Pattaya Jetskis

[saintofsilence]

I have a theory that possibly the jetsskies are originally damaged then repaired, over the course of several more rent outs,the repaired fiberglass will come lose and fall out, prompting the Thais to claim it as new damage, i may be well out but its a possibility as to why they get "damaged" so often

. A can od spray paint will cover many scratches for a few hours

[gmac]

This banner appears on the Marine Police tent set up opposite Central festival. I wonder just how effective they might be in resolving the jet ski disputes.........and whether money needs to change hands!

Edited January 9, 2011 by gmac

[alfbondi]

going to get worse someone is going to get killed soon

[LennyW]

This banner appears on the Marine Police tent set up opposite Central festival. I wonder just how effective they might be in resolving the jet ski disputes.........and whether money needs to change hands!

The fact that it says on the banner "Dispute resolution" would indicate that they are perhaps aware of the problem, or maybe they need to advertise their services as they are not getting enough of a cut????

[pipo1000]

This banner appears on the Marine Police tent set up opposite Central festival. I wonder just how effective they might be in resolving the jet ski disputes.........and whether money needs to change hands!

Judging by earlier news reports regarding the Navy police,they are quite effective and not scared about taking on corrupt officials.I think this is a good step in the right direction.

[saintofsilence]

This banner appears on the Marine Police tent set up opposite Central festival. I wonder just how effective they might be in resolving the jet ski disputes.........and whether money needs to change hands!

Judging by earlier news reports regarding the Navy police,they are quite effective and not scared about taking on corrupt officials.I think this is a good step in the right direction.

Well it depends how long they are there for and people are aware of them and hopefully they will treat tourists fairly , but one thing the scammers are very good at is extorting the money with death threats and violence before the victim goes to the police.

[saintofsilence]

Just read this on another pattaya forum but because of posting rules it has to remain a Pattaya Secret but in the members trip reports member spoiler has some good photos and some comments from the marine police

these are the comments :

11.54 yesterday

After the convention on the Beach, I talked with the Police Officer. He basically said it was a he said she said type thing and the guys would be paying 4000baht. I guess that's better than the 18000 the Iranians, Aussies and Russians all got hit for the other day. The officer told me the Pattaya City council has asked them to watch the Jet ski operations for a while and report back because of all the complaints. Meanwhile the Jet ski owner tries to tell me the stories are all disgruntled renters who cause damage and he has the photos to prove it. He even said the amounts tourists claim to have been fleeced are highly exaggerated. He knew about the incident with the Iranians because it was on the local news and he said that was a different operator and different people. Compare today's photos to the ones in this report a few days ago and you will see many of the same faces.

I feigned interest and compassion for the poor jet ski operator. For he had shown me the error of my conceptions and made an exit before I was drawn into anything.

Spoiler also has photos of the fight the other day also

Edited January 10, 2011 by saintofsilence

[gmac]

This banner appears on the Marine Police tent set up opposite Central festival. I wonder just how effective they might be in resolving the jet ski disputes.........and whether money needs to change hands!

Judging by earlier news reports regarding the Navy police,they are quite effective and not scared about taking on corrupt officials.I think this is a good step in the right direction.

Well it depends how long they are there for and people are aware of them and hopefully they will treat tourists fairly , but one thing the scammers are very good at is extorting the money with death threats and violence before the victim goes to the police.

Yes it would perhaps be more helpful if these Marine Police were patrolling the area rather than sitting in the shade waiting for victims to come to them. As you rightly point out, it is difficult to get away from the scammers to get help or make a complaint once it is under way.

[saintofsilence]

This banner appears on the Marine Police tent set up opposite Central festival. I wonder just how effective they might be in resolving the jet ski disputes.........and whether money needs to change hands!

Judging by earlier news reports regarding the Navy police,they are quite effective and not scared about taking on corrupt officials.I think this is a good step in the right direction.

Well it depends how long they are there for and people are aware of them and hopefully they will treat tourists fairly , but one thing the scammers are very good at is extorting the money with death threats and violence before the victim goes to the police.

