security warning *lock yourself in!*
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old news for the longer residents, but maybe the odd newbie or too will get this..
I just had someone try to break in my back door whilst i was in, thankfully i had a metal gate fitted outside the door with an extra padlock which you cannot see from the outside which held, but it was very definetly an attempted entry and i heard them escape whilst i made a lot of noise with a baseball bat.
..and it's not the first time i've had the holiday opportunists sniffing around..
so the best advice i ever had has held true and i want to pass it on..
EVEN WHEN YOU ARE AT HOME, LOCK YOURSELF IN.
i had been slack of recent history and right now am very very glad i started doing it again, as it bought me enough time to defend myself and scare them offf rather than just turning around and finding myself with company... which no-one wants, it was also the noise of the metal gate door clanging against that padlock that alerted me, up to that point i had no idea anyone was there.
cheers, and happy hols..
t
Good advice!!!!!! Good advice for everyone anywhere!!!!
I will be moving to Cambo very soon now, just waiting on a few more paperworks to be completed and then, off I head to Cambodia. I will be moving to Kandal province, which isn't to far from PP. Can't wait!!!
Bringing quality padlocks from the west is a good idea.
I did not realise how useless khmer padlocks are until I left my old house.We had lost keys to the lock on the inside of the back door and to a chain on a moto that we were looking after.
I would have used bolt cutters or a four inch grinder but the girl called the locksmith from the market.
He used a punch and a hammer and knocked the cylinders out of both locks in less than a minute!!
The locks are completely useless.
Buy a gun.
THE KID
Buy a gun.THE KID
With all the good sensible advice you have posted in the past, I think that this would have to the most stupid thing you have posted on the forums to date.
Favorite T-shirt from a movie:
Guns don't kill people
I KILL PEOPLE
I've owned many guns, some for self-defense, some for sport (shooting clay pigeons). Many of my friends own guns as well and none of us have ever killed or hurt anyone with our guns. I still believe it is better to have a gun and not need it than to need one and not have it.
I've lived in countires where it was standard for EVERYONE to have a gun to by age 15 (usually fully automatic) . At the market everyone's got an AK's on their shoulders. I didn't feel anymore endangered or unsafe there than I do walking down the streets of Phnom Penh. If you grow up around guns they are just as common as having a car or moto (which kill way more people than guns)...if you grow up being afraid of guns and being told they are bad, then you have more of a negative attitude towards guns. A well armed populace is the best defense against tyranny.
I'm also pro-gun because the world is over-populated and spiraling downwards at a rapid rate. We need some population control. They need to legalize guns in China and India and any other country that is over-populated. (being factious)
http://www.gundepot.net/catalog.php
One of my friends was shot near the Russian Market by a thief.... so why should only the bad guys and stupid people have the guns? I''d love to be a boondock saint here in Cambodia.
Oh well....you know what they say ;
Knives for show, guns for a pro.
I wonder how the incident a few years back when the owner of some bar got murdered and his girlfriend got slashed with a machete would have played out if he had a gun in the house.
You might not be pro-guns but I am ............
THE KID
"...incident a few years back when the owner from Rory's got murdered..."
Considering that you got the name of the bar and even the basic details of the incident completely wrong, I take it you weren't here and don't know any of the people involved. Perhaps, given your complete ignorance of these tragic events that are infinitely more complicated than you imagine, you could revert to peddling lukewarm advice to gratify your insecure need for attention.
Either that or go and mark some homework...
"...incident a few years back when the owner from SOME BAR got murdered..."
Considering that you got the name of the bar and even the basic details of the incident completely wrong, I take it you weren't here and don't know any of the people involved. Perhaps, given your complete ignorance of these tragic events that are infinitely more complicated than you imagine, you could revert to peddling lukewarm advice to gratify your insecure need for attention.
Either that or go and mark some homework...
Or you could have said " Actually that's not entirely right...etc...."
Apologies...I got the bar name wrong but the guy WAS murdered and his girlfriend WAS wounded.Sorry if he was a mate of yours....I can only go off what was reported widely at the time viz;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/24/ukcrime.cambodia.
Not looking to create any issues about that particular incident .
THE KID
Well, we just chose a house with a garden and a big ground floor terrasse, so that we could have all the doors opened and stay outside...
