Jet Ski Scam Out Of Control Tourists Have No Hope Of Being Treated Fairly

[Tokay]

Wow, great pics.

The sad part is, no matter how much people expose them, nothing gets done about it.

The police are in on it and I have to believe they control the mayor too. Otherwise, this blatant rip-off would not continue after all this time. There is no other logical explanation.

[saintofsilence]

more jet ski scams today the following one with photo's the people were at it for about 4 hours not sure the outcome but the jet ski owners were saying there were scratches on the bottom.

the russian lady was having none of it . a foreign guy came to mediate had no success it ended up at the police station.

[saintofsilence]

this was located past royal garden towards walking st , went back later in the afternoon and the jet ski operators had a couple of young guys bailed up trying to get extra money for alledged damage.

[balo]

I would suggest you take your pictures and the story to Bangkok , all the newspapers , Police headquarters , anyone with any influence so maybe someone will actually do something about this.

[striderman]

The same group (between Soi 10 and Mike Shopping) is at it again today. Watched them scam another small group. Same cop came to their rescue.

Was this the Policeman by any chance?

Got this picture from a very interesting thread on another Pattaya forum.

It details 11 incidences of this scam, with photos.

It's in the section newbies sand box.

I assume it's against forum rules to link to it so I guess it will have to remain a "secret"

hello guys striderman here.

that 11 sequence scam with many many photos is my undercover project.

while i am sure not every rental guy is a bandit or rob every customer some of them are to be avoided.

the worst offenders are on the beach between mikes shopping mall and soi 10.

the most likely targets are groups either indian sub continent or russian.

the most favoured time to pull the big earner is late afternoon.........pack up early with a nice wad of folded.

the client rents the ski and signs a form (could be in english or not never been that close) promising to pay for all damage.

typically the ski will either be afloat or partially in the sea at the time of rental.

now almost all of them have some wear and tear on the hull which is to be expected the ski guys themselves run them onto the beach and onto trailors each night at bali hai.

on return of the ski after they have tried to flog u a photo of u on the machine.

next 1 of the ski guys will take it in a small loop out to sea and run it out of the water onto the beach

microscopic examination now follows when the scam is being played and shock and alarm are shown by the thai's as "new damage" is discovered.

a phone call is then made to bring in 1 of the senior mafia and having seen these guys in action they are not nice people.

a period of denial by the tourists then ensues during which time more and more thai's will appear (it is not possible to outnumber these guys there are just too many available on the beach) and more inspections take place.

the tourists are now hit with outrageous demands for cash and intimidated by the number of heavies.

while filming the scams go down from distance (nikon P90 .......24 x optical zoom) in some cases i was able to speak to 1 of the tourists as they left to get money for their hostage friends. figures demanded included 18,000, 15,000 (both paid) 35,000 50,000 100,000 dunno how much of this was paid in the end.

the cheapest demand was about 8,000 bht. the only 2 i saw get away free were 2 russians who spoke no english at all and the young female was huge like a soviet tractor driver............i tried to ask after they left the beach how much was asked for but they could not speak a word

this is SERIOUS money.

the times i spoke to members of the various groups away from the beach i showed them stored pics of scams on my camera but could not go back to the beach with them as it was too dangerous for me to get spotted by these guys.

so think carefully before u sign that form and rent a ski., the downside is not an extra drink on your beer tab for a greedy service girl, that's joke money.

the amounts of cash made on the beach could wipe out all your holiday funds.

and never ever rent from the area between mike shopping mall and soi 10.

i caught these guys on camera so often i created names for them, mr white shirt, mr camouflage hat mr blue sunglasses etc etc

Edited November 10, 2010 by striderman

[saintofsilence]

The same group (between Soi 10 and Mike Shopping) is at it again today. Watched them scam another small group. Same cop came to their rescue.

Was this the Policeman by any chance?

Got this picture from a very interesting thread on another Pattaya forum.

It details 11 incidences of this scam, with photos.

It's in the section newbies sand box.

