How safe is your bike in Thailand

[h90]

No lock will stop a theft. Keep your bike in sight at all times. At night keep it inside locked doors. Even then I have neighbors who had their bikes stolen from inside their homes at night.

No but a lock with have the local drunk/narcotic guy who need 500 Baht now to look for some easier target.

Doesn't help against a professional but reduces the risk a bit.

Out of interest, who amongst us buys stolen bikes?

Or are they stolen by enthusiasts who can pass them off as their own?

What would you do if you were offered a 500K bike for 10K?

I reckon I have to protect against two types of thieves - casual thieves who will ride away an unlocked bike or unclip your lights (one lost light so far) and professional 'scrap metal / rusty bike' thieves hoovering up everything with a van and a set of bolt cutters. The former will be deterred with a lock they can't pull apart - but they might run off with any unlocked quick-release wheels just out of badness, while the latter will only be deterred by an expensive and heavy lock or by parking in a well-trafficked area where there's some sort of presence - directly outside the pub or coffee shop, or in a secure car park.

Well I would buy a stolen bike.

I recently went to some second hand bike shops, if they wouldn't be massive overpriced I would have bought one. A stolen bike, has no stick on it "stolen bike" it is sold as second hand bike.

In the previous house sometimes the friend of the loan shark dropped by...showed us some old watch, some jewelry, some old stereo system that people put as guarantee for the loan they never paid.

Sure they would give a loan of 10K for a 500K bike and than they would sell the bike for 20K. And of course they would tell it comes from some rich guy which went into financial troubles.....

How would anyone know?

[h90]

I think serious bike thieves when they get hold of some top end racing machine tend to strip the bike down and sell the parts bit by bit online. If your Dura Ace chain set appeared on ebay would you know it was yours? Thats in the UK anyway. I have heard stories where thieves have targeted a shed full of nice bikes locked up. The carbon fibre bikes were just sawn in half to remove them from the locks just to get the components.

Well before I start to cut the frame I cut the lock. The cheap looks you can freeze and than brake. If it is more expensive, there are very small torches, most probably heating it yellow and later you can cut it easily. Or set with oxygen is just the size of 2 insect sprays and you cut every lock.

Had a friend who wasn't stupid, but went into narcotics. A lock with numbers (without knowing the numbers) he could open faster than I could open it knowing them. These normal brass locks for doors or chains.....once we forgot the key. The guy needed 15 seconds to open it.....

So it is a terrible waste to cut the carbon frame.....

I know the stolen motorbikes will be separate and the spare parts sold. Cars often exported.....