webfact Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Phuket: Covid-19 crisis hits boatmen hard - even the tsunami was not as bad as this MCOT reporters went to Phuket where they found desperation amongst people working in the pleasure boat industry. They said they found Somchai Lawang staring vacantly out to sea as he spoke with a faltering voice trying to hold back his tears. There are five members of his family who rely on him. He said normally he works as a helper for the captain of a speedboat at Railay Beach but he was now entering his third month of unemployment. He would normally earn 10,000 baht a month taking tourists on dive trips. The money was only ever enough to live hand to mouth - he couldn't put anything aside to save. Now he still has to find rent money and funds to look after a handicapped son and another son who has lost his job. Things were terrible even though his employer had continued to pay him half his wages. Yot Samla said he had been a captain of boats for 20 years. He had worked on everything from smaller vessels to three engine speedboats. Recently he was employed to take tourists to two nearby islands - all that has ended meaning hard times for the four members of his family who he needs to look after. He said that this was far worse than the 2004 Asian tsunami that devastated Phuket and surrounding areas. Other boatmen - part of a group of 100 who have lost their employment - said they hoped that insurance handouts from a boat operators' insurance scheme would allow them to get by and survive the coronavirus pandemic crisis. Source: MCOT -- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-05-04 - Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you - Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavideol Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 maybe, just maybe they will learn a lesson and will stop the scams.... wishful thinking though 1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LivinginKata Posted May 4, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted May 4, 2020 3 minutes ago, Mavideol said: maybe, just maybe they will learn a lesson and will stop the scams.... wishful thinking though 10,000 baht a month. You think he is scamming ??? All the working Thais are really hurting. 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z42 Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 3 minutes ago, Mavideol said: maybe, just maybe they will learn a lesson and will stop the scams.... wishful thinking though Harsh and uncalled for. The man named in the article has a disabled kid. He sounds like a hard working guy who has fallen on severely hard times. If he was a tuk tuk driver i'd then have a LOT less sympathy 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavideol Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 5 minutes ago, LivinginKata said: 10,000 baht a month. You think he is scamming ??? All the working Thais are really hurting. that doesn't mean he was not involved with the scams does it.... wouldn't bet one ???? on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavideol Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 7 minutes ago, z42 said: Harsh and uncalled for. The man named in the article has a disabled kid. He sounds like a hard working guy who has fallen on severely hard times. If he was a tuk tuk driver i'd then have a LOT less sympathy why is that uncalled for, oh because he claimed to have a disable kid thus not involved with the speed boat scams ...to understand you correctly, if the Tuk Tuk driver had a disable kid you would have less sympathy, what's the difference, tuk tuk driver not hard as working as a speed boat driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Old Croc Posted May 4, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted May 4, 2020 Obviously there is sympathy for the little man who does the grunt work for little pay, but it's hard to feel sorry for the boating industry on this Island. Perhaps it they didn't take over popular beaches for their activities, drive fast through swimmers occasionally chopping off limbs or even killing people, crashing into each other at speed, crashing into rocks and islands, sinking or setting fire to their craft, stealing from tourists for imagined damage, etc. I might feel sorry for them. This guy could have taken up a more honest past time than working for psychopaths. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snackbar Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Bosses running thousands of tourist to Phuket’s beautiful islands make billions every year and pay their workers a pittance. Sadly these guys should realise the ‘power’ they had and refuse to work for below minimum wage. Only themselves to blame unfortunately and hopefully will come out of this more aware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post steelepulse Posted May 4, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted May 4, 2020 I agree with the above two posters. These boating companies were making a killing and they should be taking care of their employees who did the hard work and made them these large amounts of cash. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 1 hour ago, Mavideol said: why is that uncalled for, oh because he claimed to have a disable kid thus not involved with the speed boat scams ...to understand you correctly, if the Tuk Tuk driver had a disable kid you would have less sympathy, what's the difference, tuk tuk driver not hard as working as a speed boat driver So what is the scam he is involved in? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 10 minutes ago, steelepulse said: I agree with the above two posters. These boating companies were making a killing and they should be taking care of their employees who did the hard work and made them these large amounts of cash. Only some boating companies were making a killing, many had been forced to scale down. The main exception would be nonthasak, but in their market segment price negotiations are tough, so I guess even for them it was not as good as it looked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasmus5150 Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 2 hours ago, webfact said: Things were terrible even though his employer had continued to pay him half his wages. At least he is getting half of his pay - so that means he has to survive for 5.000 thb. It's not much, but it should be doable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechbum Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 44 minutes ago, Snackbar said: Bosses running thousands of tourist to Phuket’s beautiful islands make billions every year and pay their workers a pittance. Sadly these guys should realise the ‘power’ they had and refuse to work for below minimum wage. Only themselves to blame unfortunately and hopefully will come out of this more aware. Yeah, that'd work out really well for them and their families.... More aware...how ironic that comment is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Aland Posted May 4, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted May 4, 2020 3 hours ago, Mavideol said: maybe, just maybe they will learn a lesson and will stop the scams.... wishful thinking though Have you ever, and I'm speaking personally here, been scammed? I’ve probably been on at least 10 speed boat tours/trips in the past as well as several snorkeling and scuba trips and I’ve never been scammed, never even an attempted scam. I’d have to say that all of the trips I’ve been on we’re enjoyable, the people that work on the boats do great job of looking out for their passengers, they’re always friendly and very helpful. