I've had a burglar ... or only a trespasser?

[amykat]

Yesterday, I was out in my backyard watering plants. I noticed that my two deck chairs, were now sitting on top of some plants against my back wall, plants that have serious thorns in them. It seemed fairly obvious that someone had put the chairs there, to either look over the wall, or jump over the wall, without having to come in contact with the serious thorns in my bushes. It looked like they might have been there for a while, because the bushes are now smashed down to 1/3 of their previous size.

Until recently, there was a big jungle behind my house that I was told was government land, (and would never be sold of course). Last year, someone came and took down the jungle, and this year they have been building a big bunch of shop houses there. So, there are a lot of people living there, in camps, who are working on construction.

I am almost always at home. I also have numerous dogs. I am very curious about when/what/why this happened?

Could I have gone out, and someone was breaking into my house, and I came back, and they fled over the wall? Actually, I have very terrible security at my house, I leave windows open, although some have bars (only those that are hidden looking) and I haven't been lately locking my gate. I figure anyone can jump over my gate, so what is the point. Also I have many doors that are all glass, so I sometimes don't even lock them, considering it will just take a little smash, to open them even if locked.

Or did someone come here when I was asleep? I have dogs as I said, but they all sleep in the same room as I do. I never woke up to barking or anything, and I think they would do that.

Or was someone just trying to take a short-cut, like they were walking along my road, trying to get back to their camp, and decided, well there is no car here, the gate isn't locked, there are no dogs outside ( l lock my dogs in various places inside, because they bark and are annoying, so I want to control that when I am not here, not let them be crazy.)

Or were they checking out my house for later, to come back and steal things? Or they didn't find good enough things? I have plenty of things.

I'm just confused about what to think about this, or what actions to take, if any?

P.S. I meant to write BURGLAR in the title, but can't seem to edit that, sorry

Edited June 19, 2013 by amykat

[Jobo]

Tighten up security. Leave the dogs outside too.

Better not to end up like some older farangs who have gone to live out their next lives after apparently disturbing burglars.

[ARISTIDE]

Install a few security cameras with a good recorder. It's all worth it.

Edited June 19, 2013 by ARISTIDE

[DiamondKing]

GET GEESE

Nothing will get past them

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Maybe throw up a few signs with common languages on them. English, Thai, Burmese and Cambodian.

Would say something like

"No Trespassing --- Deadly Force is Authorized"

And have some scary looking cartoons

[elektrified]

Seriously, tighten up your security immediately.

[amykat]

Hey, elektrified,

I think I have figured out in the past, that we live in the same moo-baan. So what do you suggest is needed? I would hate to go crazy if this was just someone making a short-cut to their place. Or if they checked me out, and found me not worthy of theft, that is okay with me ...I try to make it look like that actually.

I am not too worried about having some theft occur, of course, but more worried about other, more serious events.

What about leaving my current big dog outside? Before now, I had a seriously HUGE dog, who mostly stayed outside, except for nights, he was with me. But he was the size of a cow. He died. Now I have a medium sized kind of aggressive dog, I got by accident, as a puppy, but he has always slept inside too. (Medium sized for farang dogs, not Thai dog.)

But I really wouldn't want someone to poison him, either because they want my stuff, they can have it, in that case, or because my dog becomes annoying, barking and jumping on my wall all the time, (as he likes to do) when I am not home.

I would rather just put my stuff outside for them to take, if I knew what they wanted!! I don't like this stress about the situation!

Edited June 19, 2013 by amykat

[maps424]

Install a few security cameras with a good recorder. It's all worth it.

Just out of curiosity - any idea how much these cost to buy + install ?

[justben]

Something may have accidentally been thrown into your property and someone had come in to retreive it possibly. As they were leaving they did not want to get spiked.. all possible.

However, I would suspect the worst and find a way to deter thieves. You love your dogs and treat them well but I think it's time to make proper use of at least some of the dogs, which is the reason humans domesticated them in the first place. A camera won't stop a thief and they may not even notice one. An alarm is extremely effective. Both is great. Depending on how extensive you want your security to be and how many cameras, the cost is extremely variable. Tens of thousands to one hundred thousand

[puuchai299]

No disrespect to you,but from what you have posted here,it sounds like you need to wake up sharp ish and get the place secured as much as possible.

