Help! My Motorcycle Got Stolen!

[berlinjeremy]

I am an American that has lived here in Bangkok for 3 years now and last week somebody stole my motorcycle from the front of my apartment building. I informed the police and they have done nothing. I am very upset about this and frustrated at the lack of help that I am getting. If there is anything you can do at all, any friends or anybody who can point me in the right direction please, please, please, I need your help! It was stolen on the 31st of October around 4am. It is a red and black CBR 150 2005/2006. I have a video surveillance tape to show who did it and it even shows the thief's license plate but the video isnt clear enough for me to read the license plate. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!

Edited November 6, 2010 by berlinjeremy

[morphious]

Hey where did the posts go?

[JohnnyFeelIt]

If you want anything to come of it, you'll need to get the video enhanced with printout of the frames showing a readable number plate. I guess then the police wouldn't have any choice buy to investigate.

[Portlandstone]

Wow if this happened to me I would be super pissed and nearly emotional about it or else fighting it back somehow. My apologies but I don't have any legal comments but would like to say, take it a day at a time, take steps that lead to your search for your bike but don't get pessimistic (like I might).

I lost a mobile phone (I actually left it on a counter at a Carrefour) and couldn't sleep all night and just about got into it with staff when they blew me off the next morning at the store, had to go through all kinds of hoops just to view the security footage to see if I could spot my phone. The fact is that Thailand is all laid back when things are going smoothly but when not, it can get super frustrating.

Man hope it goes well, hopefully others post some solid advice or experience.

[morphious]

Like i said before have you any insurance?

[surayu]

what about posting a good picture of the stolen bike, numberplate and maybe describe a particular sign like a scratch/mark on it, anything that can usefull to positively identify YOUR bike ? a reward might also stimulates more people to look into it, good luck

[kuffki]

Insurance is about the only help you will get. i believe it pays 80% of the value or something along those lines.

Sadly bikes get stolen every day all over Thailand and not much is done about it because either bikes are never checked or sold in parts.

I been robbed before and had CCTV footage but police did nothing, one of my friends was robbed and he has CCTV also and again they did nothing.

Possibly with some appreciation money you may get them to do something, but i am afraid it may cost you more then its worth

Sorry to hear your story.

[CarlBkk]

You've just got to keep at them. Keep going into the station, be polite but serious. Let them know you're not going to lie back and take it.

Just to make you feel an ounce better, it's not just the Thai police. In England:

I had £3000 of online fraud committed from an address in Holland. Could have easily tracked a parcel to the address and monitored who picked it up. Did the Dutch or English police care to reply to all the info I sent? Oh no. Online fraud. Not in their remit.

Car broken into twice. Not interested. Police report for insurance. Not important enough.

[Bakseedaa]

Wow if this happened to me I would be super pissed and nearly emotional about it or else fighting it back somehow. My apologies but I don't have any legal comments but would like to say, take it a day at a time, take steps that lead to your search for your bike but don't get pessimistic (like I might).

I lost a mobile phone (I actually left it on a counter at a Carrefour) and couldn't sleep all night and just about got into it with staff when they blew me off the next morning at the store, had to go through all kinds of hoops just to view the security footage to see if I could spot my phone. The fact is that Thailand is all laid back when things are going smoothly but when not, it can get super frustrating.

Man hope it goes well, hopefully others post some solid advice or experience.

There is a great saying here... Som Nam Naa..... if you don`t have things , they cannot get stolen... Amazing Thailand..

[elshaheen]

Maybe it was some kids. You didn't piss anyone off in your neigborhood recently?

What area of Bangkok was your bike taken in?

[robblok]

You've just got to keep at them. Keep going into the station, be polite but serious. Let them know you're not going to lie back and take it.

Just to make you feel an ounce better, it's not just the Thai police. In England:

I had £3000 of online fraud committed from an address in Holland. Could have easily tracked a parcel to the address and monitored who picked it up. Did the Dutch or English police care to reply to all the info I sent? Oh no. Online fraud. Not in their remit.

Car broken into twice. Not interested. Police report for insurance. Not important enough.

What kind of online fraud.. im curious if it was something you delivered but did not get paid for then it is a civil thing and you need to go to a debt collecting agency. If you had the real address it would have been quite easy. If you bought something and they never send anything then it was fraud and the police is never really good with that but they are changing their ways and getting better at it. Nowhere near as good as they should be.

[Thunderbird4ever]

Really sorry to hear your bike got stolen. Not much help or advise given here guys...

What you should do if something is stolen from you is always talk to the nearest motorbike taxis and tell them your story. Go over to them with a A4 printed photo of your bike they can put up where they sit and print the award you are ready to offer on that piece of paper also. They are the ones that knows best whats going on in any street or road in Bangkok. Police use their help and without them their job would be an impossible task in many case. These are the guys that often locate persons for police and where they stay. You should go over to them ASAP. The sooner the better. Also go over to them several times as no one works 24 hours.

