Phuket Acts To Clean Up Jet-ski Woes

[Toosetinmyways]

In Pattaya a few years ago. one Billy Idol (look him up in Wikipedia) rented a jet ski. Being Billy he totaled it. The Thai press was full about how these irresponsible rock stars behavior. Roger C from the Bangkok Post praised Billy and said he had done the Thai tourist industry a great service by getting rid of one of these infernal machines. Circa 1985!!!!!

[Insight]

In Pattaya a few years ago. one Billy Idol (look him up in Wikipedia) rented a jet ski. Being Billy he totaled it. The Thai press was full about how these irresponsible rock stars behavior. Roger C from the Bangkok Post praised Billy and said he had done the Thai tourist industry a great service by getting rid of one of these infernal machines. Circa 1985!!!!!

Completely off-topic, but according to Behind The Music on VH1, Billy had to be removed from his penthouse suite (full of drugs and ho's) by the Thai military after being sellotaped to the mattress of the hotel room bed.

Go Billy.

Of course, being minted and staying in a more desirable location makes him a more desirable tourist regardless.

[PattayaBunLover]

I wasn't comparing it to anywhere else dummy. Taking a leaf out of your book and making assumptions (been around the world twice thanks), I'd say you're the least qualified to talk about delectable destinations going by your nick.

I made that statement to offer some balance from the rest of the thread and the dregs of the place in general. Sure, there are better beaches - Boracay Island and the beaches of the Calamians off the northeast coast of Central Palawan immediately come to mind - but what do those places have to do with Phuket? It is a stunning island and may I suggest next time to perhaps get yourself out of Patong, head into the hills on a mountain bike if you know how to ride, and then perhaps discover one or two of the hidden, non-touristy beaches toward the south. Also, if you haven't seen it, Kata Noi is on a no-thru road and is one of the nicer accessible beaches.

You're the one who made the statement that Phuket was a "stunning" island with some "fantastic" beaches...and now you don't want to defend it? I stand by my opinion that Phuket is a rinky-dink little island (you can circumvent it in a couple hours), with little natural, historical, or cultural charm (I'm sorry but Phuket Fantasea doesn't count.). Sure, there are a couple decent beaches (any tropical island has these) and a few remaining examples of Sino-Portuguese architecture in Phuket City and surrounding areas. But one the whole, it's been way over-developed and over-exploited in the rush to make a baht. Most of the hillsides of Phuket are slowly being destroyed by housing developments or being stripped away to provide fill soil for developments in the popular coastal areas of the island.

I have been to Phuket maybe a dozen times or more over the past decade and stayed all over the island and seen or relaxed on most of its beaches, including all the Western side from Rawai up to Surin, the Cape Panwa peninsula area, Chalong Bay, and Phuket City. Therefore, I believe I am qualified to state my opinions of the islands notwithstanding the fact that I have never seen the island by bike (I prefer my air-conditioned car, thank you.).

[Toosetinmyways]

In Pattaya a few years ago. one Billy Idol (look him up in Wikipedia) rented a jet ski. Being Billy he totaled it. The Thai press was full about how these irresponsible rock stars behavior. Roger C from the Bangkok Post praised Billy and said he had done the Thai tourist industry a great service by getting rid of one of these infernal machines. Circa 1985!!!!!

Completely off-topic, but according to Behind The Music on VH1, Billy had to be removed from his penthouse suite (full of drugs and ho's) by the Thai military after being sellotaped to the mattress of the hotel room bed.

Go Billy.

Of course, being minted and staying in a more desirable location makes him a more desirable tourist regardless.

My Idol.

Must try that. Sellotaped to a mattress. Beats the sh-- out of wrecking a jet ski

[beachlife]

This same scam has been happening on Samui for years.

I was at Samui this July, and jetski mafia was doing this daily for tourist.

[animatic]

This same scam has been happening on Samui for years.

I was at Samui this July, and jetski mafia was doing this daily for tourist.

The only ones renting jetski's here are the ones that never got the memo.

Stay away from the jetski boys.