Yes it would perhaps be more helpful if these Marine Police were patrolling the area rather than sitting in the shade waiting for victims to come to them. As you rightly point out, it is difficult to get away from the scammers to get help or make a complaint once it is under way.

by the looks of the photos on the secrets forum there were three on the spot and Pattaya city hall are telling them to make reports back to them about the scams so at east something is hapenning but the problems will never go until jet skis are banned

[gmac]

This guy seems to be enjoying himself in a hanging on for dear life sort of way, I hope he didn't get ripped off at the end of his ride!

Seems a shame that people should have to have the enjoyment of using jet skis taken away from them just because of the dishonesty of the scammers. The better way surely would be for the operators to be licensed and forced to take out comprehensive rental insurance on their skis to cover any damage so that this situation would not arise. Official notices could then be placed around town advising the new regime and warning against renting from an unlicensed source.

In the meantime let's hope the Marine Police keep up the good work and at least discourage the worst of it.

[JWJ]

Putting uniformed Navy guys out there? That may slow down the scammers, temporarily.

Why not put undercover agents out there and arrest some of these bastards and take away their equipment.

This scam is supported by the police and it makes big money. Money that goes all the way up the police food chain.

Now that this is being made public, higher fees to more people will be necessary.

I predict an increase in jet ski scams and more violence.

Each gang of jet ski punks pulling this several times a day? What? 100,000 bt a day per group?

Could it be 10 to 15 million a month being split up with police and beach mafia?

Insurance? Phuket officials demanded the Jet Skis have insurance for damages. Only some got it....for a while..

Of course now they have to charge the tourist 10,000 a day for lost income. 5 days to repair that scratch....

As you can see, it's the tourist fighting back now, the scams are so blatant. Posting on forums, blogs, videos, even websites dedicated to protecting travelers.

Is there a single Thai site that warns visitors?

Is the TAT or the Tourist Police doing anything?

[saintofsilence]

[/media]

It was good to see the the British Charge d'Affaires question the Mayor about the jet ski scam.

[saintofsilence]

Quote from Zanny on another thread 11 jan 2011

Was just at police station near Central on beach rd because my idiot GF did not want to wear a helmet. Told her if we get caught she is paying the fine and she did although now i have an upset GF.

Anyway, while waiting I saw four asian guys discussing with a gang of thais some price thing and thought jetski scam. Then i recognised one of the thai guys as the short one from the hidden video with the poor indian blokes getting scammed which is floating around the forums.

I signalled one of the guys and found out these four guys crom singapore were indeed getting jetski scammed to the tune of 100k. They offered 40k and were refused! I was suprised they made it to the police station, but with the corruption i did not know what to do about the situation.

I informed them they were dealing with criminals, it is a scam/con and that 40k is a shitload of baht for thai people, and that the damage would only cost 2000 baht at most. Luckily they still had passports did not hand them over, but i did not want to start negotiating for them because i like walkig around pattaya without looking over my shoulder.

They are still there now probably arguing with thais who wont accept 40k.... Ridiculously sad situation for naive nice sinaporean dudes.

[Phatcharanan]

just at police station near Central on beach rd because my idiot GF did not want to wear a helmet. Told her if we get caught she is paying the fine and she did although now i have an upset GF.

No kidding?

[saintofsilence]

Two more victims reports

written by mr hump, Mon 22 Nov 2010 04:36:37 CST

Just spent a few days in pattaya and saw the jetski scams every day.I got involved a couple of times and told people not to pay.

There was one incident where several falang men got involved and the english couple who had rented the skis were able to get away.

One american guy was right in the faces of two thais and they backed down.

Dont be afraid of these people,they are all cowards.

But dont expect any help from the police,they often get half the money.

People have to understand that it is very cheap to reapair things in thailand.

I saw damage that may cost $50 to fix and the jet ski operators were asking for 50,000 baht!

And who would be stupid enough to believe that jetskis from southern thailand have to go all the way to pattaya to be repaired-ridiculous.

