monkeycountry

"Eventually the price was negotiated down to 1,400 Dollars which was paid to the men. Straight after the incident the two Tourists made their way to the Tourist Police Station to report the incident. The case was then transferred to Pattaya Police Station for further investigation."

I do actually think the police will investigate this case as promised. They will eventually find out who the Indians gave the money to, so they can get their cut!

And the mandatory insurance plan, wasn't there supposed to be one?

There might be, but why should that benefit the Indians?

The purpose of the insurance is to cover damages to the jet skis thus leaving the customer out of the picture.

I was trying to be funny, but guess I forgot a smilie or something. Anyway, even if they do have insurance, I am quite sure it would still not benefit the customers. This way the jetski mafia can get money from both the customers and the insurance!

All I can think is that this is truly a situation that no one would like to be put into. Being surrounded leaves one with no alternatives to make a call for help or anything lest they trigger a beating or worse.

On that thought alone, I can truly say that my disgust for the Thai police goes to an even lower level than before, simply because they tolerate this element in their midst.

Rounding up ladyboys for simply loitering, but not rounding up these beasts for known robbery (and this is what has been described) is one good example of hypocrisy which leads to my disgust.

The ladyboys are not loitering, they are stealing. At least the jetski mafia has the courtesy of "asking" for your money, instead of just taking them :-)

And the mandatory insurance plan, wasn't there supposed to be one?

There might be, but why should that benefit the Indians?

Maybe there's a market for a private militia, you know African style, for those who really need to rent jetskis here. Like a group of armed thugs bigger and badder than the ski boys that you hire for the duration of your water sports experience. Sure it would be pricey, but surely a fraction of the cost of getting scammed. Just a thought.

You mean bigger and badder than the combined force of the jetski mafia and the Thai police (who split the profits)? Yeah, I don't think such a force will be allowed to operate in Thailand :-)

This really is more than just a black eye for tourism in Thailand. The Thai police and government really need to decide which is more important - the image of Thailand and the fairness toward tourists visiting the nation or the kick-backs received from this scam. But, with the violent threat of physical abuse this is extortion not just a scam.

The government and the police clearly made that decision years ago, you just don't like their decision!

Is the buyer of the car responsible for making sure the importer paid the tax?

What next? Cars to come wrapped in a paid excise tear strip. The buyers are supposed to call customs to check whether the importing company has smuggled it? Huh?

If you can afford a Lamborghini you also know the approximate price for a Lamborghini. Let's say it is appx. 20 million baht. If you as a buyer has paid somewhere remotely close to that amount, then you can reasonably argue that you thought everything was in order. I am sure there is a contract and a paper trail verifying the purchase price. However, if you as a buyer has only paid say 5 million baht, then you cannot reasonably argue that you did not know something illegal was going on, and you should therefore be prosecuted as an accomplice.

The same goes, at least in civilised countries, if someone offers you a brand new Iphone5 for say 50$ and you take the offer.

Basically I think you have to prove that you acted in good faith.

It is the importers who are liable, and I would think a bit of a stretch to prosecute the final buyers. Of course, if the paperwork is not in order that is another thing entirely. If however, someone has a stamp to show they paid the tax, but of course, they didn't, then whoever put the stamp on the document is in the poop, and that would be whichever pooyai keeps the stamp in the office. If it's all in order, and someone wants to sell me something for 5mn baht, who am I to say no?

Beyond that, how would i know that the car may have been imported in bits, and approved for entry by customs, and put back together by the importer? They would have to prove that the buyers were in on it.

I admit that I do not know the rules in Thailand, but I do know that if you buy brand new stuff at ridiculously low prices in my home country, then you can be prosecuted. We can make the example more extreme if you like, just to clarify my point. Say the seller wants to sell you a brand new Lamborghini for 1000$ (yes I know if is unlikely), and all the tax stamps are on the papers (perhaps fake, but they look real). If you buy this car, you will be in trouble as no judge will believe you did not know you were buying illegal goods.

The rules for importing of a private vehicle are quite ridiculous. When I came to Thailand I owned a very nice, but old, BMWK110LT motor cycle which had taken me right around Europe a coule of times.

It's present market value was about $3,000 (14 years old) but on enquiring I would have had to pay close to $10,000 to legally import it for personal use. I bought it in the UK & subsequently shipped it back to Australia. At that time it was valued at $5,500 by the local BMW dealer - had to pay 10% of that price $550 as GST to land it in AUS.

Needless to say, it did not come to Thailand, but got sold via Ebay in AUS.

What is the point of Thailand taxes on such imports??

It's called Protectionism, Arrogance, and a desire to deny access by the average Thai to what is seen as high status items.

Maybe, maybe not.

In Denmark you will find similar tax rates on luxury cars, and most other cars for that matter, and you can hardly blame it on protectionism as Denmark does not have any car factories at all, so all cars are imported. In other words, there is no local car industry to protect in Denmark.