[sunreader]

I've rented jet ski's in Pattaya on several occassions, no contract, no problems, maybe I've just been lucky.

I am surprised though that the Marines didn't pay "JJ" and his friends a more vigorous visit shall we say?

[Insight]

Police furious over 'staged' video nasties

Clips 'not intended to harm tourism industry'

Widely distributed video recordings of foreign tourists reputedly being ripped off over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents have been made to damage Thailand's tourism reputation, authorities say.

The producers of the video clips - shown on British cable television and YouTube - and the victims of the alleged scams have denied the accusation.

Pol Lt Gen Santhan Chayanont, chief of Provincial Police Region 8 which covers the upper South, yesterday said efforts to tarnish Thailand's image might be coordinated.

MORE: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2390...d-video-nasties

-- Bangkok Post

[Thai at Heart]

Police furious over 'staged' video nasties

Clips 'not intended to harm tourism industry'

Widely distributed video recordings of foreign tourists reputedly being ripped off over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents have been made to damage Thailand's tourism reputation, authorities say.

The producers of the video clips - shown on British cable television and YouTube - and the victims of the alleged scams have denied the accusation.

Pol Lt Gen Santhan Chayanont, chief of Provincial Police Region 8 which covers the upper South, yesterday said efforts to tarnish Thailand's image might be coordinated.

MORE: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2390...d-video-nasties

-- Bangkok Post

Everyone knew what was coming with this show. It was obvious with Bravo's previous exposes of this type that the stories weren't going to be particularly complementary.

[PoorSucker]

Police furious over 'staged' video nasties

Clips 'not intended to harm tourism industry'

Widely distributed video recordings of foreign tourists reputedly being ripped off over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents have been made to damage Thailand's tourism reputation, authorities say.

The producers of the video clips - shown on British cable television and YouTube - and the victims of the alleged scams have denied the accusation.

Pol Lt Gen Santhan Chayanont, chief of Provincial Police Region 8 which covers the upper South, yesterday said efforts to tarnish Thailand's image might be coordinated.

MORE: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2390...d-video-nasties

-- Bangkok Post

Always blame the messenger.

[Insight]

"Moronic" doesn't even begin....

[mrtoad]

Police furious over 'staged' video nasties

Clips 'not intended to harm tourism industry'

Widely distributed video recordings of foreign tourists reputedly being ripped off over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents have been made to damage Thailand's tourism reputation, authorities say.

The producers of the video clips - shown on British cable television and YouTube - and the victims of the alleged scams have denied the accusation.

Pol Lt Gen Santhan Chayanont, chief of Provincial Police Region 8 which covers the upper South, yesterday said efforts to tarnish Thailand's image might be coordinated.

MORE: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2390...d-video-nasties

-- Bangkok Post

What a surprising response from the BIB. They really are as crap with excuses, as they are with actual policing.

[Soupdragon]

Jet-Ski Scams: Fresh Round of Talks on Friday

From Phuketwan.

TALKS are underway among Phuket jet-ski operators to change their methods and eliminate scams from their businesses.

Insurance is not possible because under Thai law, the jet-skis are for sport only and cannot be rented to others, the president of the Bang Tao Jet-Ski Association, Anusorn Sale, told Phuketwan today.

The operators were given a week by the Governor, Wichai Praisa-nob, to reach their own agreement on how to operate legitimately and to put suggestions to him.

So no insurance because it is not legal to rent out jetskis. Nice little get out there. Edited September 16, 2009 by Soupdragon

[LivinLOS]

Whats so funny is at the same time as they start claiming they are going to clean the town up, just last night they started a brand new uniform for thieves !! I have been sort of ranting in the jetski threads how the people who run Patong see the fleecing of tourists as the right of the locals.. How all the cliques goes far beyond one or two bad apples and how the entire system backs up the scammers. Its seen as fair to do what they like to tourists.

Some people may be familiar with the Patong gogo tout thugs.. This bunch of drug dealing, slime balls physically threaten gogo owners into allowing them to continue their scam.. They have shot a gun into spicy (hitting a gogo dancer), they sent a death wreath to a gogo owners young family I know, threatened his wife and kids, they have vandalized his car (he has resisted them in 2 of his gogos) and generally act above the law.

