Just beware that, there has been a spate of break & enters on the island of late.Coinciding with school holidays etc.....

So if you are offered any cheap electronic equipment , report it if you can,you might be helping someone.Most of the farangs & I presume Thai victims are sadly not insured.

Interestingly enough, rooo, my husband has reported a similar surge in crime on Koh Phangan.

There, however, it is Thai people with an excess of gold being targetted for snatch and run muggings. Also, quite a few of those barrel type gas stands have been broken into and the gas stolen.

SBK,the robberies here arre very well organised,police suspect & that is only what they said, is that it could be foreigners.They are grabbing computers, cameras , jewellery.I don't think they are kids ,but very organised gang.Modus of operandi is they use bikes around the property & use their horns as warning signals.

We too have had a couple of break - ins in the Huathanon neighborhood. It seems like kids for us though, one guy took a large bottle of Chang and a pair of Billabong shorts from us.

Then a couple of nights later someone broke into my next door neighbors house and stole a large novelty zippo lighter. I don't know why. (????)

Just be sure to keep your outside lights on and use sturdy locks.

We have been keeping the TV on all the time to make like there is someone inside even when we are at work. I dont know if this will work or if it will just run our electric bill to the sky, but it makes us feel better.

SBK,the robberies here arre very well organised,police suspect & that is only what they said, is that it could be foreigners.They are grabbing computers, cameras , jewellery.I don't think they are kids ,but very organised gang.Modus of operandi is they use bikes around the property & use their horns as warning signals.

Can one safely assume that the alleged police reference to ' foreigners ' is directed at the thai mainlander or was it really meant as a suspicion that non Thai are responsible ?

The crime you allude to is quite common upcountry. My wife's home village near Surin is adjacent to the main road and consequently no one leaves their property unattended lest young bucks astride bikes come a marauding. I'm not sure if there is a real cause for concern but nevertheless the fear of crime is quite apparent and incidents have occurred.

Mind you, taking a leaf from your island's Mr. Plod's book, there may be grounds for not ruling out the possibility that denizens of the Farangconnection in Surin are responsible for the raids. Crazed by heat and gallons of Chang, they may well don their leathers, mount their stretched Harleys and roar off down the highway led by Mad Dog Chopper Martin a whoopin and a hollering intent upon rustling kwai for his depleted freezer. Then again, such a fantasy could only occur to the addled idiots masquerading as law enforcement officers.

Khun Gent,

That was really cooooooool.I'm not allowed to smoke that stuff lmaoooooo.What a great post.

I've always fancied you.........

Rooo,

Waiting around the corner with the bike engine running, is a typical Thai thing to do.

Caught a guy once in the middle of the night trying to steal gasoline from our bike that was parked behind th house and he shot off towards the road and jumped on the back of a waiting bike and they took off.

and stole a large novelty zippo lighter.

surprised to read that anyone would buy one of those things , let alone steal one !!

It is crap thing.

Crap steals, crap buys and crap are amased of the crap items.

Khop Khun crap

We have been keeping the TV on all the time to make like there is someone inside even when we are at work. I dont know if this will work or if it will just run our electric bill to the sky, but it makes us feel better.

In case you have a Hifi set, you should record a cd or tape with an angry dog barking. Create a loop and set the player to repeat. I'm not kidding you can find these sound fxs on line and I can tell you the y work like a charm.

Another thing to do is a sign on your door/gate which reads :" beware of the dog and its master/owner", with two pictures/drawings, one of a dog and one of a gun.

Also a couple of timers connected to lamps switching on and off at given intervals are good.

Buy an aswering machine and never say in the msg " we are out ...or something like that" instead say " we are not available atm, we are busy bla bla.

At night an intruder detector which costs almost nothing nowadays,is one good investment.

Also prepare a room in case of danger ( doesn't need to be a fancy one, the bathroom is ok), where you can close yourself and call friends or police, keep a mobile inside in case they cut your tel line (bought a used one at MBK in BKK for 800 bahts and after 2 years is still perfect).

Well you got the idea right? There are easy and not pricey things you can do to better your safety.

And if you think I'm paranoid..well I lived 3 years in Dominicana Rep... we used fake snakes in the garden to keep friendly neghborhoods out..lollll