Ever been robbed/burgled in Isaan?...

[Farma]

We've had a couple of attempts over the past 10 odd years. Daylight attempts in shophouses with staff downstairs. Both times they fled once staff heard the upstairs metal grilles being pried open.

The 2nd attempt was unusual. We believe a trained monkey was being used by the thief. The grille had been pried partly open by a jimmy bar with the monkey halfway inside when discovered. We don't have wild monkeys in our area. The monkey escaped.

We've also had 2 snatch and grabs from the shops plus another failed attempt by Cambodian visitors to distract staff while the other filled his pockets. They were later caught by police using CCTV after robbing a similar shop.

Most of the nighttime thefts from shops in our area are made by drug addicts lifting roof tiles and entering unoccupied shophouses through the roof.

[slipperylobster]

I must say so far it's not too bad. A matter of relaxing home security perhaps due to the relaxed atmosphere of village life would we say? I'm in the process of getting our house built, bars on windows is ugly but something I will be investing in.

Somebody bothered to put bars on the windows of our rented house. The only problem was that they were installed using half inch scews on the wood frames. I would drill all the way through the concrete and use 6 inch bolts with washers and wing nuts on the inside. (For emergency exits). Anyways, an alarm system, outside the house, is a good idea. It would be nice for a warning before they entered.

[jamles]

Khorat 1972, I was a US Army MP walking down a dirt road one morning to catch the bus back to work at Camp Friendship. Two Thai men jump out of a pick up and put a pistol in my face and demand my wallet. I gave it to them. They hopped back in the truck and sped off. Despite what you hear, I think things haven't really changed that much.

[diggledunc]

Well until this year there didn't seem to be a problem. Mobile Content you may be interested to note. There is now a gang of 13 year old boys going round Amphoe Song Dao breaking into homes both farang and Thai. They got into a pharmacy but were on CCTV. Seems police got them but there are others in the gang. Locals say it is to fund yaba. The need for money for drugs seems to have exacerbated the break ins.

Perhaps Thailand just catching up with UK and as Thais become more affluent more to steal apart from the obvious image so many have of farang.

Times they are/seem to be changing. Perhaps the youth see what they want but the parents can't fund there lifestyle. Perhaps there is now such a gender gap the parents don't understand their children. Twenty years ago did the people have mobiles, iphone, notebook and the standard of education they had means the parents just don't understand what their children want or are up to and how.

[krisb]

We've had a couple of attempts over the past 10 odd years. Daylight attempts in shophouses with staff downstairs. Both times they fled once staff heard the upstairs metal grilles being pried open.

 

The 2nd attempt was unusual. We believe a trained monkey was being used by the thief. The grille had been pried partly open by a jimmy bar with the monkey halfway inside when discovered. We don't have wild monkeys in our area. The monkey escaped.

 

We've also had 2 snatch and grabs from the shops plus another failed attempt by Cambodian visitors to distract staff while the other filled his pockets. They were later caught by police using CCTV after robbing a similar shop.

 

Most of the nighttime thefts from shops in our area are made by drug addicts lifting roof tiles and entering unoccupied shophouses through the roof.

 

A trained monkey? You have got to be joking!

[Farma]

A trained monkey? You have got to be joking!

No jokes. Definately a monkey seen by 2 staff and the only logical thing we could come up with. It happened about 5 years ago and i think i posted about it at the time. They train monkeys to collect coconuts so training them to rob houses wouldn't be much different.

As for your concerns about being robbed I don't think you have too much to worry about as long as you lock your house up whenever you go out and don't flash your wealth. They do have roving gangs that steal from village houses but they're few and far between.

[SSSlongtime]

never been robed ,have a guard dog ,only problem the dog is black ,told he would be very tasty ,now worried about the dog

[transam]

We've had a couple of attempts over the past 10 odd years. Daylight attempts in shophouses with staff downstairs. Both times they fled once staff heard the upstairs metal grilles being pried open.

The 2nd attempt was unusual. We believe a trained monkey was being used by the thief. The grille had been pried partly open by a jimmy bar with the monkey halfway inside when discovered. We don't have wild monkeys in our area. The monkey escaped.

