Pattaya Jetskis

[striderman]

There are many reports of them editing photo's on the memory card and removing scratches while jet ski is out on the water a lot of tourist have no idea that the scammers are capable of this , some jet ski operators even show the tourist souvenir plates with the photo in it which proves that they are going to a photo shop...

Sorry, this is hard to believe and your credibility with me has suffered because of it. I think you may be a bit too invested in this to the point where you're overdoing things. "There are many reports..." Really? Where?

u ask for many reports? well i have done over 30 all with photos all posted elsewhere. I do not live in pattaya only coming for holidays and as the ski guys do not wait for me to land at swampy u can assume that is the tip of a very large iceberg.

in 1 of the most recent cases about 10 days ago i spoke to the 2 english guys at length after they left the beach. they were done 20,000 bht for nothing.

[IAMSOBAD]

Some people never read all the facts or an entire thread...but love to make posts that accuse REAL posters of lying.

Boooooooooooooring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jimmyd]

You just don't get it do you Jimmy , I do my research I have also seen the scammers send someone away after taking photo's like others have verified. , your suggestion that they can use an older photo does not give the scammers claim as much strength as it does a nice new photo with the person being scammed sitting on a jet ski with no scratches.

In my previous post I never said that I had seen it as I don't expect people to take my word only , but if you have the time to do research Jimmy even just on a couple of forums in Pattaya you will gather more evedince that makes this allegation credible. Also while you are searching take a note of how many people that were scammed say similar quotes like this "they must have a done something to the photos I hit nothing"

I have looked. I have seen no evidence of doctored photos, only allegations and suspicions. I still find it hard to believe the scammers would go to such lengths. It's possible, but I remain skeptical. As I said before, you are better off sticking to the facts--the doctored photo issue is not relevant, it's just a detail of the scam. The important thing is *the scam is going on.* Stay focused on that. In addition, getting all worked up about my posts does you and your friends no good either. Stay calm and focused and you'll get your point across much better.

[IAMSOBAD]

I personally saw it all.

Dont let a moron hijack this thread.

If he doesnt bielieve about violence or doctored photos let him go rent a jet ski and learn first hand.

I wanted to have a meeting about this but my post was not allowed.

Please all people be very careful with these jet ski people...they are armed.

[morphic]

Once I saw the aforementioned aggressive behavior being doled out to some innocent chaps, I realized its serious nature. I have a hunch that the people who are investing a lot of well spent energy in informing the naive of the real danger, have either experienced it; witnessed it; talked to people who were victims, or - being concerned citizens - researched the matter. This is a very serious issue! Always remember one thing about Pattaya. If you are attacked - except in a few rare cases - no one will come to your aid!

Sadly, as I am a long time downtown Pattaya resident - who used to really enjoy gallivanting around the beach area, I think that Pattaya is definitely going down hill, or perhaps the economic downturn has just evaporated the fog.

Lets not get side tracked by small details. What matters is the scam is going on everyday and it isn't acceptable. The question now is what action can we take to fight it?

Where the law itself is involved and where the perpetrators are vicious gangs of thugs it seems hard to imagine any way to even slow it down.

I suppose most posters are experienced Pattaya people, we are savvy, we steer clear of bad people, the scams and other dangers of Thailand and Pattaya in particuliar. So for us it is our knowledge and experience. And I am afraid all we can do is try to pass that on, i.e. education is the only weapon we have to do our bit. We aren't going to storm the beach and fight these people, we aren't going to convince the law to clean up their act and we won't convince the Thai government that they need to clamp down on Pattaya.

We just need to ask ourselves on which ways we can help broaden awareness of this and other issues.

Do all embassies include this in their travel warnings? Does the UK, does Russia, does India, do the Arab countries. These embassies and their consulates should be informed and asked about this.

Have airlines considered distributing a list of do's and don't about Thailand to passengers?

Would Pattaya hotels be willing to display a list of do's and don't's for Pattaya to their guests, perhaps when checking in?

Do people have suggestions, does anyone agree with my thoughts and if yes, then what steps can we now take and are there any Thai people that may help? Would the mayor act as a conduit for us, he may be better received by the hotels and consulate and airlines etc, than a bunch of concerned "tourists"?

