Crime Wave In Pong

[Mobi]

I was woken up by the maid at 6 this morning, complaining about a flood in the road outside the Mobi Mansion.

Upon sleepy inspection, I discovered to my horror that my water meter had been stolen, and the water was gushing out all over the road.

We called the water company.

"Sorry, closed today, you will have to come by tomorrow and pay for a new meter and we will come and install it."

"What about the water leakeage?"

"Can't do anything today - we're closed".

Fortunately, brother-in-law, who had stayed the night, whittled down a piece of wood and rammed it in the pipe. Then we got a garden hose, and with the aid of a cigerette lighter tpo soften it up, manged to force it over the pipe, and then we ran it to our underground tanks.

So I guess all ther water is free, as there is no meter to say how much we've used? Any ideas anyone?

I wonder how much a new meter will be? And how much will the thieves get for the old one?

So many questions on a quiet Sunday morning in paradise.

[britmaveric]

Maybe the new meter will actually be the nicked meter?? Good scam - come to think of it.

[jdinasia]

what an awful way to get woken up at 8am on a weekend!

[Mobi]

what an awful way to get woken up at 8am on a weekend!

It was 6 a.m.!!!

I've just heard that a friend who lives about 2 kms away had his stolen as well. Obviously a water meter crime wave.

Anyone any ideas on how to prevent a repeat theft? The meter has to be outside or the water company can't take a reading.

[awayfoe]

I was woken up by the maid at 6 this morning, complaining about a flood in the road outside the Mobi Mansion.

Upon sleepy inspection, I discovered to my horror that my water meter had been stolen, and the water was gushing out all over the road.

We called the water company.

"Sorry, closed today, you will have to come by tomorrow and pay for a new meter and we will come and install it."

"What about the water leakeage?"

"Can't do anything today - we're closed".

Fortunately, brother-in-law, who had stayed the night, whittled down a piece of wood and rammed it in the pipe. Then we got a garden hose, and with the aid of a cigerette lighter tpo soften it up, manged to force it over the pipe, and then we ran it to our underground tanks.

So I guess all ther water is free, as there is no meter to say how much we've used? Any ideas anyone?

I wonder how much a new meter will be? And how much will the thieves get for the old one?

So many questions on a quiet Sunday morning in paradise.

you pay only the water after the meter ! in this case nothing to pay !

6 month ago i paid 150 bath for new meter in water company

[kurgen]

why not steal your own meter once a month after they read it.Then attach a hose to the pipe with a tap on it and hey presto, no more bills over the 150 baht cost of a new meter.

You could even sell water to the water bowsers and make a nice profit

Edited October 1, 2006 by kurgen

[Mobi]

why not steal your own meter once a month after they read it.Then attach a hose to the pipe with a tap on it and hey presto, no more bills over the 150 baht cost of a new meter.

You could even sell water to the water bowsers and make a nice profit

I was thinking the very same thing

These guys might have done me a big favour - my last bill was 1575 Baht - the highest ever! And previous months have ranged from 750 to over a thousand baht. I have had a lot of problems with my sprinkler system, which would account for some of it, but even so, at 150 Baht a throw for a meter I can't go wrong

[Tarragona]

They'll probably charge you an average amount from over the last 6 months or something.

This is quite a common occurrence - the thieves are after the copper in the meter.

[COBBER]

Mobi, Theft of Water meters is not unusual. In our moo baan 4 were stolen within a month about a year or so ago and now most houses have enclosed their meters with brick surounds so you can just read the meter or turn the water off if needed. A new meter from the water co. costs around 600 baht. It hardly seems worth it for the theives , but none the less they do it.

[Noel]

Anyone any ideas on how to prevent a repeat theft? The meter has to be outside or the water company can't take a reading.

How about wiring it up to your electricity supply...?

[COBBER]

why not steal your own meter once a month after they read it.Then attach a hose to the pipe with a tap on it and hey presto, no more bills over the 150 baht cost of a new meter.

You could even sell water to the water bowsers and make a nice profit

I new someone in Oz that had a restaurant and would turn the gas meter around after it had been read to make the meter run backwards and cut down on his gas bills. One month he left it in reverse for too long and actually received a credit from the gas co.

[suiging]

More folk knocked over in Natheekarn, buy alarms people !!!

