortunately a burglary happened and my tenant's laptop was stolen 3 weeks back, the alarm system was activated but did not work. Why??? I asked my guy from the security company, he checked the base station and found out that none of the zones was under surveillance.... !!!

Apparently magnetic fields generated by thunderstorm CAN eliminate the programming and desactivate the alarm... keep this in mind and check your system regularly.

If you do get the drives back then don't assume all is lost if they have been reformatted. I recently had a problem with a computer shop who did some work on my laptop ... who didn't backup properly (yes I know i shoud not have trusted them!). Even after a new OS was loaded, using an online data recovery service (Virtual Lab by Binary Biz?) it was unbelievable the number of files that could be recovered (including pics) ... none of which showed up when using the normal file search mechanism.

If you can't afford a security system - A rotweiller (or any big dog) works just as well and makes a good companion too.

I have an English Bulldog, which although harmless most Thais are afraid of. He was not harmed during the burglary, instead he was fed the left-over pizza from the fridge. Thankfully he wasn't harmed.

Sorry that you got robbed. May I ask a bit more info, was it moo baan si chi tong on the cheang wattana side or the main entrance side?

SiChai Thong, Chaengwattana side.

First off, big condolonces to the OP, like you said mate hardware you can replace over time but the photos etc.......bad news! Do you have any online (facebook etc) or stuff you have sent to friends (check your sent items in your email)......sorry if this sounds really basic and like I'm being condescending........not meaning to I'm just trying to think of any way thing that might help.

Best of luck

Thanks, I do have some online but only a small fraction of the ones lost. Appreciate the suggestions.

Speak to the head honcho at the Police station that covers your area.

Money talks. Half now, half when he gets back your photos. You have to make it worth their while, otherwise they will do sod all

Done already. Unfortunately doesn't seem to have motivated them much.

[\quote] And talk to neighbors, motodrivers ( don't know how to call these ******) and "security" guards...tell them you offer money for anonymous return of at least the external backup drives. There is a chance they are not erased and sold yet.

Sorry for what happened and good luck!

Edit: spelling

Thanks for the advice. After checking around I found a contractor who was working on a Soi behind my house who said he saw a "skinny teenaged boy carrying a large bag on his back with the bottom of his t-shirt pulled up to cover his face and nose". He said he walked out from behind the row of houses where my house is (mostly overgrown trees and very high weeds back there) at around 1200 PM in the afternoon and was promptly picked up by a motorcycle taxi.