- October 8, 2001 - My room is searched -

I was called home from work early today. A maid in my building found the door to my apartment pried open.

When I got there, I found all the drawers were pulled out, the closets searched, the bedding pulled up, and my suitcases opened. The strange thing was that nothing was taken. My Walkman, cameras and lenses, computer equipment, VCRs, and stereo equipment were still there. A gold Visa card, my U.S. drivers license, and my international drivers license were still on the desk where I stupidly had left them--although I could tell they had been moved since the morning.

My two locked filing cabinets had been pried open with a crowbar. Inside, my backup hard drives, jewelry, credit cards, and money had been looked over, but not taken. Someone had obviously rummaged through some of my file folders. My Psion 5mx computer had been taken from the locked filing cabinet and out of its case, then left on a chair undamaged. My pajamas had apparently been used to wipe up footprints and left at the front door.

The police seemed suspicious that I could not explain why nothing had been taken. I think they thought I had something illegal that someone wanted.

I have responded with huge new deadbolts on all the doors, an expensive alarm system, a giant safe, and a few surprises that will await future intruders. And no more leaving stuff sitting around. I am also drafting a notice for my front door in Thai--something like "If I catch anyone tampering with my lock or in my room, I'll kill them on the spot."

In retrospect, both the maid and a receptionist at the front desk recalled an unusual man entering and exiting the building. Although people are buzzed in, he slipped in and out along with some movers moving people in on another floor. Only later did they find out no one in the building knew who the man was. They described him as a tall, middle-aged Thai man wearing a suit coat and hat (somewhat unusual in Thailand) and talking on a cell phone.

I wonder what he was looking for...