I assume it's against forum rules to link to it so I guess it will have to remain a "secret"

hello guys striderman here.

that 11 sequence scam with many many photos is my undercover project.

while i am sure not every rental guy is a bandit or rob every customer some of them are to be avoided.

the worst offenders are on the beach between mikes shopping mall and soi 10.

the most likely targets are groups either indian sub continent or russian.

the most favoured time to pull the big earner is late afternoon.........pack up early with a nice wad of folded.

the client rents the ski and signs a form (could be in english or not never been that close) promising to pay for all damage.

typically the ski will either be afloat or partially in the sea at the time of rental.

now almost all of them have some wear and tear on the hull which is to be expected the ski guys themselves run them onto the beach and onto trailors each night at bali hai.

on return of the ski after they have tried to flog u a photo of u on the machine.

next 1 of the ski guys will take it in a small loop out to sea and run it out of the water onto the beach

microscopic examination now follows when the scam is being played and shock and alarm are shown by the thai's as "new damage" is discovered.

a phone call is then made to bring in 1 of the senior mafia and having seen these guys in action they are not nice people.

a period of denial by the tourists then ensues during which time more and more thai's will appear (it is not possible to outnumber these guys there are just too many available on the beach) and more inspections take place.

the tourists are now hit with outrageous demands for cash and intimidated by the number of heavies.

while filming the scams go down from distance (nikon P90 .......24 x optical zoom) in some cases i was able to speak to 1 of the tourists as they left to get money for their hostage friends. figures demanded included 18,000, 15,000 (both paid) 35,000 50,000 100,000 dunno how much of this was paid in the end.

the cheapest demand was about 8,000 bht. the only 2 i saw get away free were 2 russians who spoke no english at all and the young female was huge like a soviet tractor driver............i tried to ask after they left the beach how much was asked for but they could not speak a word

this is SERIOUS money.

the times i spoke to members of the various groups away from the beach i showed them stored pics of scams on my camera but could not go back to the beach with them as it was too dangerous for me to get spotted by these guys.

so think carefully before u sign that form and rent a ski., the downside is not an extra drink on your beer tab for a greedy service girl, that's joke money.

the amounts of cash made on the beach could wipe out all your holiday funds.

and never ever rent from the area between mike shopping mall and soi 10.

i caught these guys on camera so often i created names for them, mr white shirt, mr camouflage hat mr blue sunglasses etc etc

Hi Striderman great to see you joining this thread and excellent undercover work, you are quite correct that area in front of mikes seems to get a lot of problems but it also happens in the other areas , these problems have been going on for years the goverment and media are aware and there are reports that the police and pattaya city are trying to fix the problem and have had several meetings on the matter with no resolution.

Tourists should be aware of the problems that they can face when renting jet skis.

It would be great if you could put the pics that you took up on this thread

[gk10002000]

Great work. Keep photoing and saving things off. Put enough pressure on them and they will get pissed off, the prices may go up, etc. But at some poing, if even temporarily, some official will have to take notice.

I rented once on Ko larn with my Thai GF and had no problem. Having a Thai with me probably, I suspect minimizes the chances of the scam.

I wonder if these people gave a deposit or left any document before renting the ski? I don't remember doing that when I rented it on Ko Larn.

So sad how common this is, even for Pattaya. The darn place is a great tourist location and could profit immensely if things ran just a bit better. How about actually cleaning the water so people could swim in it?

[saintofsilence]

I would suggest you take your pictures and the story to Bangkok , all the newspapers , Police headquarters , anyone with any influence so maybe someone will actually do something about this.

Do you really think the media or police would do something ? all this information is not new most of the people have made police complaints and some stories have made the media.,

The media read this forum but probably have reasons for not doing anything about it.

I am certainly not putting myself on the front line for something that has been occurring for years with no resolve but the more attention it gets hopefully this issue does get the attention it deserves .

[saintofsilence]

This afternoon over a period of three hours I saw 7 people in 3 groups having problems and some handing extra money after hiring , two groups called police I dont know the outcomes but what I have seen these jet ski owners do is , most jet ski's that are rented out and the renters are driving fast and spinning around etc they get handed white papers for damage which cant be seen.

IT really looks like scamming is the profitable side of the business.

I have seen enough of how these people operate and ethics are thrown out the window ,hopefully some readers take some advice before renting jet skis because it could ruin your holiday completely.