[IAMSOBAD]

Stay calm and focused?

You and your friends?

Who died and made the passive aggresive J the new hall monitor?

ONE MORE TIME...I personally saw them use a camera to make their point with their farang victims. They used doctored photos...gangs of men...weapons...and basic hostage taking.

Case closed!!!!!!!

[striderman]

just got back from the beach which was quiet as a lot of falangs were again defending beach rd bars against asstd thai pick up trucks with water butts.<br>but not enough (just after sunset)  to stop 1 going down just the walking st side of the best friend bars. this time a couple of indians getting kebabed.<br>as to the question of the pic photoshopping, i am sure it is happening in some cases as i had watched some ski guys take several pics of the clients on the ski and then show them the pics when they came back to shore.<br>at first i had assumed poor pixel quality not showing up existing damage but the last 2 brits i talked to 1 was convinced the photo's had been shopped.*<br>so to me the photoshopping makes perfect sense as the punter is shown a pic of himself on a perfect ski together with the paper he signed promising to pay for any damage.<br>when u consider the amounts of money involved a little icing on the cake is a small price to pay when they stand to collect 10,s of thousands of bht

<br><br><br>*they had been shouted at and threatened for 3 hrs by the time they did their deal at 20,000 bht having started at 50,000 bht. I got the details off them having taken them to a bar to calm down as they were pretty hyper and get their side of the story. <br>

Edited April 16, 2011 by striderman

[IAMSOBAD]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

[saintofsilence]

2 minutes with PSP:

Thats a great example this needs putting on the Pattaya facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/PattayaFuture

Edited April 16, 2011 by saintofsilence

[saintofsilence]

Once I saw the aforementioned aggressive behavior being doled out to some innocent chaps, I realized its serious nature. I have a hunch that the people who are investing a lot of well spent energy in informing the naive of the real danger, have either experienced it; witnessed it; talked to people who were victims, or - being concerned citizens - researched the matter. This is a very serious issue! Always remember one thing about Pattaya. If you are attacked - except in a few rare cases - no one will come to your aid!

Sadly, as I am a long time downtown Pattaya resident - who used to really enjoy gallivanting around the beach area, I think that Pattaya is definitely going down hill, or perhaps the economic downturn has just evaporated the fog.

Lets not get side tracked by small details. What matters is the scam is going on everyday and it isn't acceptable. The question now is what action can we take to fight it?

Where the law itself is involved and where the perpetrators are vicious gangs of thugs it seems hard to imagine any way to even slow it down.

I suppose most posters are experienced Pattaya people, we are savvy, we steer clear of bad people, the scams and other dangers of Thailand and Pattaya in particuliar. So for us it is our knowledge and experience. And I am afraid all we can do is try to pass that on, i.e. education is the only weapon we have to do our bit. We aren't going to storm the beach and fight these people, we aren't going to convince the law to clean up their act and we won't convince the Thai government that they need to clamp down on Pattaya.

We just need to ask ourselves on which ways we can help broaden awareness of this and other issues.

Do all embassies include this in their travel warnings? Does the UK, does Russia, does India, do the Arab countries. These embassies and their consulates should be informed and asked about this.

Have airlines considered distributing a list of do's and don't about Thailand to passengers?

Would Pattaya hotels be willing to display a list of do's and don't's for Pattaya to their guests, perhaps when checking in?

Do people have suggestions, does anyone agree with my thoughts and if yes, then what steps can we now take and are there any Thai people that may help? Would the mayor act as a conduit for us, he may be better received by the hotels and consulate and airlines etc, than a bunch of concerned "tourists"?

There are six embassies that have warnings Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada , UK and Ireland. but I am unsure about Russia India or the Arab Countries

Edited April 16, 2011 by saintofsilence

[surangw]

how much longer before the scum bags don't even bother with the jet ski phase and just go about robbing by threat and force?

[CHdiver]

There are six embassies that have warnings Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada , UK and Ireland. but I am unsure about Russia India or the Arab Countries

Switzerland has a warning too since February this year.

[Jimmyd]

Stay calm and focused?

