Pattaya Jetskis

[Tokay]

More like there will be a show crackdown at the end of the high season, and then back to business.

You are probably right on the money. Once the bulk of the money has been made, city hall will push for a "crack down" that will put them in line until next high season and it will be "Groundhog Day" all over again.

[saintofsilence]

Maybe you better start sending mails to the Tourist Authority Thailand instead of to the Telecomunications Organisation of Thailand

Good catch. That's what I meant to say.

I've sent emails and complaints from several different email addresses, using different tones trying to get some sort of response. All ignored after their standard first tier reply.

What's needed is some video documentation as damning as the Phuket series a while back.

That didn't help Phuket. That same dirt bag is still pulling the same scam.

Fact is, this goes so high up the food chain that it is *almost* untouchable.

All you need to do is see who should be reacting to it but are not, and it will tell you who is being paid off.

here are couple of places for reference

Office of Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in Government.

99/31 Moo 4, Software Park Chaengwattana Klong Pak Kret, Nonthaburi 11120 salt.

Tel. 02-502-8285-6.

e-mail: [email protected].

http://www.pacc.go.t...php?mod=contact

Ministry of Justice

http://www.om.moj.go.th/en/complain/index.php

http://www.moj.go.th/th/justice/home2.php

Changing The Rules of the Game

http://14iacc.org/programme/change-the-rules-of-the-game/

http://twitter.com/#!/anticorruption

Edited January 24, 2011 by saintofsilence

[saintofsilence]

A small section from the nation today not about jet ski's but corruption in tourism which is possibly similar to what goes on about jet skis and officials.

"But I had to do what the tour operators and these officials demanded." He described how park officials refused once to let his tourists get out of the boat because they were unhappy with the amount of money put inside an envelope prepared by the tour operator.

"I had to put more cash into that envelope," he disclosed.

An informed source at the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry admitted corruption existed at dive attractions in the South.

"If you look at records, you will find that no one can serve as the chiefs of the marine national parks in the Andaman Sea for long. They get transferred out pretty soon because of complaints filed against them," the source said.

The source said politicians overseeing the ministry usually sent corrupt officials there because the marine parks could generate a lot of money.

"Some officials have offered to pay between Bt5 million and Bt10 million in instalments to politicians for top posts at the parks," the source revealed.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/01/25/national/Marine-parks-in-South-a-huge-source-of-graft-30147092.html

[pipo1000]

Maybe you better start sending mails to the Tourist Authority Thailand instead of to the Telecomunications Organisation of Thailand

Good catch. That's what I meant to say.

I've sent emails and complaints from several different email addresses, using different tones trying to get some sort of response. All ignored after their standard first tier reply.

What's needed is some video documentation as damning as the Phuket series a while back.

That didn't help Phuket. That same dirt bag is still pulling the same scam.

Fact is, this goes so high up the food chain that it is *almost* untouchable.

All you need to do is see who should be reacting to it but are not, and it will tell you who is being paid off.

To be honest,the reason they don't reply is because they simply don't know it's there.The first reply is probably an automated message.

My experience in Thailand is for company's as well as government agencies the procedure is as followed.

Send an email..................call them to norify that they received a message and wait on the phone untill they have found it between those other hundreds of unanswered messages in their inbox....................if you're lucky you will not have to call them again a few days later to ask if they can please reply.

[Tokay]

To be honest,the reason they don't reply is because they simply don't know it's there.The first reply is probably an automated message.

My experience in Thailand is for company's as well as government agencies the procedure is as followed.

Send an email..................call them to norify that they received a message and wait on the phone untill they have found it between those other hundreds of unanswered messages in their inbox....................if you're lucky you will not have to call them again a few days later to ask if they can please reply.

I've had my GF call them. They always say someone will get back to her. They never do.

This is a problem that comes from the very top on down. Don't expect ANY help. A person is on his/her own if they are dumb enough to rent jet skis here.