[ARISTIDE]

I paid for the infrared camera 1900 each and a recorder around 15000 but could be less as it is for 16 cameras.

Install motion sensor with alarm system is expensive but work great!

Install a few security cameras with a good recorder. It's all worth it.

Just out of curiosity - any idea how much these cost to buy + install ?

Edited June 19, 2013 by ARISTIDE

[ARISTIDE]

Not in my area, the bad guys do take notice of your house like their own. They know when and who leave the house and who stay home. Besides Thai police won't do nothing unless there are pictures.

A camera won't stop a thief and they may not even notice one.

Edited June 19, 2013 by ARISTIDE

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun AmyKat,

Sorry to hear about this violation of your home !

One thing that puzzles me a little is the fact the deck-chairs were moved by someone; so, if they had access to the deck-chairs, why would they then, possibly, later need to climb-over your wall ? Perhaps they intended to steal the deck-chairs late at night ?

How to secure where you live here is a thorny problem. I had motion-detector halogen lights installed in four areas around the house I rent: if I was being burglarized, or home-invaded, the neighbors wouldn't get involved anyway; and the police: TIT. I think the same thing ... nothing ... would happen if I had an air-raid siren go-off. Yes, perhaps a "casual" thief would be deterred, but not somebody(ies) who are determined.

And, unless you have a deadly weapon, illegal for farangs to own, what are you going to do if you encounter a burglar with a gun ? Or, someone who is on yaa baa, and has "nothing left to lose." So, imagine you had a gun, and you shoot a burglar; guess who's going to be ruined, arrested, extorted from, killed in revenge, etc. ?

I suppose the best defense would be a large guard-dog, or to live in a highly secured moo-baan ?

What worries me most is criminals in uniforms.

~o:37;

[NancyL]

This is one good reason to have a maid and her gardener/driver husband living on your property. That way there's almost always someone around at all times.

[worgeordie]

I don't think the camera method is worth the expense,some of the footage you see

on them you could not recognize yourself!, and the thief only has to wear a mask

of some kind.

Better to keep the dog in the house at night,as if they really want to gain access,

they will just poison it. the most effective and cost wise would be to install security

lights,keep a machete next to the bed,grow Bougainvillea to form a hedge where

they are likely to try and gain access,leave a wireless blasting away when you go

out in daytime, I do all the above,plus have infra red alarms in various places,inside

the house, just click them on at night when I go to bed. all of the above is not expensive

its proactive defense against anyone trying to gain access to your home,BUT if they

really want to get in you have no defense really.

You just have to make it so it takes too long for them to get in, and they will go next

door or down the street, corner houses are the most vulnerable ,as they give more

ways of escape.

regards and stay safe, Worgeordie.

[ARISTIDE]

Like I said, the police prefer some kind of proof and better than nothing for them to work on!

I don't think the camera method is worth the expense,some of the footage you see

on them you could not recognize yourself!, and the thief only has to wear a mask

of some kind.

[amykat]

This is one good reason to have a maid and her gardener/driver husband living on your property. That way there's almost always someone around at all times.

Hi Nancy, Thanks for your post. Yes, I used to have this set-up for most of the years I have been in CM but lost my last live-in worker about 1.5 years ago. It is shockingly hard to find people who want to live-in these days, and actually I have been a LOT happier without any of them here!

And really, I am home a lot, and don't have any set schedule when I am gone, and mostly only leave for 2-4 hour periods during the day. I thought that was pretty safe. And my neighbors, are also two retired people who are home even more than I am ...I'm not sure if there is ever a time that someone isn't home there.

[VocalNeal]

Install a few security cameras with a good recorder. It's all worth it.

What so you can see images of hooded people leaving with the flat screen TV.

...So, there are a lot of people living there, in camps, who are working on construction....

...Or were they checking out my house for later, to come back and steal things? Or they didn't find good enough things? I have plenty of things....

Sadly a high proportion of burglaries happen when construction workers move into an area. They could have been scoping the place out. Preparing for another night? That being said the gate is not locked.

Had anyone in to do some gardening? Maybe they moved them?

​Generally speaking never leave anything outside that can be used as a tool by would be burglars. As you now know this includes deck chairs.