In case anyone doesnt know what they do is entice people into a gogo and then that persons drink is 500 baht on top of the drink price.. If they take a crowd of 4 or 5 they pull a few 1000 out of the scam and the tourists get clipped.. Same as any clip joint worldwide. Its a pure scam and it operates only on tourist ignorance that they are being targeted. If they resist paying the touts are quick to attack and back this up with violence also.

They are allowed to operate with impunity as they pay the police, per tout.. As you can see this is a lucrative scam.. If they manage a few people a night its a few 1000 baht nightly stolen in this con and they can afford to pay upstream to their police handlers. At first there were just a few at the end of seadragon then the police started demanding protection money to let them operate... Once they paid that then they can act like thugs, beat up any farang that argues his 500 baht beer, they also have some hand in dealing yaba to the gogo girls in seadragon, lean on the gogo owners etc.. The payment to the police gives them the right to act up and miss behave, and its become very profitable stuffing peoples bins, so profit brings more touts, who pay more police protection, hence are encouraged by the police and the soi owner and hated by the gogo owners who get all the bad rep and have to collect the massive bills of disgusted customers.

In the last few months their numbers have gone from a few annoyances at the end of seadragon to covering all of bangla.. pushing poeople into Pirate bar and others and demanding their 'finders fee'.. Now as of last night they have been issued vests like licensed motorcy taxis and carry laminated 'bar representative cards' !! This is some kind of attempt to put a legitimate face on what is essentially a total scam.. Whats next ?? Legitimate licensed lady boy pick pockets ?? Thai union cards for muggers ?? Licensed drug dealers (dont get me started.. That IS the situation with the reggae bar) ??

The governor is making all kinds of noises about stamping out the scams and bad apples.. As tho its one or two bad people among the 'normal population' yet while he does this the police are just laughing at him with their little army of thug touts each out there every night ripping off the tourists providing no service whatsoever and demanding money with menaces, and now they have a uniform !! Of course the reason they have a uniform is purely so the police can see whose paying their fees upstream now you cant be a thief without the little thief coat cos you have to pay the police for your thieving rights !!

The whole thing is laughably disgusting !!

[ukrules]

Widely distributed video recordings of foreign tourists reputedly being ripped off over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents have been made to damage Thailand's tourism reputation, authorities say.

The shiny reputation that they are portraying right now is undeserved so it's no wonder these videos have eventually emerged. As far as I'm concerned they are just showing people the way it is, if that tarnishes the reputation it's only because the current reputation is a lie.

[WAERTH]

I have watched the 2 episodes and it only tarnishes the reputation of the Brits to be honest ......

If I had never met a Brit before I would have come to the conclusion that all of them are a bunch of rawdy criminal troublemakers hellbent on breaking the law in another country and then complain that they have been caught!

The Thais actually come out all right in most of it. The only bad part for Thailand really is the jet sky scam.

How many countries allow foreign police volunteers to help out tourists in trouble? I had to laugh at Howards Thai though ... I had expected it to be better. And the Pattaya foreign police volunteers look rather dodgy in their looks and behaviour. But the Samui and Phuket volunteers look rather good in the way they act and behave! So overall that is a rather good point.

So all in all I do not know what the Thai police is complaining about!

[ukrules]

And the Pattaya foreign police volunteers look rather dodgy in their looks and behaviour.

Yes, judging a book by it's cover is always the best policy.

[dmax]

i would guess that little punk jj is not doing too much business now after the documentary was shown,,,som nom na !! his greed for 40-000 thb is now going to cost him way more in the long run...... i would have shoved that rifle up the little fecker s asshol_e !!

Edited September 16, 2009 by dmax

[WAERTH]

And the Pattaya foreign police volunteers look rather dodgy in their looks and behaviour.

Yes, judging a book by it's cover is always the best policy.

Human behaviour 101 people always judge by first appearances.