[striderman]

i was a bit late for the daily beach show today due to going for a haircut, so i did not start my brief stroll till nearly 18.00.

i reckon prime time is 16.00 hrs onwards.

but did of course find 1 going down opposite 1 of the pattaya lands where the new branch of beautiful optical is.

another group of indians with another thai woman doing most of the shouting tho the only thing i could clearly hear was "pay" " pay".

in 1 of yesterday's triple whammy another thai lady was even louder and much more in your

if anybody wants to watch the performance start at the pattayalands and take a leisurely walk up the coconut bar at 16.00 and i can almost promise u that u can find an oscar winner somewhere.

just look for returning ski's esp where multiple machines are involved or huddled noisy groups among the deck chairs.

i cannot do it much longer i'm off home in a day or so

[kevkev1888]

went out today about 17 00 hrs pattaya time to have a quick look at the beach.

between the best friend bar complex and pattaya city walk which is 50/60 mtrs at most another 3 scams were going on. 2 were so close to each other the guys getting scammed were swopping tales

2 of the groups were indian nationals and the other middle eastern.

all involved multiple ski units so the outcome was not going to be cheap.

i did spot a sikh guy an old boy with a turban trying to mediate. i am sure i have seen him before a few times on the beach and my best guess is he is involved in the scam and is not an independent mediator at all.

simply because any outsider poking his nose in all the time would be warned off good and proper.

Yes I have seen this guy involved many times.

Today opposite RGP about 4.30, didn't see the start but police already in attendance, the TP guy with the mustache again!

Multiple Indians, one of the jetski scamers was busy telling some of the bystanders that the Indians had been boxing Mama jetski.

Seen her in action before too, getting right up in peoples faces very animated, so the scamers can do what they want as far as violence intimidation, knives etc, but if you lay a hand on Mama jetski your in big trouble.

The Indians where now meekly sitting in deck chairs with a new (to me) character, Big farang guy possible German or Russian black short sleeve shirt Thai flag and writing on the pocket, (TPV?). He was in an aggressive manner demanding their passports, they say no have. " How you can walk around with no passport THIS IS THAILAND you HAVE to carry passport" too each in turn pointing finger "you no passport, you no passport, you no passport, now you have big problem already you break law have to carry passport,how you think you can just walk around no passport THIS IS THAILAND"

Fark me I came so close to getting involved, excuse me but who the fark are you and where is your ID and farking passport. I had to leave otherwise I was gona say it.

Anyway I wish I had now.

I am gona start taking my camera though get some pictures of these creeps.

Edited January 25, 2011 by kevkev1888

[saintofsilence]

went out today about 17 00 hrs pattaya time to have a quick look at the beach.

between the best friend bar complex and pattaya city walk which is 50/60 mtrs at most another 3 scams were going on. 2 were so close to each other the guys getting scammed were swopping tales

2 of the groups were indian nationals and the other middle eastern.

all involved multiple ski units so the outcome was not going to be cheap.

i did spot a sikh guy an old boy with a turban trying to mediate. i am sure i have seen him before a few times on the beach and my best guess is he is involved in the scam and is not an independent mediator at all.

simply because any outsider poking his nose in all the time would be warned off good and proper.

Yes I have seen this guy involved many times.

Today opposite RGP about 4.30, didn't see the start but police already in attendance, the TP guy with the mustache again!

Multiple Indians, one of the jetski scamers was busy telling some of the bystanders that the Indians had been boxing Mama jetski.

Seen her in action before too, getting right up in peoples faces very animated, so the scamers can do what they want as far as violence intimidation, knives etc, but if you lay a hand on Mama jetski your in big trouble.

The Indians where now meekly sitting in deck chairs with a new (to me) character, Big farang guy possible German or Russian black short sleeve shirt Thai flag and writing on the pocket, (TPV?). He was in an aggressive manner demanding their passports, they say no have. " How you can walk around with no passport THIS IS THAILAND you HAVE to carry passport" too each in turn pointing finger "you no passport, you no passport, you no passport, now you have big problem already you break law have to carry passport,how you think you can just walk around no passport THIS IS THAILAND"

Fark me I came so close to getting involved, excuse me but who the fark are you and where is your ID and farking passport. I had to leave otherwise I was gona say it.

Anyway I wish I had now.

I am gona start taking my camera though get some pictures of these creeps.