[chuchok]

why not steal your own meter once a month after they read it.Then attach a hose to the pipe with a tap on it and hey presto, no more bills over the 150 baht cost of a new meter.

You could even sell water to the water bowsers and make a nice profit

I new someone in Oz that had a restaurant and would turn the gas meter around after it had been read to make the meter run backwards and cut down on his gas bills. One month he left it in reverse for too long and actually received a credit from the gas co.

Yep, that does work.I know a guy that was a gas fitter that used to do exactly the same at his house.

[Mobi]

More folk knocked over in Natheekarn, buy alarms people !!!

Not sure how an alarm would help.

The meter has to be outside the property, so even if I could figure out a way to wire up some kind of alarm to it, I reckon it would take them about 1 minute (or less) to dosconnect the meter, and be off on their motorbike - with no doubt alarm bells ringing behind them - if there were any.

And even if I came down at 3 am and caught them stealing it, not sure I'd want to get into a scrap for a 750 baht meter

[sriracha john]

Install a lockable metal cage around it? One that would prevent its theft, but would allow the meter to be read?

A water meter to replace ours cost 580 baht.

Edited October 1, 2006 by sriracha john

[Chang_paarp]

Install a lockable metal cage around it? One that would prevent its theft, but would allow the meter to be read?

A water meter to replace ours cost 580 baht.

Wont they steal the cage for it's value too?

[sriracha john]

Install a lockable metal cage around it? One that would prevent its theft, but would allow the meter to be read?

A water meter to replace ours cost 580 baht.

Wont they steal the cage for it's value too?

Hmm... I suppose that's a possibility.

OK, better go to Plan B:

New Water Meter Protection Guards On Patrol Outside The Mobi Mansion

[suiging]

More folk knocked over in Natheekarn, buy alarms people !!!

Not sure how an alarm would help.

The meter has to be outside the property, so even if I could figure out a way to wire up some kind of alarm to it, I reckon it would take them about 1 minute (or less) to dosconnect the meter, and be off on their motorbike - with no doubt alarm bells ringing behind them - if there were any.

And even if I came down at 3 am and caught them stealing it, not sure I'd want to get into a scrap for a 750 baht meter

Sorry, my fault, referring to general burglary not just the box

[mrbojangles]

Put a sign up

[marshbags]

why not steal your own meter once a month after they read it.Then attach a hose to the pipe with a tap on it and hey presto, no more bills over the 150 baht cost of a new meter.

You could even sell water to the water bowsers and make a nice profit

I new someone in Oz that had a restaurant and would turn the gas meter around after it had been read to make the meter run backwards and cut down on his gas bills. One month he left it in reverse for too long and actually received a credit from the gas co.

Yep, that does work.I know a guy that was a gas fitter that used to do exactly the same at his house.

I was a telecom engineer before retiring ( B.T. ) and had to repair a fault in this house.

It was a Monday and a pre made appt. so i kept knocking when i didn,t get a response.

Anyway this guy sheepishly opens the door after possibly hearing me shout through the letter box.

" Hello, anyone home, i,m the tel. eng and need to check / repair a reported fault from inside please. "

I started my elimination proceedure starting from the access point just inside the door above a shelf.

I noticed they had indeed turned the gas meter round and where obviously doing as you described, possibly over the weekend.

Anyway you,ll be pleased to hear i never mentioned it and carried on as if i hadn,t noticed it.

The connecting box was just above it by the way.

The fault was inside the house also for a bit of further useless information.

Talk about laugh, i can still see the expression on his face now in my minds eye when i think about it.

Both before i got in and after i left.

I bet he put it back to normal pretty quick after i,d gone down the street.

Thanks for the reminder and bringing a smile to my face, chuckok

They where certainly happy days for me and a brilliant job, meeting all kinds of interesting people, it was a priviledge to go to work.

marshbags

Edited October 1, 2006 by marshbags

[Tammi]

I was a telecom engineer before retiring ( B.T. ) and had to repair a fault in this house.

It was a Monday and a pre made appt. so i kept knocking when i didn,t get a response.

Anyway this guy sheepishly opens the door after possibly hearing me shout through the letter box.

" Hello, anyone home, i,m the tel. eng and need to check / repair a reported fault from inside please. "

I started my elimination proceedure starting from the access point just inside the door above a shelf.