Is the garden dark at night? It is fairly easy to buy some automatic spot lights from Homepro and 450B each. They turn on when a person walks within range so now they are visible.

Maybe two of your older dogs could sleep together in the house and not in the bedroom? Lights on, dogs barking?

Edited June 20, 2013 by VocalNeal

[amykat]

Hello Orang37 and thanks for your post too!

I assumed at first, that the "visitors" just walked in through my front gate ...did whatever, and then left by the wall, where they used the chairs to aovid the full set of very thorny huge bushes I planted there, for this reason ...making it uncomfortable to jump my wall. But the bushes haven't reached their full potential yet, and are only (before smashing) about 3-4 feet tall. But I have managed to make them grow very thick and cover every inch, width wise.

But I had the chance to look over the wall, by standing on the same chair/bush, and realized that the ground on that side, is now pretty built up and anyone could easily just hop on up, then by standing on the wall, they can just jump over the bushes and land on the patio without harm. So maybe they came and left this way.

I wonder if they just came to look around? I have a wall of teak windows, that are almost like doors, but up a bit high, maybe they start about 3 feet off the ground from outside. They have the same style wood doors, but with screens on the inside (so there are two sets) and they are really a pain to close. You have to get a chair/ladder, to open all the locks, open the screens, then do it all over again for the window set, so basically, I have always left half of these open and unlocked. If you just cut the screen, you can walk right in here.

I guess I felt pretty secure with my now dead, huge dog, who did stay outside, when I wasn't home, and then I used to lock the gate so nobody could just open it and let any dogs go out ...not that my big boy would have left, but some of my other stupid little dogs might have.

So, I have gotten lazy/relaxed, never having any problems in this house for 6 years, nor hearing of any problems in my neighborhood. My last worker left, my safety dog died, the jungle behind is now gone and filled with people, etc.

I do have one sort of "safe thing" in my set up ...I think. I have two houses on my property, and my daughter and I, and all the dogs, sleep in this other house. We live during the day, in the main house, which is where I think someone would come if they broke in at night and they could find enough stuff over there to satisfy them, I hope! That is the house with the teak door-like windows, and the all glass doors too. My sleeping house, has bars, solid wood doors, 2 sets before they could find me, is more in the front, and is packed with 6 dogs spaced out in various rooms. (Thai workers used to stay in rooms in the "day" house, with a few dogs, but now there is nobody.)

So anyway, if someone had wanted, the day they were here, to get inside, they could have easily done that. That is why I wonder, if I came home while they were here, or they were not burglars, or they looked around, thought it wasn't good enough ...too many big things, not enough small things ( I keep smaller things locked in a safe bigger than their house probably), or what? Although I think they would have to come inside to really see if there were small things or not that are good to steal?

On the other hand, maybe this is a sign of things to come, due to all these new shop-houses, I think they are buiding at least 100 of them, and there will forever be, lots of people in and out of there. I have a lot of trees around the fence too, which will mostly block the view, and that back side of my house is almost covered in my own personal jungle to give me privacy and cool my house. I can't even see out of my windows hardly.

Does anyone have any opinions, on my safety, at night, in the set-up I described? I think it protects me from "accidentally" coming face-to-face with an intruder, if their only motive is theft? I certainly would never come out and try to confront anyone.

Thanks to everyone so far who has written me with ideas!!

Edited June 20, 2013 by amykat

[dighambara]

Tighten up security. Leave the dogs outside too.

Better not to end up like some older farangs who have gone to live out their next lives after apparently disturbing burglars.

Install a few security cameras with a good recorder. It's all worth it.

Hey, elektrified,

I think I have figured out in the past, that we live in the same moo-baan. So what do you suggest is needed? I would hate to go crazy if this was just someone making a short-cut to their place. Or if they checked me out, and found me not worthy of theft, that is okay with me ...I try to make it look like that actually.

I am not too worried about having some theft occur, of course, but more worried about other, more serious events.

What about leaving my current big dog outside? Before now, I had a seriously HUGE dog, who mostly stayed outside, except for nights, he was with me. But he was the size of a cow. He died. Now I have a medium sized kind of aggressive dog, I got by accident, as a puppy, but he has always slept inside too. (Medium sized for farang dogs, not Thai dog.)

