My Little Boy Lost His Iphone

[justsignedin]

My 11 year old son lost his iphone 4s (white) in the vicinity of Pattaya Tropical Village (between Soi Siam and Soi Nernplubwan), he's heartbroken, not only is his mother furious with him, it's more than just the phone, all his photos, music and games were never backed up.

If anyone finds the phone, I will buy you a drink, several drinks.

Please pm me if you have any information, my little boys smile means the whole world to me.

[shaggy1969]

Maybe it would be a good idea to get some flyers printed in Thai/English with a description of the phone and a finders reward , hang them up in the area that you think your son lost his phone.Hope you find it

[justsignedin]

Maybe it would be a good idea to get some flyers printed in Thai/English with a description of the phone and a finders reward , hang them up in the area that you think your son lost his phone.Hope you find it

Thanks for the suggestion shaggy 1969, I will get a poster in the village shop window.

[guzzi850m2]

Honestly justsignedin what is your 11 year old boy doing with an iphone? One of the most expensive phones on the market.

Well it's none of my business.

I think iphones should be easy to track down via GPS? I never owned one but read about people found their iphones via the build in tracking system.

Good luck recovering your sons phone.

Edited April 9, 2013 by guzzi850m2

[BlackPuddingBertha]

Yes, the iPhone has a geo-locator app. http://ipod.about.com/od/usingios4/ht/Use-Find-My-Iphone-To-Locate-Lost-Or-Stolen-Iphone.htm

Some other non-Apple phones have similar procedures.

[Upnotover]

The find my iphone app will locate it only if it was enabled in settings, but if so works well.

[Beardog]

Honestly justsignedin what is your 11 year old boy doing with an iphone? One of the most expensive phones on the market.

Well it's none of my business.

I think iphones should be easy to track down via GPS? I never owned one but read about people found their iphones via the build in tracking system.

Good luck recovering your sons phone.

It can be tracked by the user if you have the app that is preprogramed to the phone & you can track your own phone . If you haven't installed & set up the app. No go.

[Upnotover]

The find my iphone app will locate it only if it was enabled in settings, but if so works well.

Not as good as I thought...it needs the phone to be switched on, not much use if its in a ditch with a flat battery.

[Gone]

If he finds it or ever gets a new one I suggest the following I posted in an other OP:

I have had a app on my iPhone for a long time (well 2 actually). The first is called "Find my iPhone" and it works from my computer (Mac) to give the coordinates of where my phone is if it gets lost or stolen.

The other is called "Gotchya" and it is a Cydia app that if someone steals my phone and tries to put in a wrong password the front camera automatically takes a snap-shot and sends their face picture strait to my computer with coordinates. Then I just show the police the persons picture and give them the coordinates when they tried to use a password.

But of $800.00 I never leave it anywhere anyways so it has NEVER been stolen.

[BlackPuddingBertha]

Not as good as I thought...it needs the phone to be switched on, not much use if its in a ditch with a flat battery.

If you attach one of these to the iPhone, you will have no trouble finding it in a ditch.

Better still, attach it to the iPhone and to the son.

Edited April 10, 2013 by BlackPuddingBertha

[justsignedin]

Thanks for everyones response so far, I'm offshore at the moment, so this is about the best effort i can make at the moment. Sent my wife an email to ask if he had any sort of tracking app enabled, but I very much doubt he did.

[easyride]

Honestly justsignedin what is your 11 year old boy doing with an iphone? One of the most expensive phones on the market.

Perhaps you'll backup next time.

[Dorkers]

Sorry to hear about the phone, I have a couple of sons myself and I know it can be tough trying to get them to look after their stuff.

Money and value is a concept. Kid's have to learn the concept. I have seen children put paper money down next to them and watch it blow away because they don't understand what it is for and how you 'have' to look after it.

My oldest son is 17 and in his early teens he went through about 3 phones, broken, lost, stolen. In the end he ended up going without a phone for about 3 years. Decided on his own that he didn't need it. I was offering him a phone for xmas, birthday - he just didn't want one.