[saintofsilence]

Article in Pattaya Today

New limits on jet skis

http://pattayatoday.net/news/news-from-around-pattaya/new-limits-on-jet-skis/

A Quote from the latest edition :

The police headquarters on Pattaya’s beach road experiences jet ski traumas on practically a daily basis. Tourists not anxious to pay frequently claim they suffer threats and harassment at the hands of the owners. Other than hiring the services of a lawyer, if they can find one, tourists have little formal redress other than mediation by the regular police. The Foreign Police Volunteers (FPV) have been instructed by their leadership not to become involved.

Edited November 11, 2010 by saintofsilence

[striderman]

It would be great if you could put the pics that you took up on this thread

for 1 thing my laptop and camera are in LOS and i am not much good with computers anyway so i have no idea how to copy them from there to here.

if anybody thinks contacting pattaya city hall etc etc is going to help then they have not spent enough time in Thailand.

it is only threw putting the word out on some of the thai forums to help newbies going to LOS for the first time and stop them losing their spending money for the entire trip by day 2.

[saintofsilence]

Since I have been given this more attention there are numerous scams daily all along the beach , I think anyone who can rent a jet ski without being scammed should consider themselves lucky to have been able to avoid it.

These latest 2 pictures were in front of mikes shopping mall again.

[Rimmer]

One post advocating destruction of property removed from view.

[Tokay]

thats near the police station centrale shopping centre to the right hand side.

i also know that cop from the back and he features in 2 of my 11 scam photo shoots.

he sports a big bushy tash above his top lip

Yea, I know where it is. I meant... did they ever make it INSIDE of the station OR was it settled OUTSIDE as it looks like it may have in the pic.

I'm just curious if "that policeman" came out to meet them there rather than to take it inside where it may have been resolved properly.

I also hear of people going to the police, but this photo makes me wonder if any of them actually go inside the station.

[saintofsilence]

This group did go inside and then went back outside to wait for the cop in picture. A diffent cop first went to the beach and it looked like he couldnt help , the group went to the station.

[Tokay]

This group did go inside and then went back outside to wait for the cop in picture. A different cop first went to the beach and it looked like he couldnt help , the group went to the station.

Interesting.

I wonder why he took them back outside? Maybe it's best to settle crooked cop dealings away from the 3 or 4 honest police in the station.

[saintofsilence]

I estimate this industry on pattaya beach alone is ripping off tourists about 1million baht per week , for any one who doubts me put some time in walking along the beach from noon till dusk you will see it happen everywhere.

The operators are showing old marks time and time again or stripping that has become unstuck a little it is daylight robbery and no one will do anything about it.

AS i said in my previous post if you can rent a jet ski on pattaya beach without being scammed think yourself lucky.

Today i counted 9 scams in progress one was a group of 4 indians and every one was accused of damaging the skis.

Edited November 13, 2010 by saintofsilence

[Tokay]

This isn't even a scam. It's flat out robbery.

The Mayor doesn't do anything about it either. It's all fine to have meetings discussing what you are going to do about it, but they allow it to continue.

Same with selling child porn. How can any decent government official or police officer allow that to continue to sell?

I think the problem is that so many of us get rooted here and forget "Money #1" will supersede EVERYTHING.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Rimmer
Defamation

[saintofsilence]

It looks like the local police wont help or the Tourist Police.

It would be interesting to know the reason behind why Tourist Police are not allowed to get involved I thought that was the whole purpose of them was to help tourists.

But at least all the tourists have a back up plan they can drop into 7/11 and report the crime

Edited November 13, 2010 by saintofsilence

[Danlo]

I think your over reacting, its easy, dont use them and tell everyone you meet what happens then maybe the word will spread.

[Tokay]

It looks like the local police wont help or the Tourist Police.

It would be interesting to know the reason behind why Tourist Police are not allowed to get involved I thought that was the whole purpose of them was to help tourists.

But at least all the tourists have a back up plan they can drop into 7/11 and report the crime

You know something is fishy when they have been told to stay out of it, considering their job is to HELP TOURISTS.

BTW... I walked into the 7-11 nearest me a few days ago and was asking the boy at the counter about the police reporting. Of the 8 or so kids working at that time, not one knew anything about it. I'm guessing it's still in the planning stages?

[striderman]

I estimate this industry on pattaya beach alone is ripping off tourists about 1million baht per week , for any one who doubts me put some time in walking along the beach from noon till dusk you will see it happen everywhere.

The operators are showing old marks time and time again or stripping that has become unstuck a little it is daylight robbery and no one will do anything about it.

