Theft Prevention

[nokia]

Folks,

Have you heard of any car/pickup theft recently?

Are there places in LOS in particular which are more prone to vehicle thefts like towns near the border ?

What do you think would be a top target for thieves, eg Fortuna?

Do you think a simple steering wheel lock is secure enough despite it take 15 secs to be picked by a pro locksmith?

Are the alarm immobilisers in new pickups really fool-proof?

Any other theft prevention advice to share or just leave everything to the insurance company?

[Bung]

You would like to think that the immobilisers on modern cars would do the trick but who know's what people can do nowadays. You do hear all kinds of stories about those being overridden but I think it must be hard.

I use a carry boy triple lock on the steering column as well, it's prety robust and would take a lot of work and damage to over ride that, it was a big enough mission to install the thing!

The best one I heard of was a lock that you install in your fuel line. You just tee off it and it sits under your seat inside. They can then start it but will only get a few k's down the road before it will stop and it is very hard to get around them. Once it just conks out like that they will just walk away and try elsewhere. I have never seen them in Thailand though.

I have heard that new pickups sometimes get stolen but I don't know any figures. Apparently black 4 door vigos are popular, just what I have!

[chanchao]

I think most steering wheel locks are useless, because the steering wheel itself can be cut so easily.. No matter how strong the steel of the lock, or how good the lock, any saw will cut through the steering wheel in seconds, thus kind of defeating the purpose of the lock..

In my vehicles I have the "Locktech" lock installed, this locks the gear and break pedals. (pedals being particularly strong steel, unlike the steering wheel which is designed to be soft in case heads smash into it. )

It installs completely out of sight, and is installed securely so you don't have a loose potential heavy steel projectile in the car with you at all times.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Gary A]

I agree. I saw a special on television where a car thief was showing his expertise. He laughed at the steering wheel lock and it took less than 30 seconds to cut through the steering wheel to get it off. A thief can steal any vehicle he chooses but pedal and gear shift locks slow him down a lot.

I think most steering wheel locks are useless, because the steering wheel itself can be cut so easily.. No matter how strong the steel of the lock, or how good the lock, any saw will cut through the steering wheel in seconds, thus kind of defeating the purpose of the lock..

In my vehicles I have the "Locktech" lock installed, this locks the gear and break pedals. It installs completely out of sight, and is installed securely so you don't have a loose potential steal projectile in the car with you at all times.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Emilio]

I had installed a secret switch, that cuts fuel right away! Eventhough you got keys, or the thief get in the car and tries to turn on the engine, it just wont start! You cant even get a few meters! Unless he finds that switch, then can start it! If you the engine on and you switch, it will automaticaly cut fuel on the spot! I think its cool!!!

I had this installed at MIRAGE, when I was doing my stereo system!

[xbusman]

Long long ago in my misbeggotten youth I was a repossessor for banks. No lock or alarm can keep a car from being stolen by a determined thief with the right tools.

The best deterrant we found was at least one or two cut out switches, put a switch inline to either the ignition or fuel injection pump and hide the switch. Two switches can be a right bugger, sometimes we could find one quickly, especially if it was an amatuer job.

[davethailand]

I've always done the hidden switch thing on my VW beetles.

[nokia]

Folks, thanks for sharing your "secrets"!

i will try asking about the pedal or fuel lock at the accessories shops in chiang mai.

[chanchao]

Visit PPS on the Hang Dong road. It's on the side going INTO town, between the Middle Ring and Airport Plaza intersection. Big sign, some cars with really wild stickering in front.

Good English, good service, good prices, CLEAN professional workplace area.

[paulfr]

I have a gear shift lock in plain sight. It is a big black thing with thick steel that locks the shift in reverse. I like to think that just the sight of it deters anyone who peers into the window with thoughts of car theft, amateur or pro.

My biggest concern is when I approach my car with keys ready. Anyone who hides in the garage ( which is often dark in our big service apt in the morning ) , especially if he has a weapon, can get a million baht in a few seconds. That is an awfully tempting target for the many who are so poor here in Thailand.

[indothai]

I'm digging up this old topic. What are your opinions on this subject? Electronic Alarm system? Mechanical locks? or trust the factory alarm immobilizer?

I live in Bangkok and was wondering if anyone knows about car theft here?.. rare or frequent?

