Laptops Stolen From Hotel By Security

[stickit69r]

Two laptops were stolen from my hotel while I was on a visa run. The security guard was the only one who knew we left. The manager "knows" it was him by the way he has been acting and other indicators. He was crying after being accused and has acted extremely nervous. The police saw it also but could not get a confession even though they believe it was him as well. The room was not broken into and was robbed by someone using a key. My questions are:

what else can i do? - i have made it known that there is a 15k baht reward but no info yet.

the owner will most likely not take responsibility as the manager has indicated.

are there any shops on koh samui that you know of that might buy these/ or any that sell used laptops?

Thanks for any input.

[scorecard]

Sorry, but I really wish people would make the realiztion that hotel rooms are about as safe as a sieve, anywhere in the world, 6 stars or zero stars.

In every hotel numerous people have access to standard keys or electronic keys, master keys, etc., and if they are determined it would be very easy to get copies of keys.

Plus there are numerous part-time / full time hotel staff members, so many that the hotel security cannot (even if they are fully awake) possibly monitor them all.

Plus there are numerous opportunites when maids go to their stockroom to get something, leave the guest room door fully open or park their trolley across the door

(useless) and another guest could quickly, if determined, grab something quickly and flee back to their own room, etc., and never be challenged as they leave the hotel.

And if your going to use the in-room safe always clean the buttons and put a tissue or something similar over your finger before you press the buttons on the safe.

Plus 'customer care ' / 'guest relations' in 99% of the worlds hotels is about as genuine as a rattle snake. It's an act to try to impress you, not much more.

Edited August 29, 2010 by scorecard

[scorecard]

Did you lose any important files without backup?

One of the easiest / quickest things to do is to send current important files to yourself immediately and every time you have completed some work, using yahoo or gmail or similar, then at least you can access them even if your laptop is lost, stolen, crashes, etc.

[mustafa]

What type of laptops are they? They may advertise them on the Tesco and Big C noticeboards. The same thing happened to a friend of mine staying longterm at a hotel near the Lake Chaweng intersection- he actually caught the security guard by going over 6 hours of security camera recordings, which showed the tapes go blank for a few minutes when the guard was shown reaching for the Off switch for the cameras' power.

[itishothere]

Some good advice scorecard, but sadly not much use to the OP right now I suspect.

The 'reward' is a sensible approach. Especially to the BiBs. They do like to be motivated. And maybe other hotel employees too? 2 months salary for grassing on someone you didn't like anyway goes a long way.

And maybe try the Tourist Police? I am not saying that will do much more, but Samui is a small place, they may have experience at the same hotel and have their own information which might help?

As for the second hand market, well I suspect whoever did this has plenty of relatives off the island who would like a new laptop. Who wants to buy a second hand one here? As scorecard says, they are pretty available. Much better to ship it off back to your home town.

One small consolation thought - if they didn't take the charger then they are going to have a little bit of bother getting the thing to work.

[smokie36]

[quote name='itishothere' timestamp='1283091162' post='3848171'

As for the second hand market, well I suspect whoever did this has plenty of relatives off the island who would like a new laptop. Who wants to buy a second hand one here? As scorecard says, they are pretty available. Much better to ship it off back to your home town.

One small consolation thought - if they didn't take the charger then they are going to have a little bit of bother getting the thing to work.

Thanks. You've inspired me to go out searching the second hand electric toothbrush stalls tomorrow. I still have the charger so it should be a breeze to find doncha think?

Certainly as much chance as the OP has of ever seeing his laptop again.....

[PoorSucker]

Did it have a Thai or western keyboard.

Strange that so many used telephone shops have telephones with no Thai text.

[SantiSuk]

If the laptops were secured in the bedroom safes then I think you need to get a whole lot more angry about this.

Keep pressing the hotel. There must be some local newspapers, tourist association and hotel operators group. Hand out leaflets to arriving guests. Hotels will pay up (one did for others like me when it happened in soi Bukaow Pattaya some time ago - I got my own loss back on a travel insurance policy I hardly ever thought about that came with my bank account.

If they were in the rooms then som nam na with sympathy. I have to do this sometimes, hiding my notebook - in places which are probably desperately naive - and taking steps to avoid advertising the fact I have a laptop around the hotel. I know it's my risk and I would not be raging away if it went tits up.