We've also had 2 snatch and grabs from the shops plus another failed attempt by Cambodian visitors to distract staff while the other filled his pockets. They were later caught by police using CCTV after robbing a similar shop.

Most of the nighttime thefts from shops in our area are made by drug addicts lifting roof tiles and entering unoccupied shophouses through the roof.

A trained monkey? You have got to be joking!

Don't be so sure.................................................

[Totster]

Went in together to buy a car with a schoolteacher in Buriram. The agreement was: "I make the down payment, she makes the monthly payment and the car is 50/50." When the relationship didn't work out and I moved back to Bangkok, she says, "I don't want to talk to you!"

That wasn't robbery.. that was stupidity..

totster

[mike123ca]

Well until this year there didn't seem to be a problem. Mobile Content you may be interested to note. There is now a gang of 13 year old boys going round Amphoe Song Dao breaking into homes both farang and Thai. They got into a pharmacy but were on CCTV. Seems police got them but there are others in the gang. Locals say it is to fund yaba. The need for money for drugs seems to have exacerbated the break ins.

Perhaps Thailand just catching up with UK and as Thais become more affluent more to steal apart from the obvious image so many have of farang.

Times they are/seem to be changing. Perhaps the youth see what they want but the parents can't fund there lifestyle. Perhaps there is now such a gender gap the parents don't understand their children. Twenty years ago did the people have mobiles, iphone, notebook and the standard of education they had means the parents just don't understand what their children want or are up to and how.

A gender gap?

[krisb]

I've been looking at putting a fence around our house, I call them falang fences. You know the big ornate wrought iron things with spears on the top. Then I looked at the cost. Wow! Very expensive especially if you want stainless steel. Then the regular repainting from the humid weather rusting it. So my bil who is a good builder said he can build a good fence from concrete and wood slats for 150,000baht, painting it will be extra. Still not really cheap. Anyhow I'm still toying with the idea, those that got burgled, did you have a fence up and nice gate? If yes what type of fence do you have? Would I better off just doing a 4 foot barbed wire fence or go for the big 150k fence? Or even don't bother with a fence at all? Starting to think invest in securing the house is a better investment rather than securing the land with fencing.

Any thoughts?

[diggledunc]

I've been looking at putting a fence around our house, I call them falang fences. You know the big ornate wrought iron things with spears on the top. Then I looked at the cost. Wow! Very expensive especially if you want stainless steel. Then the regular repainting from the humid weather rusting it. So my bil who is a good builder said he can build a good fence from concrete and wood slats for 150,000baht, painting it will be extra. Still not really cheap. Anyhow I'm still toying with the idea, those that got burgled, did you have a fence up and nice gate? If yes what type of fence do you have? Would I better off just doing a 4 foot barbed wire fence or go for the big 150k fence? Or even don't bother with a fence at all? Starting to think invest in securing the house is a better investment rather than securing the land with fencing.

Any thoughts?

I'd go for the house. They can get over or through any fence you wish to put up whatever it is made of.

[happylarry]

I had a big house on a mountain in Samui, I also have two big German Shepherds....never had a problem, but after I moved away the new owner was burgled four times in three months. I still have the dogs and still dont have problems.

Someone is bound to say that dogs get poisoned and I dont doubt that but that sort of thing is few and far between.

HL

[PEP]

In our unamed Village in Ubonratchatani Province there has never been any break-ins or robberies during the last 12 years that I have lived here. The local lads are the typical unemployed "Hammock Bashers" with an excessive taste for LoCal and possibly some of the easy to get Yaba and Smokies. They must have some code of respect for the local inhabitants or perhaps they could be easily identified or informed on? No crime from them.

There are two of us Farangs living in the village and so far so sign of trouble. Strangers to the village are easily identified, particularly by the local dogs and are thus discouraged from any secretive activities.

My house has no security measures at all and at night time all windows, albeit with simple Mossie Screens, are left open. No dog, no fancy fence, no CCTV, No bars on doors nor windows. Yes! We do lock-up with simple locks when we go to town or visiting.

A "Fools Paradise?" Maybe.