AS i said in my previous post if you can rent a jet ski on pattaya beach without being scammed think yourself lucky.

Today i counted 9 scams in progress one was a group of 4 indians and every one was accused of damaging the skis.

the problem is there is so much money to be made at this.

the smallest amount in the scams i saw was a demand for 8,000 bht, thats 170.00 sterling.

i actually witnessed 2 payments being made of 15,000 (319.00 sterling )and 18,000 bht (382.00 sterling)

the largest demand i heard was 100,000 bht (over 2 grand)

now even if by negotiation the tourists reduce the amount to 50 % that's still huge amounts of cash.

and remember it does not matter how tough u think u are or how many there are in the tourist party, they will always be outnumbered and outnumbered by nasty people who will go to weapons first and use them. these guys are practised at it.

its what they do. its their job and they are good at it. the tourist does not stand a chance and is merely a falang in their country.

[pattayapeople2]

Your only hope is to request this be sorted out at the police station. The police will not help you in anyway but you can't be arrested. I would then get a helicopter to airlift from the roof of the station. Even if you jumped into a waiting car from the back door, they could attack the car in an effort to get to you. I would consider pretending you can't speak English when they try it on. It just might not be worth their while to intimidate you if you can't understand them.

If it was me, I would get them to sort it with me at the police station and then try to make a mad dash for Central Festival. Maybe lose them there? Doubtful but at least you won't get assaulted.

Edited November 14, 2010 by pattayapeople2

[Tolley]

I have never had the inclination to rent a jet ski and truth be said the guys who tout the services look pretty dodgy.

But if they did try it on me I would opt for going to the Police Station.

How much is a jet ski worth anyway?

I can't believe the amounts they are demanding for a bit of superficial damage.

[tropiccapricorn]

I think your over reacting, its easy, dont use them and tell everyone you meet what happens then maybe the word will spread.

I suppose anybody having lived here for some time and knowing what is going on wouldn't dare touch any of them

things. But those new arrivels in holyday mood could get it.

It reminds me of that criminal scam at the airport, it being reported to the Thai authorities didn't

do anything. Only when BBC reported it around the globe, did the PM do the jump and now one hopes that will be

setteled for ever.

[saintofsilence]

I think your over reacting, its easy, dont use them and tell everyone you meet what happens then maybe the word will spread.

I don't know how you can define over reacting unless you haven't read the whole post ,innocent tourist including family's are getting scammed everyday from these people , a lot of people save for a long time to come on holiday and to lose a lot of that money just by going for a fun ride on a jet ski is wrong.

How many people would rent them if they knew they could they had no back up from the police and could lose a few thousand dollars including getting assaulted for marks that they never put on the ski's in the first place.

[saintofsilence]

Many people with connections in Pattaya including MEDIA , Expats Clubs , Tourist Police etc are Thai Visa Members and they can do something about this for the benefit of all tourists to thailand it is a safety issue and also criminal.

Why is this whole scam issue ignored and not been pushed harder ?

What is the reason that tourist police wont act ?

[Tokay]

Why is this whole scam issue ignored and not been pushed harder ?

Why do you think it is allowed to continue?

There are three scenarios.

1) Those who could do something are afraid of the consequences if they do.

2) Those who could do something are getting a piece of the pie.

3) Those who could do something are controlled by the same mafia that is running the scam.

[saintofsilence]

This afternoon outside royal garden 2 iranian guys were being scammed and they did not want to pay money , the jet ski operator calls in another farang as a mediator who;s photo is on a previous pick , I have seen him 3 times with the royal garden crew it looks like he is on the jet ski payroll or why else would he do it ?

Later I saw the Iranians get into a tourist police car so not sure hoe much help[ they got.

[jori]

As one does and a little curious I ventured down to the Beach Road to see for myself any scams taking place. Lo and behold 10 minutes into propping a tree up and saying" no thanks" to a couple of smiling ladies,the first jet ski arrives from the 20 minute turn,all smiles and pointing to the damage from the owners who met the ski jet on the beach,then quickly turns nasty.

Sauntered down to groups to overhear the heated conversation and did mention the universal scams taking place within hearing of the Thai operator to the accused,who responded that he was not in on it. Anyway the guy said he was not paying anything and I think he just turned and left