These guys might have seen something iregular happening in your street that night. No one know what has been going on after it disapered out of the CCTV camera so go to some nearby locations and go through their CCTV cameras also. Take your police report with you and they will probably let you go through their tapes to check.There might have been loading of your bike on to a pickup or some work done to it to be able to drive it away. Most likely they would stop the vehichle they came with in your street somewhere and then checked out the situation by walking.

You could have good luck with this if you spend a day working around your block.

Good luck with your search.

PS! And for the future, get yourself a Xena disc brake lock with a moving sensor and a built in 120DB alarm. I use these ones and there is not much you can do to a bike to not set it off. Its small, easy to use and store.

Costs about 1500 B in Bangkok and offers super protection.

Xena 120 DB

Edited November 7, 2010 by Thunderbird4ever

[berlinjeremy]

Thanks a lot guys for showing interest in trying to help out!

I keep trying to upload the security camera video on here but when it gets to the 100% complete it says failed everytime! I tried 8x already.

Do you have any idea how I could get the video enhanced but not destroy the picture? I tried zooming in on the pic but it get s so fuzzy that you cant read the license plate.

No I dont have insurance.

Something to identity my bike is, right here the key hole is for popping the seat up where the storage is, the plastic is cracked across it, (I was in a small accident a while back).

The bike was taken in BangNa Ram2 where I live (near the new airport).

If somebody could get my bike back I would gladly pay them 5000 baht

[Truespirit]

Sorry to hear that your bike was nicked. It happened to me on Phuket, where I was told that theft insurance is not available for motorbikes in Thailand (I have never confirmed if this is fact). I offered the police a 10,000 baht reward to get it back, but nothing came of it. It most likely went to a "chop shop" for parts.

A friend of mine, however, had one stolen on Phuket and got it back. A few weeks after the theft he saw his bike being used as a taxi moto, so he followed the driver until he returned to the taxi stand. He then went to the local police, who reluctantly accompanied him to the stand and got him the bike back, but they did not arrest the driver. When my friend asked if they were going to do anything about the driver - as well as the fact that there appeared to be other stolen bikes operating from that particular taxi stand - the cops got angry and essentially told him that he should just be happy that he got his bike back and now piss off with it. This, of course, leads to theories about the role of the boys in tight brown with the whole scam.

[Kwasaki]

l would forget thinking about getting your bike back it is probably already broken down and in pieces.

Bangkok is a piss hole of a place and insurance is the best way as well as using a long chain to a post or railings.

What my son does in Bangkok is put it in his appartment entrance but it is alarmed and chained up as well.

I'll PM you about what my sons friend did in your situation.

[chuang]

Sorry to hear your bike being stolen..but you can kiss your bike goodbye.....

[Canada]

Wow if this happened to me I would be super pissed and nearly emotional about it or else fighting it back somehow. My apologies but I don't have any legal comments but would like to say, take it a day at a time, take steps that lead to your search for your bike but don't get pessimistic (like I might).

I lost a mobile phone (I actually left it on a counter at a Carrefour) and couldn't sleep all night and just about got into it with staff when they blew me off the next morning at the store, had to go through all kinds of hoops just to view the security footage to see if I could spot my phone. The fact is that Thailand is all laid back when things are going smoothly but when not, it can get super frustrating.

Man hope it goes well, hopefully others post some solid advice or experience.

There is a great saying here... Som Nam Naa..... if you don`t have things , they cannot get stolen... Amazing Thailand..

That's not a polite saying. It means basically "serves you right" , and is totally inappropriate in this circumstance. Unless you intend to be a prick.

[Canada]

Really sorry to hear your bike got stolen. Not much help or advise given here guys...

What you should do if something is stolen from you is always talk to the nearest motorbike taxis and tell them your story. Go over to them with a A4 printed photo of your bike they can put up where they sit and print the award you are ready to offer on that piece of paper also. They are the ones that knows best whats going on in any street or road in Bangkok. Police use their help and without them their job would be an impossible task in many case. These are the guys that often locate persons for police and where they stay. You should go over to them ASAP. The sooner the better. Also go over to them several times as no one works 24 hours.

These guys might have seen something iregular happening in your street that night. No one know what has been going on after it disapered out of the CCTV camera so go to some nearby locations and go through their CCTV cameras also. Take your police report with you and they will probably let you go through their tapes to check.There might have been loading of your bike on to a pickup or some work done to it to be able to drive it away. Most likely they would stop the vehichle they came with in your street somewhere and then checked out the situation by walking.

You could have good luck with this if you spend a day working around your block.

Good luck with your search.

PS! And for the future, get yourself a Xena disc brake lock with a moving sensor and a built in 120DB alarm. I use these ones and there is not much you can do to a bike to not set it off. Its small, easy to use and store.

Costs about 1500 B in Bangkok and offers super protection.

Xena 120 DB

Good advice on all counts esp. the taxi guys. You are right....they'll know........if they weren't involved

[morphious]

No insurance, forget it that bike will be in pieces being sold for parts

[Canada]

Would like to be nice about it...but nice doesn't remove the fact that as others have said, it's gone man......