Is the buyer of the car responsible for making sure the importer paid the tax?

What next? Cars to come wrapped in a paid excise tear strip. The buyers are supposed to call customs to check whether the importing company has smuggled it? Huh?

If you can afford a Lamborghini you also know the approximate price for a Lamborghini. Let's say it is appx. 20 million baht. If you as a buyer has paid somewhere remotely close to that amount, then you can reasonably argue that you thought everything was in order. I am sure there is a contract and a paper trail verifying the purchase price. However, if you as a buyer has only paid say 5 million baht, then you cannot reasonably argue that you did not know something illegal was going on, and you should therefore be prosecuted as an accomplice.

The same goes, at least in civilised countries, if someone offers you a brand new Iphone5 for say 50$ and you take the offer.

Basically I think you have to prove that you acted in good faith.

A bit of an over-reaction I think. In my place the customer get,s one full C.C. of sauce whether they need it or not and so far no shootings

one cc? wow. a millilitre of sauce per serving. not a lot is it?

5 cc = 1 tea spoon.

Just for the record, 1 cc = 1 cubic centimeter = 1 centiliter = 10 milliliters. I however have no idea how many milliliters a tea spoon equals :-)

"He recommended that a special committee of all concerned officials should be convened as the problem might affect tourism in Karon, Kata and Kamala." Woe. That should make a huge difference! (sarcasm). I would guess the mafia must be paying off for protection from the police doing their duties, maybe the hotels and all other businesses should outbid them? I used to live in Phuket, but I am never going back. Rather be in free enterprise haven of Pattaya! 555

In Patters nobody uses taxis because they refuse to use the meters -

And because in Pattaya people have the Baht bus as an alternative. In Phuket the taxi mafia have removed all alternatives by force!

Some people here suggest the locals simply stand up to the taxi mafia. I think you guys forget that we are talking about a very well organized mafia organization run by the very top of Phuket's politicians, not just a random few aggressive taxi drivers. The only ones who can solve this problem is the central government in Bangkok and/or the army!

"An official at the Centre explained that the six-month wait for action was because of the complexity of the complaint"

Translation: "The taxi mafia is run my superiors and their families, so there is nothing I can do. However, my superiors have allowed me to hold a proforma meeting provided that nothing actually changes"

Cooking fat from the restaurant?

Clearly you didn't take the time to watch the videos.

And clearly someone didn't notice the smilie :-)

35% of 350 billion baht will make white lamborghinis the best selling car of the year!

I am no expert, but does not look like oil from a tanker or rig. It seems too thin.

Perhaps check the local fishing boats. They seem to dump everything in the sea!

soi41, on 03 Jun 2013 - 12:46, said:

MikeO wrote: "The 5 year visa in an unfounded rumour, as it requires substantial legal changes"

So you are telling me, that the 3 visas I have in my passports (5 years, 3 years, passport expired, new passport=another 5 years), they only exists in my imagination?

Several other cardholders on this thread, who also have posted about their 5 year visas, they are all lying??

To get down to a level, where even the haters here can understand it: Most of you guys drink and smoke? Spend at least 200 baht/day on those vices (probably a lot more), meaning that over the 10 years, I had my card, you have wasted 700k on nothing! Whereas at least some cardholders have got value for their money!

And that is really the whole point, whoever bought the card, did it with their money. You can choose to think, they made a bad decission. But up to them!

Whenever I see you guys sitting outside seven/11 with the stonetable full with beerbottles, I feel sorry for you, but again your money, your life and you have the freedom to make your own choices without having to criticised by anyone!

Same goes for the cardholders!!

I am sure you are right about all of the above. And since you seem to know alot about the other card holders as well, could you perhaps let me know if any of you guys have managed to buy land in your own name so far? :-)

Edit: I am asking of course as you told me I didn't know what I was talking about, when I posted earlier that it wasn't possible, so I assume you know something I do not, and if you are right (which I hope you are), then I think it will be breaking news.

As a card holder I can confirm you (and at the same time make you happy) that I also did not manage to buy land in my own name.

However, I must also say that I never tried to acquire any land in my own name.

There was an initial plan of allowing the members to acquire 1 rai of land.

But honestly... I don't know about you, but personally I could not do anything with such a small land. Or maybe a parking for my cars...

So, 1 rai? No way. I would not lose my time for such a small thing. Or maybe I would build a 40 floors building on it

Hi Gerry. Thanks for confirming. It does not make me happy at all that you cannot buy land in your own name. I wish we both could. I do not play golf or go to spas etc. and do not have any visa problems (yet), but the land part would make the card interesting for me - if it was legal, not the proxy company option. 1 rai of land would be enough for me - I only have 1 car :-)

soi41, on 03 Jun 2013 - 12:46, said:

MikeO wrote: "The 5 year visa in an unfounded rumour, as it requires substantial legal changes"

So you are telling me, that the 3 visas I have in my passports (5 years, 3 years, passport expired, new passport=another 5 years), they only exists in my imagination?