Another victim

Sat 18 Dec 2010 09:51:36 CST

please please be carefull this scam has happened to me and mate these 12/17/2010 in pattaya by the beach we were asked 500 bah for 30 mints sounds good thats like just over 10 pounds after 10 mints my jet ski stopped (due to petrol cut the story short we were asked to pay 35,000 bah each total 70,000 bah as they clamied we damged the jet after about 3 -4 hours we paid 40,000 each, as we were told we would go to jail by 1 police man who was in on the scam, leaving us in a helpless situation we had family wire money to bail us out of the situation, please dont put yourself in this situation if only we would have known about these scams before.

http://www.bangkokscams.com/scams-in-thailand/jet-ski-scam-in-kamala-beach-phuket.html#jc_allComments

Edited January 11, 2011 by saintofsilence

[JWJ]

There is page after page of jet ski scam reports at bangkokscams site.

Here is a frightening tale reported there in 2009.

"When me and my friends got a jet ski out in pattaya on our last two days there, our nightmare began. We gave the jet ski's back in after initially agreeing a price of 700 THB for 30 minutes each. What followed was a bill of 115,000 THB for "damage" we caused to the carbon fiber on the jet ski's, etc. We said no, and that's when things turned violent. Soon we were held captive at the beech and they started pulling knives out on us. They threatened to kill us at the beech if we did not pay. Eventually they let me go, it took 3 separate visits to the police station before an American volunteer came down to the beech, approximately 5 hours after the incident with my two friends held captive by around 12-15 angry Thai's. We went to the police station and were threatened to be killed. Eventually we came to an agreement of 50,000 THB in fear for our lives. These guys continued with the death threats, hands in the pockets, etc. It was a horrible experience and it doesn't suprise me about these stories. We spent all our remaining money and took extra overdrafts out of the bank to pay these crooks. 10 hours later and finally we escaped pattaya. they had been waiting outside our hotel after initially paying 33,000 THB with the agreement to pay 17,000 THB the day later. We paid the money three hours later after coming to an agreement with the bank, at 3am in the police station. We got back to the hotel, fled in a taxi to Bangkok (they had even bribed our receptionist with 1,000 THB to tell him if we left). I'm sure these guys are now very satisfied having pulled this scam off. "

[saintofsilence]

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

This is a closed thread but with more info on the scam worth reading

Edited January 12, 2011 by saintofsilence

[saintofsilence]

This group outside royal garden scam , abuse and assault people everyday and when there is an accident the money asked is to much.

Notice in the video their is a russian guy mediating he attends most scams for the jet ski mafia.

makes me think what witnesses the reporter spoke to because the police at the scene said it was a he said she said dispute.

Edited January 12, 2011 by saintofsilence

[jori]

All this is unbelievable to be happening here on our doorstep. There is only one way and that is to confront them,tell the police what action that needs to be done (even if they know, but at least it drags them aboard) get a banner made and stand in front of the bastards. All the talk of killings is nonsense,they would be off like rats up a drainpipe when things got too hot.

Anyone up for it PM me and lets things moving,just 5 or so would do it ,but the more the merrier

[saintofsilence]

Phuket & Pattaya Jet Ski, the ultimate fun or scam-tool?

Gangs of young men usually surround each Jet Ski on Thai beaches, looking for customers or victims of their scams. Some of them may be regular business folks, but headlines in international media in the past were reporting frequently on such scams in Phuket or Pattaya. In a concerted action with corrupt police officers, renters were often charged wildly inflated prices for any damages, the watercraft already had upon pick-up. This was seen as a great source of additional income and some police dudes might have been in this vicious circle. BBC and other reliable news sources, reported knife or gun wielding staff, threatening the renters out of their cash in bulk! YouTube is full of similar reports, just use their search. Neither Pattaya nor Patong have a month without incidents, but those are suppressed in the media. Foreign Police Volunteers on Pattaya Beach, have been ordered not to get involved.

continued here

http://blog.siampedia.org/?p=5608

[surangw]

Phuket & Pattaya Jet Ski, the ultimate fun or scam-tool?

