Last night i had a really good time with my expats friends here in Phnom Penh. we went to 90s party. The music and booze were great. While we were having good time together, we have talked and shared with each other a lot of stuff. What touched me the most was that almost all of them and their friends experienced with robbing, stealing, backpack and purse snatching, pickpocketing. It made me feel like Cambodia is really bad place where all of them were the target, because they are from rich countries. Please share with me your bad experience in Cambodia, if you have one. i just want to hear more.

- A couple of years ago, a couple of days before Khmer New Year, my maid was readying to head back to the province for the New Year. She had money she had been saving for a couple of months and presents she had bought for relatives. On her way to the bus station, a couple of snatch and grab thieves got a hold of her bag to steal it. She held on and got pulled off the motodup, getting banged up a bit it the process and losing her stuff. She made her way back here to the office and told her story. Everyone was very concerned, helped clean her up, and then a collection was taken up around the office (all Cambodians). I also mentioned the robbery angrily on twitter (more money was promised by tweeters). Within an hour she had more money than she had lost in the robbery. The staff reorganized and repacked the stuff she had left and then escorted her back to the bus station to send her off to her home province. It was one of the most heartwarming and uplifting experiences I’ve had here.

- Many years ago I knew a barang girl that got pulled off a motodup twice in two weeks by the bag she was wearing on her back. She was a real nice person, but a bit of an idiot.

- Was once sitting in Walkabout at about 9:00PM when a barang backpacker girl walked in and said she had just been robbed. People showed concern and checked to see if she was okay, but she had not been physically injured at all. She began to tell the story, how she had been walking from the riverfront to Street 51 at night, how she had lost everything – thousands of dollars in cash, even more in travelers checks, her passport, her boyfriend’s passport, both of their ATW tickets… and it was about this time that eyes began to roll and everybody went back to their beers.

- Once caught a guy at 4AM putting a long stick with a hook on the end through my office window in order to snag the mobile phone there. He was outside, sitting on top of a fence to access the window. I was on the inside and spotted the stick in the dark. I grabbed the stick and pulled. He let go. I jabbed the stick the other way to try to get him, and hit something soft once, but not sure if I got him. Then he (presumably) ran away and I had his stick. I win.

LTO wrote:...thousands of dollars in cash, even more in travelers checks, her passport, her boyfriend’s passport, both of their ATW tickets...

Her golden tiara, investment bonds, an LX350, the corgi...

LTO wrote:- A couple of years ago, a couple of days before Khmer New Year, my maid was readying to head back to the province for the New Year. She had money she had been saving for a couple of months and presents she had bought for relatives. On her way to the bus station, a couple of snatch and grab thieves got a hold of her bag to steal it. She held on and got pulled off the motodup, getting banged up a bit it the process and losing her stuff. She made her way back here to the office and told her story. Everyone was very concerned, helped clean her up, and then a collection was taken up around the office (all Cambodians). I also mentioned the robbery angrily on twitter (more money was promised by tweeters). Within an hour she had more money than she had lost in the robbery. The staff reorganized and repacked the stuff she had left and then escorted her back to the bus station to send her off to her home province. It was one of the most heartwarming and uplifting experiences I’ve had here.

- Many years ago I knew a barang girl that got pulled off a motodup twice in two weeks by the bag she was wearing on her back. She was a real nice person, but a bit of an idiot.

- Was once sitting in Walkabout at about 9:00PM when a barang backpacker girl walked in and said she had just been robbed. People showed concern and checked to see if she was okay, but she had not been physically injured at all. She began to tell the story, how she had been walking from the riverfront to Street 51 at night, how she had lost everything – thousands of dollars in cash, even more in travelers checks, her passport, her boyfriend’s passport, both of their ATW tickets… and it was about this time that eyes began to roll and everybody went back to their beers.

- Once caught a guy at 4AM putting a long stick with a hook on the end through my office window in order to snag the mobile phone there. He was outside, sitting on top of a fence to access the window. I was on the inside and spotted the stick in the dark. I grabbed the stick and pulled. He let go. I jabbed the stick the other way to try to get him, and hit something soft once, but not sure if I got him. Then he (presumably) ran away and I had his stick. I win.

Thanks LTO for sharing. i felt so sorry for those victims.

Once caught a guy at 4AM putting a long stick with a hook on the end through my office window in order to snag the mobile phone there. He was outside, sitting on top of a fence to access the window. I was on the inside and spotted the stick in the dark. I grabbed the stick and pulled. He let go. I jabbed the stick the other way to try to get him, and hit something soft once, but not sure if I got him. Then he (presumably) ran away and I had his stick. I win.