[ongchart]

In our unamed Village in Ubonratchatani Province there has never been any break-ins or robberies during the last 12 years that I have lived here. The local lads are the typical unemployed "Hammock Bashers" with an excessive taste for LoCal and possibly some of the easy to get Yaba and Smokies. They must have some code of respect for the local inhabitants or perhaps they could be easily identified or informed on? No crime from them.

There are two of us Farangs living in the village and so far so sign of trouble. Strangers to the village are easily identified, particularly by the local dogs and are thus discouraged from any secretive activities.

My house has no security measures at all and at night time all windows, albeit with simple Mossie Screens, are left open. No dog, no fancy fence, no CCTV, No bars on doors nor windows. Yes! We do lock-up with simple locks when we go to town or visiting.

A "Fools Paradise?" Maybe.

Same here in Nakhon Phanom. I've been told this is yaba paradise and my family knows quite a few of the users. These guys go around asking for money when they are desperate. Maybe a few of them were responsible for some of the petty crimes that happened in the past year. But nothing srious has happened. We have four local dogs that bark at strangers walking past the front of our property. We have no fences, no grills, and the new house we built next to the typical Isaan house on stilts are never locked during the day. However, FIL insists on sleeping in the sitting room whenever we are away on business in Bangkok, as the house has a fully equiped home office. Once he fell off the sofa and had a black cheek for 2 weeks! Poor guy.

[AjarnNorth]

Had a guitar and an amp (piece of garbage) and a cheap digital effects processor stolen from my place 10k outside Surin. The guitar they took was a 200 dollar Ibanez, and they left a 1960s Gibson ES125 (oops). Found it all at the nearest pawn shop a few days later. Police got involved and I had to buy my stuff back because the kid who pawned it had given ID so the pawn shop had apparently followed protocol. Wasn't much but still not nice to have to buy your stolen property back. Oh well... kids will be kids. Could have happened anywhere.

[krisb]

Talking electric fences as mentioned by a fellow poster, are they hooked up to a battery as I assume? Please don't tell me you've hooked it directly to mains power!

[transam]

Talking electric fences as mentioned by a fellow poster, are they hooked up to a battery as I assume? Please don't tell me you've hooked it directly to mains power!

A hi-so near me has, with big signs saying ''achtung'' with skull and cross bones..............

[krisb]

So far guys it's quite reassuring reading these posts. Its what I expected I think, some posts are a little disturbing and some a little bizzare even. By far nothing like the horror stories of Pattaya for example. Yes I know you can't compare busy Pattaya to Isaan, but Isaan is much bigger area with a much bigger population, so these stories so far are very reassuring to me.

By the way, I finally got to visit for a week the lovely city of Khon kaen about 2 weeks ago. Wow! The nicest, cleanest and most beautiful city I've seen in Thailand by far! I've been to the bus station several times but that's it. So glad I got to look around this time. Its truly a little gem. Finally I've found a city in Thailand I'd be proud to call home!

[transam]

So far guys it's quite reassuring reading these posts. Its what I expected I think, some posts are a little disturbing and some a little bizzare even. By far nothing like the horror stories of Pattaya for example. Yes I know you can't compare busy Pattaya to Isaan, but Isaan is much bigger area with a much bigger population, so these stories so far are very reassuring to me.

By the way, I finally got to visit for a week the lovely city of Khon kaen about 2 weeks ago. Wow! The nicest, cleanest and most beautiful city I've seen in Thailand by far! I've been to the bus station several times but that's it. So glad I got to look around this time. Its truly a little gem. Finally I've found a city in Thailand I'd be proud to call home!

Have you been to Ubon yet.

[krisb]

So far guys it's quite reassuring reading these posts. Its what I expected I think, some posts are a little disturbing and some a little bizzare even. By far nothing like the horror stories of Pattaya for example. Yes I know you can't compare busy Pattaya to Isaan, but Isaan is much bigger area with a much bigger population, so these stories so far are very reassuring to me.

By the way, I finally got to visit for a week the lovely city of Khon kaen about 2 weeks ago. Wow! The nicest, cleanest and most beautiful city I've seen in Thailand by far! I've been to the bus station several times but that's it. So glad I got to look around this time. Its truly a little gem. Finally I've found a city in Thailand I'd be proud to call home!

