darksidedog

This was a terrible and disgraceful act. My biggest concern is the ability of the local police to find the tiny clues that advanced specialists abroard have experience in finding. Pride to one side, and invite in the offers of forensic assistance from abroard, so these murderers can be brought to justice.

Thailand and the world demand answers.

The comment of "it's a foreigner" worry me, that a couple of Khmer or Burmese will "confess" under duress

.Kho Tao still lingers in the mind.

Lots of muslims in Indonesia , could be a link but again it's still a wild goose chase.

Lots of Muslims in Thailand too. Lots of them everywhere. Don't see any evidence it was committed by one though.

Oh, "A Thai couldn't have done this."

Where did I hear that before? Oh yes, now I remember. Koh Tao.

I expect two witless Burmese will be arrested in due course.

DNA on a pair of drying underpants found 3 blocks away, should solve it.

especially if one of them has a yellow shirt!

Simple solution. Stay away from Thailand. Same as a traffic accident is always your fault as "it couldn't have happened if you weren't here." They can't set you up and extort money from you on spurious charges if you aren't here.

Take your tourist pennies somewhere else. problem solved.

Don't rent from anyone who objects to you checking the pre existing damage. You are obviously going to get ripped off on return. You wouldn't do it with a rental car, so how could you be so stupid as to not do it with a bunch of people who have a reputation for being the best thieves in town. I apologise in advance if the police feel that they actually deserve that reputation better.

Any advice that leads anyone to believe that there is a way to rent from a scammer without getting extorted is incorrect and irresponsible.

These guys don't operate on rules, or evidence, or polite debate. They are extorting thugs, and calling it a "scam" is too mild a word to convey what's going on. It's brutal violence, not a game of wits- not a "scam".

The only way to be sure to avoid getting extorted for a lot of money is to not rent from these guys. Inspections won't help, photos won't help, evidence won't help- because the very guys you'd turn all that over to---are in on it up to their eyeballs. So you don't check for pre-exisiting damage. That is an exercise in futility. You don't get anywhere near these guys.

That's not to say all jet ski guys are scammers. But I can't tell who is and who isn't and I'd bet 99% of the tourists coming to Thailand can't either. So if anyone asks, I just say it's not worth the risk of ruining your entire holiday for a little bit of hot rodding on a jet ski.

yeah, that's true. They are not all out to rip you off, but if they are funny about you checking before you ride, probably better to go to somewhere that is cool with you checking. At the end of the day, if they are going to screw you, then you are screwed. jet skis are fun, but not worth ruining your holiday over. maybe when no one wants to use one, someone will wake up, but by then we will all have left anyway.

There's n easy answer to this ... take pictures of all the damage on a JetSki before it is rented which can then be checked against a JetSki after it has been returned. A picture paints a thousand words.

There are reports of damage being covered prior to rental.

...also reports of operators taking exception to the taking of pictures before the rental (even violently so).

Don't rent from anyone who objects to you checking the pre existing damage. You are obviously going to get ripped off on return. You wouldn't do it with a rental car, so how could you be so stupid as to not do it with a bunch of people who have a reputation for being the best thieves in town.

I apologise in advance if the police feel that they actually deserve that reputation better.

But tourism is up, so all the reports of empty bars, empty restaurants and empty hotels are just a mistake. The drop in the baht is an anomoly. New figures from TAT, showing tourism continues to climb by unbelieveable amounts will surely strengthen the baht again next week right?

Best value has to be Nung Roys on Soi Kaonoi. Excellent curries with rice for 100 Baht. Their whole menu is the same price and their Lasagna and Lamb kebabs are awesome. Its located at the front of what was Hells kitchen about 500m East of the railway. Seems to open late afternoon till about 10pm.