If you do get him a replacement phone, my advice - don't waste your cash (unless you have it) on a top end phone, you can get one a lot cheaper with all the fruit, because chances are , he will lose it again at some stage.

[surangw]

call the phone and see if someone picks up. your plan after that.

[justsignedin]

Sorry to hear about the phone, I have a couple of sons myself and I know it can be tough trying to get them to look after their stuff.

Money and value is a concept. Kid's have to learn the concept. I have seen children put paper money down next to them and watch it blow away because they don't understand what it is for and how you 'have' to look after it.

My oldest son is 17 and in his early teens he went through about 3 phones, broken, lost, stolen. In the end he ended up going without a phone for about 3 years. Decided on his own that he didn't need it. I was offering him a phone for xmas, birthday - he just didn't want one.

If you do get him a replacement phone, my advice - don't waste your cash (unless you have it) on a top end phone, you can get one a lot cheaper with all the fruit, because chances are , he will lose it again at some stage.

I was reluctant to buy him an iphone, but he had his heart set on one so I crumbled and got it for his birthday. You are right about the concept of money, My kids seem to think it grows on trees, this is going to be an expensive life lesson for him and me, I will take your advice, if I replace the phone it certainly won't be an iphone or any top end phone.

[Potosi]

If his smile means much to you, buy him a new Iphone 5. Which he can sell again as soon as the Iphone 6 hits the market, and the circle of happiness continues.

[jombom]

Sorry for the loss, but why an 11 year old needs an I phone is close to bordering on insane behaviour. Please be careful.

[JohnC]

I'm confused, Tropical Village is on Soi Nong Hin is there a second one somewhere?

[Swiss1960]

Sorry to hear about the phone, I have a couple of sons myself and I know it can be tough trying to get them to look after their stuff.

Money and value is a concept. Kid's have to learn the concept. I have seen children put paper money down next to them and watch it blow away because they don't understand what it is for and how you 'have' to look after it.

My oldest son is 17 and in his early teens he went through about 3 phones, broken, lost, stolen. In the end he ended up going without a phone for about 3 years. Decided on his own that he didn't need it. I was offering him a phone for xmas, birthday - he just didn't want one.

If you do get him a replacement phone, my advice - don't waste your cash (unless you have it) on a top end phone, you can get one a lot cheaper with all the fruit, because chances are , he will lose it again at some stage.

I was reluctant to buy him an iphone, but he had his heart set on one so I crumbled and got it for his birthday. You are right about the concept of money, My kids seem to think it grows on trees, this is going to be an expensive life lesson for him and me, I will take your advice, if I replace the phone it certainly won't be an iphone or any top end phone.

If you give an iPhone / other Smartphone to an 11y old kid, it is your responsibility to install all the necessary apps needed (like remote cleaning, tracking, backup to cloud etc.), as the kid certainly can not know about these things... so the blame for loss of data is on your side too.

[Gone]

Sorry but many here seem to think that an 11 year old should not have an iPhone but you don't know this family. Maybe the young boy earned it by getting good grades or being a helpful lad etc.

[justsignedin]

I'm confused, Tropical Village is on Soi Nong Hin is there a second one somewhere?

This one is called "Pattaya Tropical Village", between Soi Siam Country Club and Soi Nerplubwan.

[Boater]

If he finds it or ever gets a new one I suggest the following I posted in an other OP:

I have had a app on my iPhone for a long time (well 2 actually). The first is called "Find my iPhone" and it works from my computer (Mac) to give the coordinates of where my phone is if it gets lost or stolen.

The other is called "Gotchya" and it is a Cydia app that if someone steals my phone and tries to put in a wrong password the front camera automatically takes a snap-shot and sends their face picture strait to my computer with coordinates. Then I just show the police the persons picture and give them the coordinates when they tried to use a password.

But of $800.00 I never leave it anywhere anyways so it has NEVER been stolen.