The last car alarm I had was back in '95 Wisconsin, it was good for making lots of noise... didn't do a good job of keep theives away from my car. I had it broken into a few times.

Now, I'm assuming that the new cars with immobilizers should keep it from getting it stolen? I know that if someone wants to break into the car, they will.... I just don't want them to drive off with it.

Opinions, suggestions, greatly appreciated.

[JimsKnight]

The best (yet most expensive) mechanical immobiliser is the 'Disclock' These retail at over £100 and professional car thieves think twice on attacking them. The Disclock is a behemoth of a design, it fully encloses the wheel protecting it from people wanting to cut away the wheel. They take up space in the car and must weigh nearly five kilos! The lock mech is upright and next to the windscreen making even drilling it out nearly impossible. When they reviewed a bunch of immobilisers for a car magazine the pro-lock gurus sent to breach the cars immoblisers took one look and and summed it with 'This is a beast!' Its not infallable but the power tools needed to break it apart make so much racket and damage to the car its too risky for many thieves. Repo man excepted.

I've still got mine after nearly ten years and its still worth the same as when I bought it!

[Pattaya Dave]

I had installed a secret switch, that cuts fuel right away! Eventhough you got keys, or the thief get in the car and tries to turn on the engine, it just wont start! You cant even get a few meters! Unless he finds that switch, then can start it! If you the engine on and you switch, it will automaticaly cut fuel on the spot! I think its cool!!!

I had this installed at MIRAGE, when I was doing my stereo system!

Are you talking about an actual fuel cutoff switch which blocks the flow of fuel to the engine? If so, I'm sure that this would work well, but I was thinking along the line of a solenoid type electrical inline switch which cuts the electrical power to the electric fuel pump located in or around the fuel tank. No fuel pump, no fuel to the engine. The cutoff switch could be wired into the ignition circuit. It would be spring loaded in the closed position to shutoff the flow of fuel to the engine and electrically opened when the ignition switch (key) is turned to start the vehicle. I don't know if this type of cutoff is available on the market, but probably wouldn't be that hard to make by those with a strong electrical background. I've been flying helicopters most of my life, Blackhawks etc. and the helicopter systems are full of cutoff switches of this type.

Pattaya Dave

[patrickq]

I had a fuel pump cut-off switch fitted to a nifty Peugeot 205GTI I owned back in my ‘speedy’ days. Went on holiday for a couple of weeks once … Thailand funnily enough … and when I returned was bemused to find the battery flat, next day I reckoned some loose change had gone missing from the glovebox and then noticed someone had forced open the fuel cap cover. All very strange.

Turned out there was a gang of crafty tea-leaves nicking these models, from what I recall they would use the fuel cap to make a copy of the key, then return a day or so later and just get in and drive away. They must have been peeved when mine wouldn’t start, hence the flat battery. If I’d just fitted a battery switch they’d have figured it out quickly and bypassed it, this way they just reckoned it was something else, particularly as the fuel gauge wasn’t showing empty.

Pleased to say they were duly collared, along with several vehicles undergoing transformation about a month later.

I reckon it is one of the simplest and most effective ways to deter most opportunists, otherwise they’ll need to tow or ‘ramp’ your vehicle. It doesn’t have a visual deterrent, but I can’t be bothered with large mechanical devices to put on every time I leave the car. A simple flick of the discreetly hidden switch soon becomes second nature.

[JimsKnight]

Was offshore last month and some of the guys where talking about this real kee-neow guy, and I mean major kee-neow. This dude would refuse point blank to pay the parking charges at the skean dhu hotel (in Aberdeen) and would leave his car there while he was away. Anyway, to prevent them clamping his car (and probably towing it away he'd drop the suspension to the extent that it was sitting on axels! The chassis was flush with the tyres! His kee-neow ways paid off though, it never got clamped or towed away I imagine a typical car thief would probably give up as well. If you wanted to really go to town you could do a Mr Bean and remove the steering wheel too

[paulfr]

What I worry about is walking out of the elevator to the garage on level 3 of my condo at 6 am going to work and getting hit on the head by the thief. The auto door unlock switch will identify which car is mine and he can just ride out with a one million baht car. The security here at my apt is useless. They would have no idea about the car being stolen.

I have a loan so I have to have insurance. So I would get my money back if the thief did not kill me.

Seems awfully easy to steal a car that way. And 1 million baht is one heck of an incentive.