You and your friends?

Who died and made the passive aggresive J the new hall monitor?

Wow, amazing reaction.

ONE MORE TIME...I personally saw them use a camera to make their point with their farang victims. They used doctored photos...gangs of men...weapons...and basic hostage taking.

Case closed!!!!!!!

Thank god you closed the case. If you saw people using a camera to make their point, that obviously proves they've doctored photos.

Wait a minute. That doesn't prove anything. Even if what you say is the gospel truth, all it proves is that they used a camera.

It seems that you (and others in this thread) are unable to accept any criticism. If anyone says anything that might contradict you, even if it is irrelevant to the main point, you go off on a rampage claiming you've been victimized by a 'new hall monitor.' This is a discussion board. People post opinions. If you had perhaps listened to what I said, you might have learned and this thread might have gotten better.

I will try once again, though I fear it is a lost cause given your reaction up to now, the doctored photo issue is irrelevant, unnecessary and counterproductive until you have solid evidence of it. Until then it only damages the reputations of those who claim it is true. Seeing a guy go off on a motorcycle just doesn't cut it.

In addition, attacking people as you have done to me, also distracts from the issue and damages the credibility of this thread unnecessarily.

Best of luck to you all in trying to stop this scam.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Jimmyd

[smedly]

bickering here solves nothing

as simple solution to the photo edit issue is to record the exact time on the form as the photo's are taken, I agree that it wouldn't be difficult to set up a computer near by in an office or similar, take a couple of miniutes to edit a photo and with practise a few seconds, they are seemingly trying to make their case water tight by any means

[pauljones]

Thai scammer doctoring photos?

Hard to believe.....

[Jingthing]

Here's an idea.

Life imprisonment for doctoring a photo intended to use to illegally scam people with false evidence.

Reward for turning in these photoshop artists -- 100,000K baht. Paid by TAT.

[IAMSOBAD]

The use of the doctored photo is the MOST IMPORTANT part of their scam.

They do it to show the before and after of the ride.

Enough of the naysayers.

Go to the beach and looooooooooook.

[saintofsilence]

They would be using a shop to photoshop the images also I have seen one group come back with the small plates on a couple of times the same as the parachute tours sell so this shows that they are going to photo shops.

And at one location the tourist police turned up and the scammer pulled a photo out of his bag.

People saying that this part of the scam should not be exposed are wrong every part of the scam needs highlighting so people are aware.

This information provides solid evidence to the authorities if investigated correctly.

Edited April 17, 2011 by saintofsilence

[pauljones]

They would be using a shop to photoshop the images also I have seen one group come back with the small plates on a couple of times the same as the parachute tours sell so this shows that they are going to photo shops.

And at one location the tourist police turned up and the scammer pulled a photo out of his bag.

People saying that this part of the scam should not be exposed are wrong every part of the scam needs highlighting so people are aware.

This information provides solid evidence to the authorities if investigated correctly.

How hard would it be for someone to follow them to the shop and document them altering the images?

That would be fun.

Have the jet Ski Mafia presented these doctored photos to the Mayor?

If so, can a photoshop expert view the images and see if there is any fraud going on?

[saintofsilence]

Since all the recent publicity of the scam they have slowed down a bit but it is still going on , they pick their targets mostly later in the afternoon and not while the marine police are in the area or anchored off shore.

The most popular target is a group of two or three people late in the afternoon these guys would not last 24 hours if they tried it in countries like the USA Aus uk etc

[morphic]

Once I saw the aforementioned aggressive behavior being doled out to some innocent chaps, I realized its serious nature. I have a hunch that the people who are investing a lot of well spent energy in informing the naive of the real danger, have either experienced it; witnessed it; talked to people who were victims, or - being concerned citizens - researched the matter. This is a very serious issue! Always remember one thing about Pattaya. If you are attacked - except in a few rare cases - no one will come to your aid!

Sadly, as I am a long time downtown Pattaya resident - who used to really enjoy gallivanting around the beach area, I think that Pattaya is definitely going down hill, or perhaps the economic downturn has just evaporated the fog.

Lets not get side tracked by small details. What matters is the scam is going on everyday and it isn't acceptable. The question now is what action can we take to fight it?