But I really wouldn't want someone to poison him, either because they want my stuff, they can have it, in that case, or because my dog becomes annoying, barking and jumping on my wall all the time, (as he likes to do) when I am not home.

I would rather just put my stuff outside for them to take, if I knew what they wanted!! I don't like this stress about the situation!

All excellent suggestions.

If you think normal rouutine security is 'going crazy', then you are already there. Might I suggest you start giving your belongings away, as you obviously do not wish to keep them.

[roiethome]

I paid for the infrared camera 1900 each and a recorder around 15000 but could be less as it is for 16 cameras.

Install motion sensor with alarm system is expensive but work great!

Install a few security cameras with a good recorder. It's all worth it.

Just out of curiosity - any idea how much these cost to buy + install ?

See current offer from Groupon for internet CCTV with motion detection, good prices, I bought two for my place.

[roiethome]

Tighten up security. Leave the dogs outside too.

Better not to end up like some older farangs who have gone to live out their next lives after apparently disturbing burglars.

When I lived in a house in Srinakarin, I always left my to dogs outside at night. Would rather have the occasional false alarm barking than someone getting into my house

[jacko45k]

Someone has been over your wall having a look around.

I saw evidence of it at my place.......

I believe the PIR security lights scared him/them off.........

It is time to be taking security a little more seriously.

Although having your dogs or geese making a racket in the garden all day may not enamour you to your neighbours, I would think first about that.

At my old house there was a crazy lady going round taking silly little things from yards on the Moo ban...... like Aladdin's cave her place was when she got found out.

Edited June 21, 2013 by jacko45k

[mdotinc]

I just bought a wireless home alarm system for alittle under 10k baht. It covers all of my doors and windows (which are quite alot), and comes with motion sensors and remote keyfobs.....

I looked all over and couldnt find any alarms in thailand at a reasonable price.....10k for this wireless alarm is great...

i am very satisfied with it...if you want to buy one just PM me and ill send you the info on the place.

thanks

[Rosco911]

Install a few security cameras with a good recorder. It's all worth it.

Just out of curiosity - any idea how much these cost to buy + install ?

You can get the box for as little as 7000 THB plus camera's. Most are infra red now so good at night. Also if you have a smart phone you can veiw your camera's from anywhere if you have internet conection at home.

[mdotinc]

cameras are absolutely useless......robbers mostly where hoods...you will get them on cctv but they will still rob your house...

if you have an alarm it will deter them from entering if a siren goes off.

[jvs]

I consider myself really lucky,have lived in the same house for over eight years and we have never locked a door yet!

Topics like this do make me realize i will get a visit sooner or later,all around us land is being sold and houses are being build.

I will not get any kind of weapon,big chance they will wait till you go out anyways.Our house is very open and we can not lock anything on the ground floor.

I am not all worried about any of the neighbors,besides it is not easy to make a fast exit from here.

Makes me think about what i should do before it is too late.

[mdotinc]

when i got robbed i had the same thoughts...wanted to get a gun....20 cameras and an alarm!!!! Then reality struck and i realized my only viable options were cameras or an alarm...cameras are only good if you are looking at them while something is happening..if your not home or sleeping, they will still take your stuff....

I bought a wireless home alarm system and it took me about 5 minutes to install it...for 10,000b i can actually go to sleep now and not worry about someone breaking in...just a thought...

i got it from wirelessalarmsthailand[.com] without the [ ]

[HUAHIN62]

As someone said if they want to steal they will. I would recommend an alarm system with sensors inside and outside the house (under the overhang of the roof). At night you activate the outside sensors and deactivate the inside sensors. When you go out and you leave your dogs outside, you activate the inside sensors and deactivate the outside sensors. If you don't want to bypass(deactivate) sensors the whole time you can have a control panel for the inside and outside sensors seperately. You can also have a system linked up with a landline, that will call up to 3 people when the alarm is triggered. In most cases the thiefs will run away when the alarm is triggered. Good quality burglar bars and security gates would however be my starting point, with thorny hedges and a dummy CCTV in open sight.

[mdotinc]

when i was looking for an alarm I couldn't believe how high the prices were to get an alarm installed in thailand...i nearly had a heart attack!!

A wireless alarm is the most cost effective and practical. You can install it yourself and save a ton of money.

Edited June 21, 2013 by mdotinc