Personal & Home Safety

[Lobo4819]

In the 'safe deposit box' topic, some comments were made regarding keeping yourself and your valuables safe. Thought I'd post it as a more specific topic here, and welcome all input.

Personal and home safety is more an internalized set of habits than a single, "Tell me what to do and I'll do it" approach. There are many facets to it, luck being one, but you can minimize your chances of being a victim by developing personal habits. I'll mention a few here now, and others are welcome to keep this thread alive.

Safety and security is all about perimeter security - the perimeter around your person, your belongings, and where you live. One of the most traumatic experiences can be the home invasion robbery, or bad guys making their way into your residence. Worse yet that it happens while you are there. Do you rent? If so, have you changed the locks? How easy would it be to gain entry to your residence? How would you break in? If you have a "security guard, how much do you think it would take to convince them to go to the 7-11 for a short break? Do you have horizontally sliding windows? Have you tried just lifting them up and out from the outside? What about exterior lights on a photo-motion sensor? Are your exterior door hinges on the inside or outside?

The top targets for thieves are laptops, guns, cameras, jewelry, credit cards, passports and cash, because they all have immediate street value, are easy to carry, hard to track, and have a ready market.

If you are at home slumbering away, you want to have noise to advise you that a perimeter has been breached, and time to react. It is estimated that it takes AT LEAST 45 seconds for a sleeping person to react to a noise sufficient to wake them, shake off the slumber, and react to the situation. For noise, you can use motion sensor alarms, dogs, bottles under the window on the inside, and there are other creative methods.

Most crooks are cowards, unless their intent is to do you harm. So unless you are having fun with someone else's wife or girlfriend, children, or involved in gambling or drugs, chances are the bad guys just want your stuff and to get out quickly. If you are in the former categories, you have other problems to worry about. Make your bedroom a safe room, and keep your bedroom door locked while you sleep. Keep your keys, your phone, a flashlight, and any self-protective measures on the nightstand or next to your bed. If you have a dog, have them sleep in the room with you. Dogs are too easy to neutralize if left outside.

If you have a domestic worker, chances are they know exactly where everything is. They may be honest, but they probably talk about all the nice toys their clients have, and their friends and family may not be so honest. Same goes for maintenance and repair workers. This is a topic for another rant, as are a variety of others. This just scratches the surface and "opens doors" for more conversations and questions. The topic of personal and home safety can usually be covered in a two-day seminar, but each situation is still unique, so common sense and information is still your best defense.

Let's keep this thread alive and on topic. Unless no one cares.

[NancyL]

Ok, I'll keep it alive. The Thai laundry lady across the soi knows everything that goes down in this neighborhood. I think learning a bit of Thai and being nice to your neighbors is the best security you can have.

[elektrified]

If I had to live in the manner you described - like the bedroom - I would just go back and live in Los Angeles where that is the norm. When I lived in Spain I never even closed the door to my house at night. I feel safe here too.

[MangoAndCo]

It's a very useful topic. Feeling safe & being safe are 2 different things. I always felt safe in Thailand but I know enough people in CM who got robbed and physically attacked. The longer I live in CM the unsafer I feel, so I 've become more careful. When the maid & other people are at my place, I make sure money & valuables are out of sight.

[ikis]

trust no1, fox mulders password is the best advice in thailand.

[dave2]

elektrified.

re ... I feel safe here too

+1

dave2 : )

[naboo]

I feel sorry for the OP.

[Ulysses G.]

You feel sorry for him for being pragmatic?

[Lobo4819]

They say that experience is learning from your own mistakes, and wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others.

The OP (me) is not a tin-foil hat wearing, wide-eyed paranoid, but I have many years experience in loss control and risk management, and have lived in several other countries as well as other parts of Thailand. The responses seem to have been split between those with neither experience nor wisdom on the subject, and those who, as Ulysses stated, look at the issue more pragmatically.

Many of the posts on TV indicate that you cannot depend on the police for much, and even if they were extraordinarily effective, that would still be after-the-fact. My suggestions are for before-the-fact, preventive just like good health habits are designed to prevent catastrophic illness or injury to the extent possible.

I, too, have lived places where it was unnecessary to lock the door, but there is a concurrence of opinion in many circles that the world is changing quickly in a negative direction. Being a farang - who is presumed to be rich just by virtue of the fact that you could afford an airplane ticket to come here - makes you a target to some. I have assisted dozens upon dozens of people who have been victims of crimes against person or property, and over 90% of the episodes could have been prevented by adhering to some basic precautionary measures.