Where the law itself is involved and where the perpetrators are vicious gangs of thugs it seems hard to imagine any way to even slow it down.

I suppose most posters are experienced Pattaya people, we are savvy, we steer clear of bad people, the scams and other dangers of Thailand and Pattaya in particuliar. So for us it is our knowledge and experience. And I am afraid all we can do is try to pass that on, i.e. education is the only weapon we have to do our bit. We aren't going to storm the beach and fight these people, we aren't going to convince the law to clean up their act and we won't convince the Thai government that they need to clamp down on Pattaya.

We just need to ask ourselves on which ways we can help broaden awareness of this and other issues.

Do all embassies include this in their travel warnings? Does the UK, does Russia, does India, do the Arab countries. These embassies and their consulates should be informed and asked about this.

Have airlines considered distributing a list of do's and don't about Thailand to passengers?

Would Pattaya hotels be willing to display a list of do's and don't's for Pattaya to their guests, perhaps when checking in?

Do people have suggestions, does anyone agree with my thoughts and if yes, then what steps can we now take and are there any Thai people that may help? Would the mayor act as a conduit for us, he may be better received by the hotels and consulate and airlines etc, than a bunch of concerned "tourists"?

There are six embassies that have warnings Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada , UK and Ireland. but I am unsure about Russia India or the Arab Countries

I think all of the relevant embassies and their consulates should be quizzed on this matter. Any that don't have a warning should be told they are an increasingly isolated minority and that other embassies are warning their citizens.

And importantly, the mayor should be written to and informed of the embassy warnings and asked to gain the cooperation of the hotels and guest houses. I believe that if sufficiently connected falangs exist then may be a visit to him could be arranged too, but this approach would have to be done in a professional and proper manner. It should be his duty to get the hotels informed in handing out a multi-language leaflet detailing a list of do's and don't's for Pattaya. The embassy warning are just one form of official stance, most people don't actually check. Once the hotels start handing out leaflets then there is a good chance of a majority of visitors gaining the knowledge to inform them of the criminals.

It would be good if the airlines were to also hand out leaflets to passengers but I doubt that will happen.

I believe the best course of action is for the mayor to request that all hotels hand out leaflets. If we want to play a part in this then we could help draft the leaflet (English version) and forward to the mayor. It would need to be very precise, short and clear and cover only a few points. And it would have to be translated into Thai, Russian, Indian languages, Arabic, French, German and other relevant languages.

If enough hotels participate I believe this jet ski business could be cut off at the knees. And if other beach vendors such as the boat owners realise their business is also being hurt then they might finally drive the jet ski criminals out for good, possibly in a violent manner.

Lets stop just focusing on reporting the scam to taking action.

[pauljones]

Once I saw the aforementioned aggressive behavior being doled out to some innocent chaps, I realized its serious nature. I have a hunch that the people who are investing a lot of well spent energy in informing the naive of the real danger, have either experienced it; witnessed it; talked to people who were victims, or - being concerned citizens - researched the matter. This is a very serious issue! Always remember one thing about Pattaya. If you are attacked - except in a few rare cases - no one will come to your aid!

Sadly, as I am a long time downtown Pattaya resident - who used to really enjoy gallivanting around the beach area, I think that Pattaya is definitely going down hill, or perhaps the economic downturn has just evaporated the fog.

Lets not get side tracked by small details. What matters is the scam is going on everyday and it isn't acceptable. The question now is what action can we take to fight it?

Where the law itself is involved and where the perpetrators are vicious gangs of thugs it seems hard to imagine any way to even slow it down.

I suppose most posters are experienced Pattaya people, we are savvy, we steer clear of bad people, the scams and other dangers of Thailand and Pattaya in particuliar. So for us it is our knowledge and experience. And I am afraid all we can do is try to pass that on, i.e. education is the only weapon we have to do our bit. We aren't going to storm the beach and fight these people, we aren't going to convince the law to clean up their act and we won't convince the Thai government that they need to clamp down on Pattaya.

We just need to ask ourselves on which ways we can help broaden awareness of this and other issues.