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdsa Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 4 hours ago, Mavideol said: maybe, just maybe they will learn a lesson and will stop the scams.... wishful thinking though the topic is about taxi boats, not taxi cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropposurfer Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Poor bu.g.r???? the rich won’t make as much or maybe even stop making money for a while but they won’t starve, maybe starve like this fella. The 1% of Thais who hold all the countries wealth will sit in their mansion compounds and swill whatever they chose. I saw yesterday that in the US they pay out 18 billion a year for full time worker wages, and stock market bonuses (or whatever they call it) to traders was 28 billion!!!! Have any TV members seen with their own eyes the amount of homeless vagrant people there are on the streets of the US? The bulging at the seams social service shelters n refuges across the western world? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritManToo Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Aland said: Have you ever, and I'm speaking personally here, been scammed? I’ve probably been on at least 10 speed boat tours/trips in the past as well as several snorkeling and scuba trips and I’ve never been scammed, never even an attempted scam. I’d have to say that all of the trips I’ve been on we’re enjoyable, the people that work on the boats do great job of looking out for their passengers, they’re always friendly and very helpful. Not Phuket, but they tried for a scam on a boat trip to Koh Samat, they wanted 400bht for the park entrance fee upfront, I paid the park ranger 50bht when I got off the boat. And they tried for a scam on a boat trip to Koh Libong, foreigner charge x10, I shouted until they charged me the same as everyone else. Thai price was on a notice board in Thai script, Foreigner price in Western numerals. I don't think I've been on a Thai boat without an attempted 'foreigner scam'. Edited May 4, 2020 by BritManToo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenBravo Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 As tourists slowly return, will the Speedboats and jet-ski operators improve safety and stop the scams as they finally realise who their money comes from? Or, will they ramp up scams to make up for lost revenue? I know what I would bet money on....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venom Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 11 hours ago, LivinginKata said: 10,000 baht a month. You think he is scamming ??? All the working Thais are really hurting. 711 seems to be doing okay. No shortage of manpower there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffersLos Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 12 hours ago, webfact said: He said.... Were his lips moving? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 5 hours ago, Venom said: 711 seems to be doing okay. No shortage of manpower there. Some 7/11's are closed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 10 hours ago, KarenBravo said: As tourists slowly return, will the Speedboats and jet-ski operators improve safety and stop the scams as they finally realise who their money comes from? Or, will they ramp up scams to make up for lost revenue? I know what I would bet money on....... What speedboat scams are going on? How is a guy like this scamming people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 8 minutes ago, Snackbar said: Every ticket for a tour or attraction’ in Phuket is a scam, 50% of the price is commission. <Snip> Which is not related to how he is scamming. Looks like he is not. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipButty Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 I was amazed at the amount of commission these boat companies pay out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineapple01 Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 We were told how much Tsunami cash was donated to Thailand, but never shown to this day where it all went. There should be a lot left looking at the Few places built with it for poor Covits hurt Thais. I do hope im totaly wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snackbar Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Some odd logic here. Lots of Thais in Phuket are queuing for food, yet the tourism business is worth B250,000,000,000 every year. This unfortunate and thousands of others should be asking ‘Where’s all the money?’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelepulse Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 1 hour ago, stevenl said: Which is not related to how he is scamming. Looks like he is not. The workers definitely are not scamming for the most part. However their bosses are and it would be nice if the bosses that raked in a good amount of cash since the tsunami days would now want to help out those that they employed. It appears they do not want to help out their former employees. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 3 minutes ago, steelepulse said: The workers definitely are not scamming for the most part. However their bosses are and it would be nice if the bosses that raked in a good amount of cash since the tsunami days would now want to help out those that they employed. It appears they do not want to help out their former employees. Agree, boat crew are not scamming. That reliefs us of a lot of posts in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post madmitch Posted May 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted May 5, 2020 2 hours ago, ChipButty said: I was amazed at the amount of commission these boat companies pay out Bu that's not scamming by the boat operators. They work for a net amount paid to them by the agents. The rest is kept by the agents as commission. You book a trip at the Hilton, for example, and the client will pay the amount on the brochure. Book with an agent on the street and you'll get a 50% discount. Its the agents that decide how much commission they take. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Reported flame/bickering posts removed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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