The Sikh with the turban is involved and at 60 percent of the scams there are also 2 falang russians they are also involved and they indian and farangs work together with the jet ski scammers.

note : i am not sure if they are russian or iran but i think russian. there are some photos one of the farang are in this clip mediating with green HARA t shirt.

Edited January 25, 2011 by saintofsilence

[saintofsilence]

this is the same guy again

[striderman]

this is the dodgy sikh with the grey beard and turban...

.

[saintofsilence]

here he is with the tourist police negotiating outside the station , some people who have been scammed have said that he tells them he works with police

[saintofsilence]

this is the dodgy sikh with the grey beard and turban...

.

this photo is showing the other russian in pink shirt including the sikh with turban they both work for the scammers.

Edited January 25, 2011 by saintofsilence

[pipo1000]

here he is with the tourist police negotiating outside the station , some people who have been scammed have said that he tells them he works with police

He told me that he works for the police,if I recall correctly he said 6 years.

[webfact]

Several posts containing pictures and accusations removed from view. Posts are under Admin consideration.

Please do not post them again otherwise a suspension is unavoidable

Thank you for your cooperation.

//edited for addendum

Edited January 25, 2011 by webfact
Admin note

[pompoiman]

the video evidence is there why not pass it on to the airlines, every plane that lands in bkk show nice videos of where to go what to see, why not start the what to avoid whilst in thailand, hmm just thinking about that again that could take 4-5 hours of viewing lol, where would one start and finish, double pricing, hooky designer gear by the lorry full in in major department stores, child porn for sale on the streets, dodgy dvds sellers in every bar you will drink in, kids of 0- 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 etc trawling the bars at night trying to sell <deleted> to tourists while there tormentors are close by, beggars everywhere , hookers all over beach road where there are families walking, 3rd sex people everywhere (try explaining that to your 3 year old inquisitive daughter or son),police that are so corrupt they have an omnipresent / omnipotent attitude towards any non thai, and then there are the jetski mafia ha ha ha, just glad i ent no tourist to this town,

[JWJ]

Thousands of reports of Thai scams on the internet. None by the Thais.

It's tourists warning fellow travelers.

Isn't it time the TAT give fair warning to arrivals?

[TheWalkingMan]

I have said it once and I'll say it again. No one, absolutely no one has enough clout in the country to wave their hand and make these scams stop. Money is to be made and based on the reports, it is open season on people riding jet skis.

I really wish that the airlines would pick up on this stuff and start showing those scam related youtube videos before the plane lands.

TheWalkingMan

[alstaxi]

Seen a lot of scams since I was last posting here. A few with knifes, 1 with a big pole, and a few more with fists. I've even seen several tourists WATCH others get scammed, laugh about it, rent the skis anyway and then get scammed themselves. What can you think about people who do this? This is another reason why it all continues.

Forget the scam for a moment, as it is clear the police and city hall do not care about this. Lets look at the other issue, which is, it is totally OK to threaten a tourist with violence and pull a weapon (knife / stick / gun) on them. THIS is where the police should focus, but they don't.

I'd also like to note that every square inch of the beach is under CCTV surveillance. There was even a press release about it. This means the police CAN SEE everything going on and STILL do nothing.

I've sent multiple mails to the TOT and I get their canned reply saying they are forwarding the mail, but it ends there.

Bottom line... this scam and the violence around it is not going anywhere. It's only getting worse and it's totally protected. And lets also face the fact that most tourists will KEEP RENTING because they don't think it will happen to them.

Maybe you better start sending mails to the Tourist Authority Thailand instead of to the Telecomunications Organisation of Thailand

Why?? you figure it would make a difference? an email wont do diddely, no matter who you send it to.

If everyone stopped renting jet skis there would be a difference , for a week or two ,and then they would come up with something else to support the corruption, good luck.

[Rimmer]

Some more posts removed from view, please go back and read THIS post.

[saintofsilence]

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/aussie-tourists-caught-up-in-jet-ski-scam/story-e6frfq80-1225994754257

Knives pulled on tourists in jet ski scam

By Kate Schneider From: news.com.au, news.com.au January 26, 2011 1:52PM 18 comments

Edited January 26, 2011 by Rimmer
Fair use

[alstaxi]

Why is it always "Aussie Tourists involved in scam"? its all tourists who get burnt by this well known scam, not just Australians. The advice is to take photos of the jet ski before you get on, inspect it thoroughly and if they try it on show them the proof, if they dont budge contact the tourist police in Thailand, its a good idea to have this number in your phone at all times.