 

Have you been to Ubon yet.

Actually not yet Transam, when I do I'm gonna drop round and say gday ok mate:D I'm not that far from you really, we're in Chumphae. Almost neighbours.

[transam]

So far guys it's quite reassuring reading these posts. Its what I expected I think, some posts are a little disturbing and some a little bizzare even. By far nothing like the horror stories of Pattaya for example. Yes I know you can't compare busy Pattaya to Isaan, but Isaan is much bigger area with a much bigger population, so these stories so far are very reassuring to me.

By the way, I finally got to visit for a week the lovely city of Khon kaen about 2 weeks ago. Wow! The nicest, cleanest and most beautiful city I've seen in Thailand by far! I've been to the bus station several times but that's it. So glad I got to look around this time. Its truly a little gem. Finally I've found a city in Thailand I'd be proud to call home!

Have you been to Ubon yet.

Actually not yet Transam, when I do I'm gonna drop round and say gday ok mate:D I'm not that far from you really, we're in Chumphae. Almost neighbours.

I look forward to it.

[rotary]

YES. About 15 years ago we were gone from home and they stole half the house in Khon Kaen. Stole my clothes, VDO machine, satellite receiver, notebook computer, gold ink pen, about 100 VDO tapes many new. Do not think you can move up country and not have a theft at home believe me. Worse than Bkk in my opinion.

[jackspratt]

I had a big house on a mountain in Samui, I also have two big German Shepherds....never had a problem, but after I moved away the new owner was burgled four times in three months. I still have the dogs and still dont have problems.

Someone is bound to say that dogs get poisoned and I dont doubt that but that sort of thing is few and far between.

HL

Samui ............ in what part of Issan is that?

[bunnydrops]

I'm in the sticks and haven't had a problem. The villagers do talk of traveling gangs usually casing the place by pretending to be scrap buyers. Like someone else said, the dogs pick up on strangers most the time. I do know of one person that caught someone in his house one night. He believes the guy was a professional because he was wearing something that made it impossible to grab and hold him. Said it was like trying to hold on to a wet fish--he got away.

Fences

I believe an electric fence could be shorted, or circumvented with the right clothes. Rusted iron can look good if worked into the design.

Someone told me once that the trick is not to make it hard to get in though a fence. With enough time and know how any fence can be breached. The trick is to make it look hard to get out.

[happylarry]

_{Someone just mentioned Bangkok so are you going to ask the same question????}

_Jeez.

_HL

[happylarry]

So how do these multi quote"s work then?

I just pressed it on the last post and only my words came up.

Well they were in answer to post 54.

HL

[JLCrab]

I had a big house on a mountain in Samui, I also have two big German Shepherds....never had a problem, but after I moved away the new owner was burgled four times in three months. I still have the dogs and still dont have problems.

Someone is bound to say that dogs get poisoned and I dont doubt that but that sort of thing is few and far between.

HL

Maybe the new owner that moved in after HL had a lot more that the crooks wanted to burgle.

[puchooay]

YES. About 15 years ago we were gone from home and they stole half the house in Khon Kaen. Stole my clothes, VDO machine, satellite receiver, notebook computer, gold ink pen, about 100 VDO tapes many new. Do not think you can move up country and not have a theft at home believe me. Worse than Bkk in my opinion.

15 years and no theft at home. Believe me.

[krisb]

YES. About 15 years ago we were gone from home and they stole half the house in Khon Kaen. Stole my clothes, VDO machine, satellite receiver, notebook computer, gold ink pen, about 100 VDO tapes many new. Do not think you can move up country and not have a theft at home believe me. Worse than Bkk in my opinion.  

of course there's problems with crime in Isaan like anywhere, but I don't think it's worse than Bangkok. We could always open this topic in the Bangkok forum and find out? I think the attitude that us falang are all rich brings unwanted attention sometimes but that's the mindset and not changing anytime soon. I've been staying in the village for awhile now, only on holidays but never seen or heard any problems. Luck of the draw perhaps? Not there fulltime perhaps that also but the in-laws would report anything untoward. Still nothing like the horror stories I read from Phuket and Pattaya. That's reassuring.