Do all embassies include this in their travel warnings? Does the UK, does Russia, does India, do the Arab countries. These embassies and their consulates should be informed and asked about this.

Have airlines considered distributing a list of do's and don't about Thailand to passengers?

Would Pattaya hotels be willing to display a list of do's and don't's for Pattaya to their guests, perhaps when checking in?

Do people have suggestions, does anyone agree with my thoughts and if yes, then what steps can we now take and are there any Thai people that may help? Would the mayor act as a conduit for us, he may be better received by the hotels and consulate and airlines etc, than a bunch of concerned "tourists"?

There are six embassies that have warnings Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada , UK and Ireland. but I am unsure about Russia India or the Arab Countries

I think all of the relevant embassies and their consulates should be quizzed on this matter. Any that don't have a warning should be told they are an increasingly isolated minority and that other embassies are warning their citizens.

And importantly, the mayor should be written to and informed of the embassy warnings and asked to gain the cooperation of the hotels and guest houses. I believe that if sufficiently connected falangs exist then may be a visit to him could be arranged too, but this approach would have to be done in a professional and proper manner. It should be his duty to get the hotels informed in handing out a multi-language leaflet detailing a list of do's and don't's for Pattaya. The embassy warning are just one form of official stance, most people don't actually check. Once the hotels start handing out leaflets then there is a good chance of a majority of visitors gaining the knowledge to inform them of the criminals.

It would be good if the airlines were to also hand out leaflets to passengers but I doubt that will happen.

I believe the best course of action is for the mayor to request that all hotels hand out leaflets. If we want to play a part in this then we could help draft the leaflet (English version) and forward to the mayor. It would need to be very precise, short and clear and cover only a few points. And it would have to be translated into Thai, Russian, Indian languages, Arabic, French, German and other relevant languages.

If enough hotels participate I believe this jet ski business could be cut off at the knees. And if other beach vendors such as the boat owners realise their business is also being hurt then they might finally drive the jet ski criminals out for good, possibly in a violent manner.

Lets stop just focusing on reporting the scam to taking action.

Yes, a notice warning tourists on arrival would be best.

Warning:

#1. Do not expect the police to help if you are having problems in Thailand.

[4.real]

Much of the blame for this scam and the many other scams in Pattaya can be put on the foreigners themselves.They throw money around like confetti at a wedding.

Roses for the girls ;extra large monkeys;paying up with no comment to overpriced beach vendors ;The many of you that overpay the tuk tuks and call you 'cheap charlie ' when you tell them they are overpaying.

A friend of mine who gave a bell boy 100 baht [and still the bell boy left a small suitcase behind].

Who can blame a lazy thai man [whose factory salary of app 220 baht for a 9 hour day ]for wanting to 'get into the act'.

Samuii used to be a great place to visit ...

Until many overpaid the tuk tuks etc...

Now ..its not worth the effort.

BTW.Forget about following the scammers..You will be spotted and violence will ensue.

[prefabs]

For all the obvious outrage and concerns by expats, I think that this problem will never be solved by farangs.

I have never heard of an organised anti-scam group which works against scammers who perpetrate scams on people who live here full time, never mind one that could possibly reach out to tourists from many countries.

It probably will end up by scammer gangs starting to fight each other, so that eventually someone will have to take notice

[morphic]

For all the obvious outrage and concerns by expats, I think that this problem will never be solved by farangs.

I have never heard of an organised anti-scam group which works against scammers who perpetrate scams on people who live here full time, never mind one that could possibly reach out to tourists from many countries.

It probably will end up by scammer gangs starting to fight each other, so that eventually someone will have to take notice

Emmm, nor have I, but so what? Ive also never heard of any "anti scam group" full stop, of any kind, i.e., nobody has ever tried.

I think it would probably work, its simple, just needs to draft a sensible list in clear English, have it translated, produce a multi-language leaflet and ask the hotels to distribute to guests when they check in. If the hotels agree their guests have a more pleasurable and lower risk stay and are more likely to return. The only losers will be the jet ski criminals.