Can't find the app gotchya in apps ?

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[William Osborne]

.... good lesson on life for the youngster.... buy him another one when he is 15 and he might mind that one !

[fakename]

There are cheaper phones available, but then he wouldnt be number one in his class, and everyone would laugh at him. Its really a shame, that young kids cant be kids anymore, they have to be responsible for expensive electronics. How do you climb a tree, or play in a mud puddle, if you have to worry about your phone?

Sorry, not really directed at you, but its sad to see kids attached to a phone, even 4 year olds.

[NanLaew]

.... good lesson on life for the youngster.... buy him another one when he is 15 and he might mind that one !

Doubt it. The step-daughters got their smartphones when they turned 14 and 16 as birthday presents and/or being top of the class at school. Within 3 months one was 'broken' and the other was 'stolen' as they looked at me just before Christmas with sorrowful eyes.

Sod off... I'm not a bloody charity. Get a job and buy your own.

PS. The 'broken' one suddenly turned up at the house and I had a look at it... it was bricked. A few weeks later I looked at the micro SD card that I had recovered before binning it. I am not sure why a 16 year-old girl would have all that porn saved.

Edited April 12, 2013 by NanLaew

[justsignedin]

Every day I check my email hoping to see one from my wife titled "found the iphone", And I keep checking Thaivisa hoping to see a reply along the lines of " found your boys iphone". Alas, I don't think it's going to happen, but i really appreciate everyones input and helpful suggestions, it has also been a very interesting insight into the feelings and opinions held by most commenters on the use, misuse, and correct age to own expensive hight tec phones.

Personally, I do agree there is no need for a child to have an expensive telephone, but it's more than a telephone, it's a mini entertainment system, in the short time he had the phone it was probably good value for money, most toys are discarded after a day or two these days. I could have bought a much cheaper one, but it was his birthday present and he really had his heart set on the iphone. I wouldn't say he is a spoilt brat, most of the toys I buy him for birthdays and christmas are so insignificant I can't even remember what they were. I'm not best pleased about him losing it, being as I'm offshore I don't know the circumstances, and I'm loathe to judge from afar.

[wineman]

Sorry for the loss, but why an 11 year old needs an I phone is close to bordering on insane behaviour. Please be careful.

Well said.

[TheWalkingMan]

I don't think anyone should be surprised that an 11 year-old lost something regardless if was a house key, a backpack or an iphone.

[NanLaew]

I don't think anyone should be surprised that an 11 year-old lost something regardless if was a house key, a backpack or an iphone.

Agreed. Could be a lot worse. At least he hasn't lost his virginity.

[USNret]

Got my wife an iPad not long ago & spent a considerable amount of time setting it up. Privacy & notification services, location services, having her create an iCloud account which allows the use of FindMyiPhone and auto-backup of everything (photos, calendar, contacts, music, notes, etc.) Of course, we also set up a screen lock so others can't access her data.

I am amazed at how many people buy these "connected" devices then never go through the necessary actions to connect them. Living in a small community in Japan, I found that the vast majority of people (mostly Americans) never offloaded the photos from their phones to their computers; they had no idea how to do it. I was dumbfounded. So in other words, you take the photo once then relegate it to the dustbin. What's the point?

After that, I taught her how to modify the settings as desired. How to reset network settings, or restore the iPad to factory settings (this was useful once when it wouldn't connect to wifi & I wasn't around to help.)

With great power comes great responsibility. Learn to use the features of your very expensive toy.

One great thing about FindMyiPhone is, it can not only locate the device (if it's online), but it can lock the screen, make a loud sound (in case it's hiding under your sofa pillow), and display a message (Like: "Call me! Reward for return.") You can also remotely wipe the device, which of course you can restore later from iCloud cuz you set all that up in advance.

I agree with others that giving an 11-year-old an iPhone is ridiculous, but if you do, then at least teach them how to use it responsibly, including all the above set-up & maintenance.