Securing Your Property

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hi there,

I am in the process of having a small, single storey 2 bedroom house built on approx 1.5 rai of land. The location is at the edge of a small village, located at the end of a dead-end soi. 3 sides of the land are paddy fields. The nearest house is about 100m away.

I have a wife and we are expecting our first baby in July. The planned move is for August.

I am wondering about security for the land / house. My experience of my 6 years in Thailand (live in Lampang in the north) has been 'break in / burglar' free (and pretty much crime free in general) and as such, I am in the mind set of not wishing to make the place like a prison with bars on the windows and a high perimeter wall with spot lights etc.

We have chatted to some locals and they have mentioned that there are some young people around who have been known to commit petty crimes to buy yabba, but they said it is not serious with no criminal gang terrorizing the village. One guy suggested getting a gun... he was serious and I couldn't explain to him that his option, albeit kindly received, would be the very last option on my list!

The wife has a different attitude to mine and her perspective is different to mine. She tends to see danger everywhere and is worried about safety. I don't want to be naive and leave my family open to a spate of potential break ins, but I would like to be sensible and not be totally paranoid with electric fences and barbed wire everywhere.

I am of the thought that I am better off trying to prevent "opportunistic break ins". If someone is totally intent on getting in to the house (if we are on holiday for example), then they are going to find a way. High walls seems pretty useless and prevent enjoying the scenic views. Bars on the windows? What are your experience of these? Spotlights? Dogs? There are many options and I would like to hear your thoughts. Should I be thinking in terms of safety in case of a break in whilst we are at the house (probably asleep) as opposed to keeping the property safe during absences such as weekends away / holidays?

Finally, budget is a big issue for this project.

I would really like to know two things - in your experience, are there a significant number of burglaries in the sticks / villages (obviously city life pretty different)? and what have you found to be effective security measures for you?

Thanks for your advice / suggestions

James

[stgrhe]

First line of protection could be a well trained dog, a dog (better two dogs) that is trained not to take food from strangers and that has a natural protective instinct, e.g. a Thai ridgeback.

[up-country_sinclair]

A couple of dogs will provide plenty of security.

[katabeachbum]

If propety is fenced, it takes more guts from the burglars to trespass since trespassing is more obvious. the least expensive fencing is wired mesh galvanised steel at approx 1600 baht for each 10 meters, 2 meters high.

[mjnaus]

Dogs are always a good option (it's easy to find protective dogs that are great with children as well, like a German Shepherd). We have a dog our selves (not much of a guard dog though) and a basic alarm system. The alarm system only costed about 3.500 baht and contains a loud siren, several door alarms and a motion detector; it's all wireless and can easily be extended with additional components (lights, extra sirens, motion detectors, etc).

We also have bars covering most windows (we're leaving in a big city, I don't think I would have put the bars when living in the country side).

[doggie888888]

"Should I be thinking in terms of safety in case of a break in whilst we are at the house (probably asleep) as opposed to keeping the property safe during absences such as weekends away / holidays?"

I approached my home security as above line of thought, same as the OP. I did not want to awake in the middle of the night to have a complete stranger standing in my bedroom, so I sacrificed a little on aesthetics and have security grills on all windows. You can get fairly "artistic" type grills or less obvious ones as you wish...either get an interior designer to do it all or else browse some magazines to see what you can live with. Personally I hate grills, but alas I want some minimum security. I also have a dog, who would bark if anyone came into garden and it has done so on some occassion (I then turn on spot lights in garden to see/scare off).

If I go away, I get my part time maid (tried and tested and trusted!) to live in. I also have a burglar alarm system that is monitored. Once, I was away when the alarm was triggerred, the maid had gone to market, so I told the alarm co to call police when they notified me about alarm at the house. AS it turned out, neighbours had a look-in when they heard alarm (they knew I was away) and scared off whoever triggered alarm. Police turned up 10-15mins later...so a potential break in averted.

So a combination of dog, alarm, grills, good neighbours, reliable house sitter, I think adds up to a sufficient deterrent for burglars in my case.

[katabeachbum]

"Should I be thinking in terms of safety in case of a break in whilst we are at the house (probably asleep) as opposed to keeping the property safe during absences such as weekends away / holidays?"

I approached my home security as above line of thought, same as the OP. I did not want to awake in the middle of the night to have a complete stranger standing in my bedroom, so I sacrificed a little on aesthetics and have security grills on all windows. You can get fairly "artistic" type grills or less obvious ones as you wish...either get an interior designer to do it all or else browse some magazines to see what you can live with. Personally I hate grills, but alas I want some minimum security. I also have a dog, who would bark if anyone came into garden and it has done so on some occassion (I then turn on spot lights in garden to see/scare off).

If I go away, I get my part time maid (tried and tested and trusted!) to live in. I also have a burglar alarm system that is monitored. Once, I was away when the alarm was triggerred, the maid had gone to market, so I told the alarm co to call police when they notified me about alarm at the house. AS it turned out, neighbours had a look-in when they heard alarm (they knew I was away) and scared off whoever triggered alarm. Police turned up 10-15mins later...so a potential break in averted.

So a combination of dog, alarm, grills, good neighbours, reliable house sitter, I think adds up to a sufficient deterrent for burglars in my case.

Sounds complicated

My Rottweiler alerts, and my Glock elliminates

and my neighborhoods knowledge of both keeps it safe when I m away

Edited May 20, 2010 by katabeachbum