[saintofsilence]

Once I saw the aforementioned aggressive behavior being doled out to some innocent chaps, I realized its serious nature. I have a hunch that the people who are investing a lot of well spent energy in informing the naive of the real danger, have either experienced it; witnessed it; talked to people who were victims, or - being concerned citizens - researched the matter. This is a very serious issue! Always remember one thing about Pattaya. If you are attacked - except in a few rare cases - no one will come to your aid!

Sadly, as I am a long time downtown Pattaya resident - who used to really enjoy gallivanting around the beach area, I think that Pattaya is definitely going down hill, or perhaps the economic downturn has just evaporated the fog.

Lets not get side tracked by small details. What matters is the scam is going on everyday and it isn't acceptable. The question now is what action can we take to fight it?

Where the law itself is involved and where the perpetrators are vicious gangs of thugs it seems hard to imagine any way to even slow it down.

I suppose most posters are experienced Pattaya people, we are savvy, we steer clear of bad people, the scams and other dangers of Thailand and Pattaya in particuliar. So for us it is our knowledge and experience. And I am afraid all we can do is try to pass that on, i.e. education is the only weapon we have to do our bit. We aren't going to storm the beach and fight these people, we aren't going to convince the law to clean up their act and we won't convince the Thai government that they need to clamp down on Pattaya.

We just need to ask ourselves on which ways we can help broaden awareness of this and other issues.

Do all embassies include this in their travel warnings? Does the UK, does Russia, does India, do the Arab countries. These embassies and their consulates should be informed and asked about this.

Have airlines considered distributing a list of do's and don't about Thailand to passengers?

Would Pattaya hotels be willing to display a list of do's and don't's for Pattaya to their guests, perhaps when checking in?

Do people have suggestions, does anyone agree with my thoughts and if yes, then what steps can we now take and are there any Thai people that may help? Would the mayor act as a conduit for us, he may be better received by the hotels and consulate and airlines etc, than a bunch of concerned "tourists"?

If someone can draft a letter up and put it on the http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002210836697&sk=wall page that would help and anyone with face book accounts could forward it on .

And another way to make people aware of this scam would be a website with all the information thailand wide about the jet skis , any volunteers ?

Edited April 18, 2011 by saintofsilence

[prefabs]

For all the obvious outrage and concerns by expats, I think that this problem will never be solved by farangs.

I have never heard of an organised anti-scam group which works against scammers who perpetrate scams on people who live here full time, never mind one that could possibly reach out to tourists from many countries.

It probably will end up by scammer gangs starting to fight each other, so that eventually someone will have to take notice

Emmm, nor have I, but so what? Ive also never heard of any "anti scam group" full stop, of any kind, i.e., nobody has ever tried.

I think it would probably work, its simple, just needs to draft a sensible list in clear English, have it translated, produce a multi-language leaflet and ask the hotels to distribute to guests when they check in. If the hotels agree their guests have a more pleasurable and lower risk stay and are more likely to return. The only losers will be the jet ski criminals.

Great enthusiasm and I would hope it works. In fact, I would like to see anything work against these bottom feeders. Unfortunately, I can't see many hotels getting too involved with notices warning against the scams.

[saintofsilence]

Thailand Jet Ski Scam on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002210836697&sk=wall

[craigt3365]

I've been doing quite a few walks lately near the Ambassador here in NaJomtien. I've seen quite a few renting jet skis from the locals on the beach and have been specifically watching for any issues after they are returned. I've observed this numerous times and have not seen any problems. Plus, there is a new bar just across the klong from The View Restaurant, north of the Ambassador. It's call...go figure...The Jet Ski Bar.

I was referred there by another member and it seems like a really nice place...and has jet skis for rent.

Just an FYI...

[LennyW]

I've been doing quite a few walks lately near the Ambassador here in NaJomtien. I've seen quite a few renting jet skis from the locals on the beach and have been specifically watching for any issues after they are returned. I've observed this numerous times and have not seen any problems. Plus, there is a new bar just across the klong from The View Restaurant, north of the Ambassador. It's call...go figure...The Jet Ski Bar.

I was referred there by another member and it seems like a really nice place...and has jet skis for rent.

Just an FYI...

And i can assure you he will never scam you for the rental of his jet-skis !!