Ok, (I have always wanted to know this), how in the hell do you lift a mobile phone with a hook? I get that you could lift a handbag, purse,camera or anything that has something you can latch on to, but a phone ?
(And if you tell me I'll go 50/50 on my next heist )

Anchor Moy wrote:

Once caught a guy at 4AM putting a long stick with a hook on the end through my office window in order to snag the mobile phone there. He was outside, sitting on top of a fence to access the window. I was on the inside and spotted the stick in the dark. I grabbed the stick and pulled. He let go. I jabbed the stick the other way to try to get him, and hit something soft once, but not sure if I got him. Then he (presumably) ran away and I had his stick. I win.

Ok, (I have always wanted to know this), how in the hell do you lift a mobile phone with a hook? I get that you could lift a handbag, purse,camera or anything that has something you can latch on to, but a phone ?
(And if you tell me I'll go 50/50 on my next heist )

For phone. They covered the hook with double edged tape. i am not a thief, but i just heard it from people who saw it.

Anchor Moy wrote:

Once caught a guy at 4AM putting a long stick with a hook on the end through my office window in order to snag the mobile phone there. He was outside, sitting on top of a fence to access the window. I was on the inside and spotted the stick in the dark. I grabbed the stick and pulled. He let go. I jabbed the stick the other way to try to get him, and hit something soft once, but not sure if I got him. Then he (presumably) ran away and I had his stick. I win.

Ok, (I have always wanted to know this), how in the hell do you lift a mobile phone with a hook? I get that you could lift a handbag, purse,camera or anything that has something you can latch on to, but a phone ?
(And if you tell me I'll go 50/50 on my next heist )

I don't know. What I do know is that both phones that were sitting on the desk charging were on the floor when I walked in and caught the thief, and one was about half way across the room toward the window. So that seemed to be the target. And the end of the stick that I got from him had a simple wire hook on it.

I talked to a young backpacker on riverside many years ago and he looked a bit depressed. He told me on his first night in Cambodia a young girl from a bar stole his virginity. He was determined to find her, but I don't know why, It's not as if he would get it back or it was of any value.

LTO wrote:

Anchor Moy wrote:

Once caught a guy at 4AM putting a long stick with a hook on the end through my office window in order to snag the mobile phone there. He was outside, sitting on top of a fence to access the window. I was on the inside and spotted the stick in the dark. I grabbed the stick and pulled. He let go. I jabbed the stick the other way to try to get him, and hit something soft once, but not sure if I got him. Then he (presumably) ran away and I had his stick. I win.

Ok, (I have always wanted to know this), how in the hell do you lift a mobile phone with a hook? I get that you could lift a handbag, purse,camera or anything that has something you can latch on to, but a phone ?
(And if you tell me I'll go 50/50 on my next heist )

I don't know. What I do know is that both phones that were sitting on the desk charging were on the floor when I walked in and caught the thief, and one was about half way across the room toward the window. So that seemed to be the target. And the end of the stick that I got from him had a simple wire hook on it.

In that specific case, I suppose he hooked the charger cord ?
The old "hook on the end of a bamboo pole trick" is one of the first things I heard about in Cambodia and although I know people who have seen it done, i've never experienced it personally. So, I always wondered how they managed to pick up a phone, tablet or laptop with a hook - and also how the thief can see enough of the inside of a dark (bed)room to pick out something as small as a phone (if it's not charging) or a wallet.

For phone. They covered the hook with double edged tape. i am not a thief, but i just heard it from people who saw it.

Sounds possible I guess.

As I said, I've never had this happen to me personally, but since I knew that this can happen I have always been careful with windows. I could get robbed, but I do try not to make it easier than necessary.
I also have a totally shit phone that no self-respecting Cambodian would be seen dead with... this alleviates a lot of paranoia about phone theft at least.

Anchor Moy wrote:In that specific case, I suppose he hooked the charger cord ?
The old "hook on the end of a bamboo pole trick" is one of the first things I heard about in Cambodia and although I know people who have seen it done, i've never experienced it personally. So, I always wondered how they managed to pick up a phone, tablet or laptop with a hook - and also how the thief can see enough of the inside of a dark (bed)room to pick out something as small as a phone (if it's not charging) or a wallet.

The phones he was trying to steal were nothing too special. It was before the days of smartphones, so they were just Nokias or something. He may also have had more burglary tools with him than just the stick and hook. Perhaps something sticky or a loop for when he got them close enough to the window. As for how he could see enough, I suspect he had cased the place. I tend to work very late, and I used to leave that window open when I did. It was on the second floor (and screened and barred) so I didn't think somebody would be watching me, but if somebody had climbed the fence, or perhaps from the next building over they could (dark outside, light inside and all). Also, the thievery began just minutes after I had shut off the lights and left the room to go to bed, leaving the phones where I did every night, at least 3+ meters from the window, but still a straight and unobstructed shot to them. So I think he had probably watched me in the past, waited until I went to bed, knew approximately where the phones were, and began working on it shortly after I left, thinking that I had left the office for the night as I always did around that time. He didn't count on me hearing the noise he was making from upstairs, and coming down quietly without turning on the lights, thereby catching him in the act.