I have never met any of them in real life so I cannot judge how they are. I just said what my first impressions were.

W

[DLock]

LOS, I agree.

I have seen these Touts increase from a few, to literally hundreds over the last year. They only need 1 or 2 customers a night to make decent coin.

Their saving seems to be that on the reverse of the laminated "sex show menu" is a price list of drinks, and that seems to be the way they are getting around the problem. I have looked at the rear menu and the drinks are clearly marked at 500 baht for a beer. No confusion.

Their MO is the usual chatter of "Ping Pong show...banana show...sex show" and usually a couple of lads on their first night in Bangla looks at the show menu and asks when is the show starting. The answer is always "5 minutes". They never show the drinks menu and green tourists never think to look.

I'm sure some groups have had 3 or 4 drinks each as they wait that "5 minutes" for the show to start, only to get a nasty surprise when the bill comes. Can only imagine the low-lifes waiting for it to all kick off. The few times I've seen the Tourist Police involved, the bill had to be paid.

I really hate to see people ripped off, especially tourists who are here for a great holiday and are very trusting. I feel like stepping in to warn people when I see the scam happening in front of me. But I also know better that to get between a Thai and money. Bad things happen.

[LivinLOS]

LOS, I agree.

I have seen these Touts increase from a few, to literally hundreds over the last year. They only need 1 or 2 customers a night to make decent coin.

Their saving seems to be that on the reverse of the laminated "sex show menu" is a price list of drinks, and that seems to be the way they are getting around the problem. I have looked at the rear menu and the drinks are clearly marked at 500 baht for a beer. No confusion.

Their MO is the usual chatter of "Ping Pong show...banana show...sex show" and usually a couple of lads on their first night in Bangla looks at the show menu and asks when is the show starting. The answer is always "5 minutes". They never show the drinks menu and green tourists never think to look.

I'm sure some groups have had 3 or 4 drinks each as they wait that "5 minutes" for the show to start, only to get a nasty surprise when the bill comes. Can only imagine the low-lifes waiting for it to all kick off. The few times I've seen the Tourist Police involved, the bill had to be paid.

I really hate to see people ripped off, especially tourists who are here for a great holiday and are very trusting. I feel like stepping in to warn people when I see the scam happening in front of me. But I also know better that to get between a Thai and money. Bad things happen.

Its not so much that it happens... But the fact the police have now licensed it !!

It just means that the police handlers really dont give a fuc_k.. And will continue to extort and steal with no thought for the future and reputation.

[Insight]

i would guess that little punk jj is not doing too much business now after the documentary was shown,,,som nom na !! his greed for 40-000 thb is now going to cost him way more in the long run...... i would have shoved that rifle up the little fecker s asshol_e !!

The thing is mate, he probably still is. I would be very surprised if his trade has suffered in the slightest.

This documentary is obviously very popular amongst the expats, but barely shows up on the radar back in the UK and probably unheard of anywhere else in the world.

The only way JJ will suffer is through the cops actually enforcing the law - something that clearly isn't going to happen any time soon.

[LivinLOS]

i would guess that little punk jj is not doing too much business now after the documentary was shown,,,som nom na !! his greed for 40-000 thb is now going to cost him way more in the long run...... i would have shoved that rifle up the little fecker s asshol_e !!

The thing is mate, he probably still is. I would be very surprised if his trade has suffered in the slightest.

This documentary is obviously very popular amongst the expats, but barely shows up on the radar back in the UK and probably unheard of anywhere else in the world.

The only way JJ will suffer is through the cops actually enforcing the law - something that clearly isn't going to happen any time soon.

The day after he was bailed he was back working on the beach..

[KevinBloodyWilson]

i would guess that little punk jj is not doing too much business now after the documentary was shown,,,som nom na !! his greed for 40-000 thb is now going to cost him way more in the long run...... i would have shoved that rifle up the little fecker s asshol_e !!

The thing is mate, he probably still is. I would be very surprised if his trade has suffered in the slightest.

This documentary is obviously very popular amongst the expats, but barely shows up on the radar back in the UK and probably unheard of anywhere else in the world.