Comment 15 of 18

You wont need the phone number of the tourist police, they will already be there, with their hand out for the mediator fee, silly people.

[striderman]

well i went out today for the daily 16.00 hr beach show near the best friend bar complex (it's cheaper than alcazar) and as usual the thai's did not me down.

either 3 or 4 scams they were unfolding that fast it was hard to keep track.

if u are in town u should go and take a look, it's fun for all unless u are riding one

[Rimmer]

One post has been removed from view for discussion of moderation and veiled accusation against moderators.

[marinediscoking]

Last week I spoke with the marine police about this and gave them several examples of people I have talked with being scammed. While I was telling them this one of them took my photo, I guess they did that because I was speaking thai and giving exact details..They did seem very concerned and one of them gave me his card and told me to call him if I see problems but they are only there on the weekends. I don't think any of them speak English though. I maybe wrong but I don't see the scam happening while they are there.

Edited January 26, 2011 by marinediscoking

[steelepulse]

I witnessed a scam today at Kata Beach in Phuket. 5 North African guys and an old piece of <deleted> jet ski that I could see any visible damage on. End result, renters, jet ski scammer and police all went off together in the direction of an atm.

[saintofsilence]

Last week I spoke with the marine police about this and gave them several examples of people I have talked with being scammed. While I was telling them this one of them took my photo, I guess they did that because I was speaking thai and giving exact details..They did seem very concerned and one of them gave me his card and told me to call him if I see problems but they are only there on the weekends. I don't think any of them speak English though. I maybe wrong but I don't see the scam happening while they are there.

They need to be there everyday really to control ,but one of the problems also is that the scammers scare the victims and tell them that it will cost them more if they go to the police so a lot pay up and don't report it , it is impossible to walk from one end of the beach to the other in the afternoon with out spotting at least one scam.

There is a facebook site that has quite a bit of info on it now also with mentions of the aussies who got scammed.

Edited January 26, 2011 by saintofsilence

[striderman]

well, my bits done for now, i'm at swampy and u will have to go and see the daily shows for yourselves if u are lucky enough to be in pattaya.

while watching yesterdays performance i again saw the old sikh guy with the beard helping out and then later talking to another jet ski hire group further down the beach.

i also snapped 1 of the russian helpers although i had never noticed him before, another poster elsewhere recognised him.

[JWJ]

Last week I spoke with the marine police about this and gave them several examples of people I have talked with being scammed. While I was telling them this one of them took my photo, I guess they did that because I was speaking thai and giving exact details..They did seem very concerned and one of them gave me his card and told me to call him if I see problems but they are only there on the weekends. I don't think any of them speak English though. I maybe wrong but I don't see the scam happening while they are there.

What makes you think these marine cops are legit and not part of the problem? You think these underpaid young men are going to get in the way of the local mafia to help some farang? They will look the other way to avoid problems. Probably make a few extra baht too.

These jet skiers are stealing a million baht a day out there and whoever is in charge is determined to keep it running.

Anybody gets in their way is going to have a bad experience.

They took your picture? I sincerely recommend you stay away from there for a long time.

These scammers know they are being watched and are looking for the farang that takes their pictures and videos.

[Tokay]

These scammers know they are being watched and are looking for the farang that takes their pictures and videos.

They don't care about that. All the photo and video evidence in the world won't stop them. The police and city hall does not care about this problem, so it's going to continue for a long time.

[jori]

About 3 30 this afternoon I got involved,the second group down from WS,large group hollering walked into the middle of it and told ,the usual cop there that it was a scam,there is no damage with that he started pushing me back,twice quite violently ,I told him if he did it again I'd knock him down.He stopped but the other little bastards started biting at my ankles,fact is about three of them started on me, I pushed one away as I could not do any good on my own and walked off.

All it takes is just a few to stand up to them,they are nothing ,nothing at all