I don't wish to burst the bubble of those who see the world as a virtuous place and Thailand as a country only of sincere, smiling faces, but it is not always so. My post was not intended to offend the lifestyle or beliefs of anyone, but to give information to those who may choose to use it. Or not.

[Tokay]

I feel sorry for the OP.

Considering the amount of homes/buildings/apartments/condos across the county with security bars on their windows and/or with security guards outside, I'm afraid you are in the minority.

There is nothing crazy or unusual about protecting your castle. People have been doing it for 1000s of years.

With that said, those of you who don't protect your castle make for easier targets so maybe they will hit your house instead of the one that requires effort.

[TommyDee]

my car is unlocked right now. i will go to bed and leave the windows, no bars, open. yes we have a security guard, but i've been living this way for ages.. then again dont live in the city

[Atmos]

Ok, I'll keep it alive. The Thai laundry lady across the soi knows everything that goes down in this neighborhood. I think learning a bit of Thai and being nice to your neighbors is the best security you can have.

That's the idea; house we lease is owned by our neighbour, great couple, am happy to have her watching out for us.

Though I was surprised to be told she saw me chasing a dog up the street about 2am 2 Sundays ago, wearing just a towel (me, not the dog).

She politely told my partner I should really put clothes on.

Being in a no-exit street helps too, no through traffic and the walls have eyes as far as any strange vehicles are concerned.

Having said that - April last year we lived in a 'compound' situation of six villas and the owner's house, we were burgled on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Good door locks, but window popped from its frame.

[BB1955]

I think it all depends one where in Chiang Mai you live . For me I feel safe or I would not live where I live. If I lived inside the Moat or closer inside the city I would not feel quite as safe as I do . Most home intrudered do not want a confrontation they want your stuff and out as fast as possible . They will look at a house that will conceal there point of entry and exit . Most often will ring the door bell first to see if someone is home . So best to set your bell so it can not be heard from the outside of the house . Also leaving a radio playing loud enough so they hear it will also make them think someones home . What I use to do back in the US is leave the sound system on loud enough so it could be heard in the driveway my house was isolated so neighbors could not see it or hear the sounds. Another trick is to put a note on your door day sleeper do not disturb . having been a cop for many years and interviewing many home intruders this was the best advice short of a man eating dog growling at the door that wont eat anything but what its master feeds it . Truth of the matter is if they want in bad enough there coming in anyway . Not sure how it is here but in the US it was rare to have a home entered after 4 pm .

When we first moved here my Thai wife wanted everything chained down bolted in and hidden needless to say she is from BKK ... Oh then there was the baseball bat by the bed ...... Not .....

[scorecard]

You feel sorry for him for being pragmatic?

Agree, nothing wrong with being pragmatic / being alert / taking some precautions.

There was a child kidnapping in our extended family some years ago, the 6 year old has never been found. The terrible mental scars have not healed and never will. We now watch this with our youngsters very closely - precaution.

Edited August 12, 2011 by scorecard

[greytown]

If I had to live in the manner you described - like the bedroom - I would just go back and live in Los Angeles where that is the norm. When I lived in Spain I never even closed the door to my house at night. I feel safe here too.

Care to share what part of Spain you lived in?

[elektrified]

If I had to live in the manner you described - like the bedroom - I would just go back and live in Los Angeles where that is the norm. When I lived in Spain I never even closed the door to my house at night. I feel safe here too.

Care to share what part of Spain you lived in?

A small village about 25 km from Murcia.

[elektrified]

I think you are being paranoid Vibe. Your wife has the right idea. Thai neighbors are nosiest people in the world that I have encountered. Many are home all day long and know EVERYTHING about who comes and goes, who is sleeping with who, and on and on. And Thai dogs are fiercely protective of the home. Much more so than dogs in the West, at least from my personal experience.

Alarm systems are pretty much worthless here. A friend had one installed in his home in a very nice moobaan in Hang Dong. It was a very expensive unit. Since the alarm has been installed he has been broken into twice during the daytime. One time the thrives disabled the unit immediately upon entering. The other time the police arrived - 2 hours later...

[amexpat]

Moat? Guard towers? Land mines?

[Lobo4819]

The first step in evaluating your security/lack thereof is to conduct some type of assessment. Some of the responders here would not even go that far - they are convinced that there is no problem, and that is their prerogative.