Gangs of young men usually surround each Jet Ski on Thai beaches, looking for customers or victims of their scams. Some of them may be regular business folks, but headlines in international media in the past were reporting frequently on such scams in Phuket or Pattaya. In a concerted action with corrupt police officers, renters were often charged wildly inflated prices for any damages, the watercraft already had upon pick-up. This was seen as a great source of additional income and some police dudes might have been in this vicious circle. BBC and other reliable news sources, reported knife or gun wielding staff, threatening the renters out of their cash in bulk! YouTube is full of similar reports, just use their search. Neither Pattaya nor Patong have a month without incidents, but those are suppressed in the media. Foreign Police Volunteers on Pattaya Beach, have been ordered not to get involved.

continued here

http://blog.siampedia.org/?p=5608

good article

notice the jet ski guy with the syphon hose,

after all these years still not smart enough to use a gas can

Gas Spout

[saintofsilence]

Interview Chairat & JJ re jetskis in Patong 2009

even with insurance they can still scam people for lost time

Edited January 14, 2011 by saintofsilence

[surangw]

Interview Chairat & JJ re jetskis in Patong 2009

even with insurance they can still scam people for lost time

does the insurance pay for the water soluble glue they use for the repairs ?

after maybe 20 claims a week, what insurance company would want their business.

[saintofsilence]

Interview Chairat & JJ re jetskis in Patong 2009

even with insurance they can still scam people for lost time

does the insurance pay for the water soluble glue they use for the repairs ?

after maybe 20 claims a week, what insurance company would want their business.

I was reading on one of the Phuket sites that the insurance scheme has not worked and many jet ski owners no longer have the insurance and wont renew.

[Lovedog100]

Fight After Jet Ski Accident

On Thursday afternoon (6th), the Pattaya Police were called to stop a fight between a group of foreign tourists and a group of Thai men, which happened on the beach in front of Royal Garden Plaza.

Full story is HERE

PATTAYA PEOPLE 2011-01-07

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

If I read the article correctly, there does appear to be damage done to the jetskis by the tourists crashing them and TRYING TO WALK AWAY??? Who is scamming who????

Sure real scams do exist and there are better ways to resolve conflicts like this when they arise to prevent "over-compensation"....but when a group of tourists knowingly damage the jetskis and then try to walk away, it merely allows the real scammers to use incidents like these as an "excuse" to perpetuate their thuggery.

Are there more tourists causing damage, either knowingly hooning around or unknowingly speeding into floating rubbish in the sea, and trying to walk away or more jetski scammers trying to extort from innocent tourists? I think the truth is in the middle somewhere, having seen how some of these tourists behave once they have a throbbing machine between their legs.

Ban the bloody things until the rogue operators are weeded out and when renters know how to use jetskis responsibly.

What you are missing here is that the jet ski scammers claim that there was a bumping, and damage was done. It was reported that the tourists bumped, but there is a 80% chance, that part of the story came from the scammers, and a 20% chance that it came from the police. It would be interesting to know how actually owns the jet ski's. It wouldn't surprise me if it were the BIB. In fact, it would make sense.

[kevkev1888]

Saw a Knife pulled on 3 Indian guys today.

Second lot down from walking street.

The Indians where just not taking any notice of the Thais and where in the process of walking away.

The Thai guy showed them the Knife and they decided better of it, sat down and the negotiations started.

Shameful!!

[gk10002000]

Anybody have access to or can make an inquiry about a "web cam" that the police may have in that area? While probably not intended for jet ski scam monitoring, it may turn out that the traffic or generic monitoring camera system may have that area in its field of view? Perhaps a simple suggestion to re-orient an existing camera, if it exists, to point in the direction of all these incidents?

It just seems I recal reading about all these millions of baht being spent on monitoring system.

[JWJ]

Knives are being pulled on visitors and nothing is being done?

Wow.

[surangw]

Knives are being pulled on visitors and nothing is being done?

Wow.

eventually the will try to scam some nutcase that has his own knife, that may actually get some action by the high ups.

[sandgroper2]

Saw a bunch of blokes getting scammed yesterday opposite Soi 6. 45000 they paid. And a BIB was present.