I didn't come here to live in prison, bad things happen everywhere:-) and not always to other people, I know, but there are calculated risks in everything we do every day. I have a greater chance of being injured or even killed crossing Norodom Boulevard on foot at rush hours...
Bernadette
I think this Muk Loi person is just another unhappy, lonely sod, of which many exist in Cambodia.
It's okay mate, just go and drink yourself silly at the bar, that'll work for you ...
Anyway, I think good advice to anyone coming to Cambodia, is to try to rent a place that also has a (respectable) Khmer family living there, as they know the rules of the game, and (especially if they have kids living there), their security is YOUR security.
I live on the second floor of a 3 story house, and the Khmer family lives on the ground floor, on a very secure street in BKK 1.
One day, my landlord knocked on my front door, and he couldn't believe that I hadn't locked it, so that says it all.
Also, if you are thinking of self defence, any SAS manual will tell you not to keep a baseball bat indoors, but a hammer, as it's too difficult to swing a baseball bat in closed quarters.
Any f**** who breaks into my place will face this type of reaction from me, as in Brain Soup!
HDAH
Well, when in Rome do as the Bongs Do!
Another good weapon- a sharpened broomstick.
No need to grapple with the intruder,just run him through with the spear.
And a stomach injury usually means a slow painful death,good.
Since there aren't any cops to call and their aren't legal options for guns then yes, it's best to follow the local example of locking up all the time, everywhere. Besides hold-ups I've usually only heard, "The one time I didn't lock it..."
Cambodians would never be so negligent with their property, neither should you.
Helluva lot safer than New Orleans though.
I have to admit that I am usually quite security oriented, but also had someone enter my home while myself and my friends were there having drinks. I had left the 3 security gates unlocked to let my friends come in (3 flights of stairs) and while we were in the kitchen, someone came in to the lower hall and luckily only stole some minor things as well as all my keys and padlocks. Pretty brazen when people are in their home, but it is low season and not much money is being spent out there. Like any city, just have to be a bit more aware and hope that you have good neighbours!
SAS manual will tell you not to keep a baseball bat indoors, but a hammer, as it's too difficult to swing a baseball bat in closed quarters.
I think that is sterling advice. A khmer robber is far more likely to break into your house equipped with a hammer than he is a Spear or a baseball bat.
"I managed to take it off him and then defended myself when he lunged at me......."
Boom ! Self defense.
THENKID
Latest Home/Apartment Invasion News
This morning (estimated between 2400 -0345 T(this was the time that one of the occupants relatives in the USA reported that he saw his relative here in Cambodia sign off from SKYPE) 2 apartments were on the 6th floor of the Pastuer Villa Apartments (corner of Street 51 & Street 228, across from the SOS Clinic) were broken into from the outside, while the occupants were both asleep in their respective apartments. Appears they entered through open windows(not recommended) and exited through the balcony doors with assorted laptops, cellphones and little or no valuables. The perpetrators were bold enough to raid the fridge for a cool drink while doing their work and left a partially consumed bottle of water on the balcony (this is the same MO from almost a year ago at the break in at the Hamptons). So everyone please make sure you are secure as the economy worsens and peopel present the opportunity, they will walk right in weather you are there or not and steal you blind.
The same happened to my colleague last week in an appartment building close to calmette hospital. she was sleeping with a window open and when she woke up shortly before 4am, she found the window open more, her cell phone, money etc missing... quite scary to imagine there are people stealing from you while you are asleep, invading your privacy... luckily she did not wake up, i wonder what would happen in such case :S
You really dont want to confront these guys, as there are reports that they are armed and if they are that desperate then they have nothing to lose. Especially a women alone. Stay safe and report it your employer or organisation you work for and make them jump up and down on the MOI and Sangkat police.
Did your colleague live in an apartment with bars on the windows or were they using a pole and hook to steal these items?
No bars on the window. they got in through the window, went through all her stuff, took what they found of some value and left...
As a general rule bars on the windows are a must have for any accommodation in Cambodia,.
If I was a Cambodian thief then overpriced apartment buildings with no bars on the windows and filled with rich foreigners would seem like rich pickings.
This is why I live in an independent steel cage apartment that is locked, bolted and padlocked from the inside - never had anyone try and rob me but if there is a fire then I'm probably dead......