Is there an increase in property crime in Udon?

Well advertising that your property is worth guarding is certainly a way of increasing the percentage that soemone will take a look.
When I bought my house all i did was to change the lights and have the wall (outside) painted, no overt illusion that a farang had moved in, no displays of opulence etc.
So far that seems to have worked. if you want to flash it about then you will attract the ne'er do wells to look again at your property, and the one thing I can say that they are as good as western criminals they have the patience to sit and watch for days and days and the day you slip up is the day they will enter.

As if no one knows that a foreigner lives there...

Google around a bit, and if you can filter out all the vendors who have a vested interest in selling CCTV, you can find scholarly papers, mostly from that surveillance state called the UK, which say that CCTV has a deterrent effect on property crime, although not so much on street-level crime, mostly due to alcohol. They should know.

I guess this means that drunken thieves wont take heed of your prominently displayed CCTV cameras/signs, but the professional ones will.

Another burglary as reported by an editor of the BP.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... burglaries

parrot wrote:Another burglary as reported by an editor of the BP.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... burglaries

So not in UDON then.

The gripe I've always had about exterior cameras is that they advertise wealth and MIGHT be effective after the fact. You can watch (over and over again) your goods being stolen. (lol)

Good bars and locks, bright perimeter lights, and a noisy mutt (inside the house) are the best exterior deterrents IMHO. CCTV works best inside. You get a much better picture of the person(s) stealing your stuff which you can watch over and over again (lol) and it would be more helpful to the BIB. Also, if the cameras are the "hidden" type, thieves won't be searching for the recorder.

Not sticking to a daily routine, parking an extra vehicle in different places (ie.e motorbike in the driveway, by the fence, at the front door, etc.), and leaving extra shoes at the door(s) are also very good no cost deterrents to a thief trying to learn your routine. Darkening your home and car windows so people cannot see who left in the car or who remains in the house are other low-cost deterrents.


Just my 2 satang...

I could dress incognito so the neighbors wouldn't know I'm leaving the home! Or, just buy house content insurance and be done with it.
I know a few folks who rarely ever leave their homes.....in constant fear of a break-in. I'm all for security, insurance, safety....but in the end, I don't want to be a prisoner in my own home.

I also suffered a burglary sometime back in Udon.

My office was located in Soi Jamnussorn inside a very quiet Cul De Sac, which was not easy to find, unless you knew it was there. Around me were approximately 11 other houses, all occupied with locals and/or/either farangs.

I headed out for a late dinner one night and when I returned home at around 11.30pm, we unlocked the main door (which had been untouched), walked in - then it took a few moments to actually realise what has happened.
My office space was upside down. Laptops/PC's/GPS Units/Fax machine/LCD's/Phones - anything of an ok value, and easy to carry.
They broke in through the back door by literally taking the door off of it's hinges, destroying all locks that were present to help prevent such an incident.

I still wholeheartedly believe that a neighbour was involved and so did the police. I never managed to get anything back from the burglary though.

I also know a few others around town, both in and outside the ring roads that have suffered the consequences of a break in.

The bottom line is, don't take chances, unless you don't really care.

I'm just glad my kids we not staying over at the time...