Perimeter security is one aspect, and Vibe gives some good suggestions, however, they may not be available to all. I have always preached that common sense is the best security system. Things like not flashing a lot of money or expensive toys, being cautious about who has access to your house or apartment or hotel room, taking care in what you may put in the trash, having your new plasma tv visible from the street. A frequent red flag is if you have construction going on near your home - workmen coming and going and observing, delivery drivers, etc.

Several people have pointed out the issue of neighbors watching everything that goes on, but in reality they are not on alert 24/7, and chances are slim that they would intervene even if they saw something amiss. Given the culture, they may even look away.

One idea is to love your neighbor, but to be sure their house is more accessible than yours. Simple deterrents, whether they be dogs, lights, cameras (even dummy cameras) filter out a certain percentage of bad guys (and gals). As I mentioned before, unlocked doors and windows are open invitations for entry and are the portal of entry in over 90% of residential break-ins.

Even those who live a very modest lifestyle and feel they have little worth taking may be surprised. How much of a bad day would it be if your passport, ID, credit cards, camera, and laptop were taken simply by stuffing them all in your backpack while you were gone or in the shower? If you could take some simple, pragmatic steps to keep that from happening, would you?

Living in a place like Thailand, Chiang Mai in particular, is quite a treat, and it appears that crime is not at the top of the concern list by viewing the topics on TV. Places like the UK, US, Mexico, South America, and other parts of Europe and Asia are far worse. Many of us remember the days of unlocked home and car doors, but times change.

I enjoy the proclamations by some that infer that preparedness equates to being a fanatical paranoid or even some sort of militant, simply because when those folks become victims, they tend to scream for justice the loudest. A good friend of mine is an official with the Provincial Police, and at least from where he sits, crime on farangs is not something out of the ordinary.

Edited August 16, 2011 by Lobo4819

[Dante99]

Neighborhood Watch works.

[Lobo4819]

Neighborhood Watch works when it is an active thing, when there are phone lists, what to do, who to contact, etc. It will work with participation, but you can't just put up Neighborhood Watch signs and sit back.

[HappyInCM]

Are the safety deposit boxes at any of the banks here in CM big enough to store things like laptops and other small electronics in addition to cash watches etc. when one goes away on holiday or whatever?

I have some friends who only have the lowest end electronics although they could afford better just so they don't have to worry about having their things stolen. It's nice in that way, but it really is rather limiting.

[el jefe]

Are the safety deposit boxes at any of the banks here in CM big enough to store things like laptops and other small electronics in addition to cash watches etc. when one goes away on holiday or whatever?

I have some friends who only have the lowest end electronics although they could afford better just so they don't have to worry about having their things stolen. It's nice in that way, but it really is rather limiting.

I was burglarized once. They got a 2 year old desktop computer, a 3000 Baht TV, an 800 baht DVD player, and a bunch of cheap, useless, replaceable stuff. They left my two most valuable assets because they had no idea of the value. I purposely don't have many valuable possessions. I don't find it "limiting". I find it liberating.

btw, I've been using the name 3 years longer here (since 2005); decades longer elsewhere.

El Jefe #1

Edited August 16, 2011 by el jefe

[cloudhopper]

Also, we plan on building outside a moobahn, so I would say the watch would not work so well with no neighbours . My wife does not like the idea of not having neighbours, but I relish it!

I can't imagine ever living within shouting distance of the neighbors either Vibe. But I think Conan Doyle had the right idea about the nature of crime in the countryside so we did the double perimeter concept you referred to earlier. Bamboo works good as an attractive fence and bouganvilla is as impenetrable as it is beautiful.

edit - I forgot to add that if you feel comfortable with firearms in extremis it is quite possible that the mia luang can get one.

Edited August 17, 2011 by cloudhopper

[cloudhopper]

That oughta do it. The mia luang informs me that bouganvilla is known as dork mai fuang fah. Long thorns, flowers in many different colors and low maintenance too!

[Fishenough]

My 2 Satang worth; make it hard to enter the perimeter.

Most window bars are only secured with tiny little screws, rusty and ill fitting do to age, change those out with larger, tamper proof screws. We used robertson screws; now you know but you can't buy them here or get the bits for em. Is a bit of a nasty thing to do to the landlord of a rental house, but I hope the owner of our last house doesn't lose that one small bit I gave him.

With many window film shops in town, the larger of such carry heavier films with security ratings - try knocking out one such window some time and you'll be amazed at how hard it is.