Edited August 30, 2010 by SantiSuk

[mattcodes]

Check the small local IT shops. Big C ground floor, the ones of the ring road, the one near the pai leam police station etc.. Cha

One of the easiest / quickest things to do is to send current important files to yourself immediately and every time you have completed some work, using yahoo or gmail or similar, then at least you can access them even if your laptop is lost, stolen, crashes, etc.

Easy/Quick?? Too much friction just use www.dropbox.com. And if using XP Pro or Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate right click on the directory and encrypt the directory, the encryption key is unlocked by your windows login.

[Thules]

OP, Sorry to hear of your loss. I empathize with you about how you are feeling following the theft, and more so, as you know the culprit, yet cannot prove anything under law. Double whammy of personal violation and ensuing frustration ! By using the local Thai grapevine it may possibly lead you to become aware of where laptops are fenced. I wish you good luck, and to post again advising if such local contacts prove useful.

For those who haven't had their laptops stolen yet, I would like to relay advice given by another poster in another thread.

Specifically, there's a free open source downloadable script called prey, which remotely takes and transmits pictures of the perps as soon as the stolen laptop is next activated. Haven't validated this, but you can check it out on something like preyproject.

Best wishes to OP. I seriously hope you catch the perp. I detest thieves regardless of their circumstances.

[stickit69r]

I feel really violated - especially that it was someone from the hotel - i was also told that there were cameras and security when checking in. The cameras are not up by the bungalows (was not told this) and obviously the security is corrupt. The owner doesn't want to help.

I feel like getting some thais to beat it out of him I thought offering a 15k baht reward might get them back but no luck so far

[sevenhills]

I feel really violated - especially that it was someone from the hotel - i was also told that there were cameras and security when checking in. The cameras are not up by the bungalows (was not told this) and obviously the security is corrupt. The owner doesn't want to help.

I feel like getting some thais to beat it out of him I thought offering a 15k baht reward might get them back but no luck so far

I would do as another poster has mentioned and stand out the front and hand out flyers (also hand one to all present guests). stating what has occurred (and as there is a 100% occupancy at the moment on Samui, as per the BS on Thai TV. lots of people to tell), then maybe the owner will also feel violated as you, and do something about it?

Worth a try as I'm sure he does not want to lose more customers because of this. Good luck.

[BasementCat]

I feel really violated - especially that it was someone from the hotel - i was also told that there were cameras and security when checking in. The cameras are not up by the bungalows (was not told this) and obviously the security is corrupt. The owner doesn't want to help.

I feel like getting some thais to beat it out of him I thought offering a 15k baht reward might get them back but no luck so far

I would do as another poster has mentioned and stand out the front and hand out flyers (also hand one to all present guests). stating what has occurred (and as there is a 100% occupancy at the moment on Samui, as per the BS on Thai TV. lots of people to tell), then maybe the owner will also feel violated as you, and do something about it?

That seems like one dangerous advice. After the owner feels so violated, OP can end up being beaten on a deserted beach by unknown Thai gangsters. Would he feel better staying in a hospital and writing complaints to local police? I doubt that. Be careful OP - it is sure sad to lose a laptop, but there are things much worse than that.

[sevenhills]

I feel really violated - especially that it was someone from the hotel - i was also told that there were cameras and security when checking in. The cameras are not up by the bungalows (was not told this) and obviously the security is corrupt. The owner doesn't want to help.

I feel like getting some thais to beat it out of him I thought offering a 15k baht reward might get them back but no luck so far

I would do as another poster has mentioned and stand out the front and hand out flyers (also hand one to all present guests). stating what has occurred (and as there is a 100% occupancy at the moment on Samui, as per the BS on Thai TV. lots of people to tell), then maybe the owner will also feel violated as you, and do something about it?

That seems like one dangerous advice. After the owner feels so violated, OP can end up being beaten on a deserted beach by unknown Thai gangsters. Would he feel better staying in a hospital and writing complaints to local police? I doubt that. Be careful OP - it is sure sad to lose a laptop, but there are things much worse than that.

Yep, we can all do nothing about it and they get away with it. I would not be staying at this establishment when doing so.

[kmj]

Yep, got to love dropbox for this, Laptop destroyed in a fire, bought new one reinstalled dropbox, retrieved full source code projects and back working within 24 hrs.