"denial is the first step towards acceptance"

Take care

having said that.......I once had a guitar returned that was stolen from my house along with numerous other items. That was in Canada and I think very very fortunate.

[CarlBkk]

You've just got to keep at them. Keep going into the station, be polite but serious. Let them know you're not going to lie back and take it.

Just to make you feel an ounce better, it's not just the Thai police. In England:

I had £3000 of online fraud committed from an address in Holland. Could have easily tracked a parcel to the address and monitored who picked it up. Did the Dutch or English police care to reply to all the info I sent? Oh no. Online fraud. Not in their remit.

Car broken into twice. Not interested. Police report for insurance. Not important enough.

What kind of online fraud.. im curious if it was something you delivered but did not get paid for then it is a civil thing and you need to go to a debt collecting agency. If you had the real address it would have been quite easy. If you bought something and they never send anything then it was fraud and the police is never really good with that but they are changing their ways and getting better at it. Nowhere near as good as they should be.

It was an online order for jewellery using a stolen credit card. The payment went through my end, sent the goods to Holland, and then 10 days later the card company contacted me and recovered the money for the customer. I lost out. They tried to order again, could have sent a parcel (and police) to the address to nab them. But neither side interested.

[appropriate]

The police are not likely to help unless you pay them admin fees.

I remember the news story a year or two ago when a Thai man went to report his car as stolen and when he went to the police station it was sitting in the carpark. He waited with a video camera and videod a police officer getting in and driving it away.

Presumably you have contacted the insurance company and have the police report of it being stolen? Other than what you'll get off them, I'm sorry to say that you'll probably never see it again.

Cheer chaps.

Dominic.

[Thunderbird4ever]

I agree with most other here that if stolen in Bangkok you most likely will never see it again. But working a little around your block with the taxi guys and going through other CCTV tapes and you might find out who are the thieves. If you find out and you could legally make a claim towards them.

The award offered to the motorbike taxi guys is nothing else than to make them think a bit harder and to recall from their memory if they saw something that night. But you are running out of time...

Forget about uploading a video here. It will come nothing out of that. Use your time in the street you live.

[Thunderbird4ever]

"denial is the first step towards acceptance"

Good stuff!

Edited November 7, 2010 by Thunderbird4ever

[sunholidaysun1]

A friend of mine carries a steel chain and huge padlock for his bike when he goes out. He chains the wheels every time he leaves it parked , regardless of where it maybe parked. He said a few years ago he rented a bike from a shop , apparently was followed at a distance, then after he parked the bike and went shopping , came back to find the bike was gone. He was stung for the lost bike and had to pay or he wouldnt get his passport back that he left as a security deposit. He was green admittedly as he said there was no contract signed , he just paid the for the rent for the bike in advance. The shop was eventually nabbed for getting one of the staff with the duplicate keys to pinch the bike from foreigners who were to stupid to know better. Beware , there are con merchants everywhere .

How did they manage to take the bike away ? Spare set of keys maybe ? who did you buy the bike from ? I would start looking there first.

[appropriate]

But working a little around your block with the taxi guys and going through other CCTV tapes and you might find out who are the thieves. If you find out and you could legally make a claim towards them.

I would be very careful about making legal threats and claims against lowlife Thai criminals.

You're not in Kansis anymore Dorothy. Going out on a one man mission to track and hunt the local thiefs and bring them to justice is not going to be done without repurcusions.

Get what you can from the insurance. Leave it at that. For you're own health and safety.

Cheers chaps.

Dominic.

Edited November 8, 2010 by DomToggaf

[OxfordWill]

There is a great saying here... Som Nam Naa..... if you don`t have things , they cannot get stolen... Amazing Thailand..

Get lost you stupid little twit.

op-

Post pics of your bike, you never know, bangkok can be a small place sometimes. Can't hurt.

[appropriate]

Som Nam Naa.....

Yeah, having your bike stolen, it serves you right for owning it in the first place.

Dominic.

[CarlBkk]

Som Nam Naa.....

Yeah, having your bike stolen, it serves you right for owning it in the first place.

Dominic.

I don't think he really knew what he was saying. He was just trying to impress us other foreigners with some great new slang he just learnt...without really taking the time to know it's proper usage. He ended up looking like a complete blowhole. Look forward to his next excellent post.

[Thunderbird4ever]

But working a little around your block with the taxi guys and going through other CCTV tapes and you might find out who are the thieves. If you find out and you could legally make a claim towards them.

I would be very careful about making legal threats and claims against lowlife Thai criminals.

You're not in Kansis anymore Dorothy. Going out on a one man mission to track and hunt the local thiefs and bring them to justice is not going to be done without repurcusions.

Get what you can from the insurance. Leave it at that. For you're own health and safety.

Cheers chaps.

Dominic.

Nice world we would have if everybody stood up with this courage. That is some coward statement.

In cases like this, just go and do what you can. Dont be afraid and dont be a coward. Bangkok criminals is not really famous for slaughtering foreigners for any reason.

Any news in your search of the bike?