Several other cardholders on this thread, who also have posted about their 5 year visas, they are all lying??

To get down to a level, where even the haters here can understand it: Most of you guys drink and smoke? Spend at least 200 baht/day on those vices (probably a lot more), meaning that over the 10 years, I had my card, you have wasted 700k on nothing! Whereas at least some cardholders have got value for their money!

And that is really the whole point, whoever bought the card, did it with their money. You can choose to think, they made a bad decission. But up to them!

Whenever I see you guys sitting outside seven/11 with the stonetable full with beerbottles, I feel sorry for you, but again your money, your life and you have the freedom to make your own choices without having to criticised by anyone!

Same goes for the cardholders!!

I am sure you are right about all of the above. And since you seem to know alot about the other card holders as well, could you perhaps let me know if any of you guys have managed to buy land in your own name so far? :-)

Edit: I am asking of course as you told me I didn't know what I was talking about, when I posted earlier that it wasn't possible, so I assume you know something I do not, and if you are right (which I hope you are), then I think it will be breaking news.

I know a guy that does it via his mrs and brags about relieving Thai folk of their baht with high interest.

Well, when the Thai banks are charging 20% per year, and the finance companies are charging 28% per year, LEGALLY. And the cost of money for them is 1-2%???

It's hard to know who the real criminals are...

As for the Russian guy, perhaps he'd be interested in investing his funds in a new Thailand Elite card, which is being aimed at the Russians and Chinese in particular.

I'm sure if he had just bought one of those, all his troubles would have disappeared.... except for his postered cat!

BTW, recall the news article the other day about the Thai loan shark who allegedly kidnapped and raped the young daughter of a woman who hadn't paid interest on the 1000 baht she owed... I wonder what this Russian guy did to those who didn't pay up???

The Thai loan shark argued though that he had adhered to the rules regarding how much interest could be charged, and that those rules did not say that he was not allowed to rape the daughters of his customers!

Anyway, I think loan shark is on the prohibited list when applying for a work permit. Afterall, this is one of the jobs that Thai's do very well, and for which they do not need outside help :-)

Call me crazy but the sign says in Russian " Financial help to Russian Citizens without deposits or guarantees."

How exactly Thai's learned to read Russian and became Russian citizens?

Perhaps an unhappy gf decided to take over the biz

Maybe some of the many russian speaking Thai tour guides from Phuket translated it?

Edit: Sorry, did not see they needed to be russian citizens as well :-)

Just to be clear, neither old nor new customers can buy any land in Thailand. Old customers could however buy a certain amount of land in the name of the Elite card company, not in their own name. In other words, the land would legally belong to the Elite card company which would hold the land on your behalf.

Yes and the dodo bird was seen yesterday in Korat!!

Why post on something, where you clearly haven't got a clue ??

Please provide a link or source for your claim, that TPC is in fact proxy owners for cardholders!

No I didn't think so.

"I guess they bought the card because it kind of "allows" foreigners to buy land

in Thailand. When I say it kind of "allows" foreigners to buy land in Thailand,

it has the typical Thai Catch 22 in it:

The Elite card project was controversial from the outset, because one of the special privileges tied to the

card is the possibility to "acquire and possess land" once the Land Privilege

law is passed. The problem: there is no sign of such law being

passed.

Foreign individuals and companies are not allowed to own any

interest in land, expect for a few exceptions such as those granted by the Board

of Investment. Until a new law is passed, the Thailand Privilege Card Company

has set up an ownership structure to be used by cardholders seeking to purchase

land under which TPC will own the land on behalf of the cardholder. But this

point has raised legal issues, with some lawyers saying the interim ownership

structure is in conflict with some existing acts and could exposed the

cardholder to prosecution."

http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Reader/reader2058.htm

http://tourisminternetmarketing.com/2006/10/

I believe the info was also in the newspapers as well as on the TPC original website, however the above links were the ones that popped up on google?

Since you seem to know that I am wrong and insist I prove myself right, perhaps you can point me to the issue of the Royal Gazette where the new law allowing foreigners to own land was announced?

No I didn't think so.

Just to be clear, neither old nor new customers can buy any land in Thailand. Old customers could however buy a certain amount of land in the name of the Elite card company, not in their own name. In other words, the land would legally belong to the Elite card company which would hold the land on your behalf.

Due to the complete lack of consumer protection in Thailand, paying for anything other than a Big Mac in advance is doomed in Thailand. We saw what happened the first time. Everyone involved with the Elite card ran from their responsibility and had no problem leaving the customers hanging. Now they want to do exactly the same, but at a higher price. Well, guess they can probably find 1,300 idiots with money to throw away :-)