The only way JJ will suffer is through the cops actually enforcing the law - something that clearly isn't going to happen any time soon.

The day after he was bailed he was back working on the beach..

How very unexpected. It will quietly be forgotten and he will pick up the bail money (less a commission) when it is decided there is 'insufficient evidence' to prosecute. When a Thai is suspected of fleecing a foreigner, there will always be 'insufficient evidence'. Will the foreigner come back in 2 years to be a witness? Of course not.

[xminator]

I might be arrested for cannabis posession PARTY PARTY

Brain of a 18-year-old, and why this documentary wont affect tourism the slightest. Same can be said about sailors on shore leave, unless the navies in question decides to stop somewhere else in the world where drunken sailors can do whatever young drunk people do best - that is nowhere in the world... And Pattaya? This series is not the first to show that flipside of that coin. Stopping the trade of Pattaya? I doubt its possible unless the city is shut down by those that profit from the trade - very unlikly...

The JJ episode is so far the only thing that have been really controversial. Drunk people behaving stupid you find in any part of the world. Young people ruining their future by not thinking? Happens anywhere. In my country beeing cought public with a bottle of bear will cost you the possibility of a US visa for life. In the case with the girl beeing caught with cannabis the thai legal system showed itself from a very positive side. Fast handling and a fair verdict by any standards.

Then you have the guy that been in jail for 1 year 6 months without beeing found guilty. Thats 3rd world standards that should shame whoever responsible more then the JJ episode.

[marsteele]

saw this on Thai T>V today channel 3 it has also made the news in Australia definately not good publicity for the thai tourism industry. Seems Thais keep shooting themselves in the foot. It has been reported in Aust along with this story that there are hundreds of scams going on directed soley at tourists. Thailand has to take control and clean up it's image before it's to late. A festering sore without treatment will kill you eventually.

[Hawk]

You all seem to forget that many Thai people do indeed have a superiority complex, they think that they know all the answers, all the time, never need help or advice from a foreigner, in fact many think that Thailand would be much better off if foreigners were banned from entering.

So, isn't it great if you are an xenophobic Thai person?

[KevinBloodyWilson]

saw this on Thai T>V today channel 3 it has also made the news in Australia definately not good publicity for the thai tourism industry. Seems Thais keep shooting themselves in the foot. It has been reported in Aust along with this story that there are hundreds of scams going on directed soley at tourists. Thailand has to take control and clean up it's image before it's to late. A festering sore without treatment will kill you eventually.

This is like AIDS, or the plague. When you get the visible symptoms, it's already too late.

[007]

Phuket acts to clean up jet-ski woes

Officials would also look into reports that some operators use Burmese workers as jet-ski boys.

What, again? They do this every month!

It's dem evil Burmese, dat's wot it is, I'm tellin' ya.

When my bag was stolen on the beach in Phuket in 1999, fingers were pointed at the Burmese nearby, while the real culprit, caught later, was in fact a little Thai girl. When my wallet was stolen in 2007 in Bangkok, I was told it cannot have been a Thai, as 'Thais don't do such things, but it probably was a Filipino or other foreigner' pickpocket. (Reviewing the day in 2007, I am very sure now that the thief was a female Thai uni student.)

It's nice, if you can always point the finger at foreigners, or minorities, e.g. muslims, hill tribes, etc. etc...

[Splatter]

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people who have been ripped off - went back after hours and trashed the jetski shed. ...maybe wearing ski masks, maybe carrying weapons. The extorting punks who've been ripping people off for years sure deserve as much.

I'm sure those Royal Marines could have come back with some interesting toys from the ship and extracted some sort of payback. Ten or 15 Thai/Burmese thugs wouldn't stand a chance.

Yes, the Royal Marines could have.

I'd say they will just write it off to experience.

Their behaviour throughout was pretty near impeccable.

Well done to their police officer.

Well done to the "muppet" of a lad, who even though had slipped up mentioning he would pay 35,000 (in another clip) coughed up without losing his temper or doing anything daft.