I noticed they had indeed turned the gas meter round and where obviously doing as you described, possibly over the weekend.

Anyway you,ll be pleased to hear i never mentioned it and carried on as if i hadn,t noticed it.

Your story reminds me of gas man coming to empty the meter just after we were married. He emptied it out on the kitchen table, counted the shillings, doffed his hat, and departed. Then my spouse said "Look at that". I had clean forgotten that we had laid out on the kitchen table, to decide on the best one, all the 30 or so sample condoms that we had had sent through the mail. Maybe he didn't see them but I think he probably had a good story to tell his mates.

(Off topic, but I couldn't resist).

[Pattaya_Fox]

I was a telecom engineer before retiring ( B.T. ) and had to repair a fault in this house.

It was a Monday and a pre made appt. so i kept knocking when i didn,t get a response.

Anyway this guy sheepishly opens the door after possibly hearing me shout through the letter box.

" Hello, anyone home, i,m the tel. eng and need to check / repair a reported fault from inside please. "

I started my elimination proceedure starting from the access point just inside the door above a shelf.

I noticed they had indeed turned the gas meter round and where obviously doing as you described, possibly over the weekend.

Anyway you,ll be pleased to hear i never mentioned it and carried on as if i hadn,t noticed it.

Your story reminds me of gas man coming to empty the meter just after we were married. He emptied it out on the kitchen table, counted the shillings, doffed his hat, and departed. Then my spouse said "Look at that". I had clean forgotten that we had laid out on the kitchen table, to decide on the best one, all the 30 or so sample condoms that we had had sent through the mail. Maybe he didn't see them but I think he probably had a good story to tell his mates.

(Off topic, but I couldn't resist).

Yes that was really remiss of you....after all the gentleman from the gas board could have been a Catholic.

[Mobi]

Install a lockable metal cage around it? One that would prevent its theft, but would allow the meter to be read?

A water meter to replace ours cost 580 baht.

Wont they steal the cage for it's value too?

Hmm... I suppose that's a possibility.

OK, better go to Plan B:

New Water Meter Protection Guards On Patrol Outside The Mobi Mansion

Well I do have a "red Box" for which I pay the princely sum of 500 Baht per month. The only time I've ever seen the bib is when they come to collect their monthly stipend, but someone signs the book every day - maybe the 2nd hand water meter merchants

Maybe when the tanks stand down from their Bangkok duties, one of them could do a quick flit down the motorway to Pong. Mrs Mobi could supply flowers and daily rations

[jdinasia]

Hope your mailbox is there in the morning !!!

[Tony Clifton]

Buy a fake rubber snake and wrap it around the water meter.

Before we moved into our new house 2 years ago, I came over one evening and there was no electricity, checked the breakers , all fine, went outside, meter gone! We called the electric company and we were told our meter was removed because of an outstanding 31 baht bill. How cost efficient, sending a guy over to remove and reinstall it...

Edited October 1, 2006 by Tony Clifton

[sriracha john]

Install a lockable metal cage around it? One that would prevent its theft, but would allow the meter to be read?

A water meter to replace ours cost 580 baht.

Wont they steal the cage for it's value too?

Hmm... I suppose that's a possibility.

OK, better go to Plan B:

New Water Meter Protection Guards On Patrol Outside The Mobi Mansion

Well I do have a "red Box" for which I pay the princely sum of 500 Baht per month. The only time I've ever seen the bib is when they come to collect their monthly stipend, but someone signs the book every day - maybe the 2nd hand water meter merchants

Maybe when the tanks stand down from their Bangkok duties, one of them could do a quick flit down the motorway to Pong. Mrs Mobi could supply flowers and daily rations

If that's the case, then just be wary of Bangkok Taxi's travelling at high speed down your soi.

[sriracha john]

Tony

Before we moved into our new house 2 years ago, I came over one evening and there was no electricity, checked the breakers , all fine, went outside, meter gone! We called the electric company and we were told our meter was removed because of an outstanding 31 baht bill. How cost efficient, sending a guy over to remove and reinstall it...

funny stuff ... checking all the supposedly reasonable causes for not having power first and then working backwards to the absurd causes.

Edited October 2, 2006 by sriracha john