Provincial Governor Demands Urgent Action On Pattaya Jet Ski Scams

[somtampet]

A friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a policeman arrived at the scene. After another hour of arguing, the jet-ski owner pointed a gun to my friend's head. The police stood by, and told my friend he should pay the guy. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

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was it 5,000 or 3,000????.He must have a good card to withdraw 3,000 dollars in one hit

[Soutpeel]

A friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a policeman arrived at the scene. After another hour of arguing, the jet-ski owner pointed a gun to my friend's head. The police stood by, and told my friend he should pay the guy. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

• 
  

was it 5,000 or 3,000????.He must have a good card to withdraw 3,000 dollars in one hit

Where did he say it was one hit,

[Chads]

A friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a policeman arrived at the scene. After another hour of arguing, the jet-ski owner pointed a gun to my friend's head. The police stood by, and told my friend he should pay the guy. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

• 
  

was it 5,000 or 3,000????.He must have a good card to withdraw 3,000 dollars in one hit

He handed over 3,000. Perhaps because that's the withdrawal limit on a Citibank card.

[Soutpeel]

A friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a policeman arrived at the scene. After another hour of arguing, the jet-ski owner pointed a gun to my friend's head. The police stood by, and told my friend he should pay the guy. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

• 
  

was it 5,000 or 3,000????.He must have a good card to withdraw 3,000 dollars in one hit

He handed over 3,000. Perhaps because that's the withdrawal limit on a Citibank card.

There is no mention of they type of ATM card used...so how do you know he used a Citibank card, further that is not the limit on a Citibank card, I have have Citibank card and my limit is US$ 5k/d and another minor technical point, there are no citibank ATMS in Pattaya as far as I am aware, so even having a higher limit is irrelevant in this case

You boys really just make it up as you go along dont you

[Chads]

I love Krabi/Lanta/Ao Nang, not a jet ski in sight!

...yet.

The incident I described happened at a beach in Krabi, albeit a more secluded one. But you're right that those places are generally better.

[Chads]

A friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a policeman arrived at the scene. After another hour of arguing, the jet-ski owner pointed a gun to my friend's head. The police stood by, and told my friend he should pay the guy. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

• 
  

was it 5,000 or 3,000????.He must have a good card to withdraw 3,000 dollars in one hit

He handed over 3,000. Perhaps because that's the withdrawal limit on a Citibank card.

There is no mention of they type of ATM card used...so how do you know he used a Citibank card, further that is not the limit on a Citibank card, I have have Citibank card and my limit is US$ 5k/d and another minor technical point, there are no citibank ATMS in Pattaya as far as I am aware, so even having a higher limit is irrelevant in this case

You boys really just make it up as you go along dont you

No one is making anything up, what's the use of that anyway?

I think you don't need a Citibank atm to withdraw from a Citibank card. I withdraw straight from any atm in Thailand using my foreign atm card (since my card includes VISA and Mastercard as part of it's services).

And if he didn't use Citibank, perhaps he withdrew a few times using another foreign atm card similar to mine.

Edited August 11, 2012 by Chads

[Soutpeel]

With a good credit rating and good standing with the bank, many institutions allow for high daily withdrawals.

Credit rating has nothing to do with your withdrawal limit on an ATM card, you can only draw what is in the account

[Soutpeel]

No one is making anything up, what's the use of that anyway?

I think you don't need a Citibank atm to withdraw from a Citibank card. I withdraw straight from any atm in Thailand using my foreign atm card (since my card includes VISA and Mastercard as part of it's services).

If you want to withdraw in one hit the full limit on your card in the case of Thailand, you would need a Citibank ATM,

Yes I know you can use foreign cards in Thai ATM's , but they would not allow you to withdraw the full limit on your card in one hit, you would have to do mutiple transaction and pay THB150 at time

[Chads]

No one is making anything up, what's the use of that anyway?

I think you don't need a Citibank atm to withdraw from a Citibank card. I withdraw straight from any atm in Thailand using my foreign atm card (since my card includes VISA and Mastercard as part of it's services).

If you want to withdraw in one hit the full limit on your card in the case of Thailand, you would need a Citibank ATM,

Yes I know you can use foreign cards in Thai ATM's , but they would not allow you to withdraw the full limit on your card in one hit, you would have to do mutiple transaction and pay THB150 at time

So I guess he made multiple transactions. The only reason I mentioned Citibank before was because I wasn't clear about the withdrawal details and someone mentioned that the limit on a Citibank card matches the amount my friend handed over.

My friend was genuinely freaked out by the incident. But it didn't stop me from moving to Phuket Town, because I think his is an extreme case scenario, and I'm not in Phuket for the same reasons, in the same areas, or doing similar things. I'll skip the jet-skiing though

Edited August 11, 2012 by Chads

[craigt3365]

OK, great story about the ATM withdrawal. Back to the topic now, please.

[JulesMad]

I love Krabi/Lanta/Ao Nang, not a jet ski in sight!

That's because we are in a national Marine park.... (lots of fishing though)

Maybe make Pattaya/Phuket a Marine Park, then there are no more jetski's as well

[tropo]

*deleted*

Edited August 11, 2012 by tropo

[Spalpeen]

A better headline would have been "Indians boycott Cowboys".

[spidermike007]

Just another example of the thugs being more powerful than the police. Since the thugs that run the jet skis operations own the toy police, of course they will do nothing to aid a fareng getting ripped off. The solution is to establish an international boycott, with teeth. Every embassy and consulate of every country could create massive warnings. If you are going to Thailand, the last thing you should ever consider doing is renting a jet ski. I warn everybody visiting to stay away from these goombah thugs. We should all do the same thing. These pissant criminal thugs would be forced to sell their jet skis for ten cents on the dollar, as the entire industry would collapse overnight. A dream, but a nice one, huh?

[luckyman]

I personally do hope this new policy will fail and that many more countries warn against Jet ski rental in Pattaya and Phuket etc..

Then, finally, one day I will enjoy a nice and relaxing day at the beach when in the area, without the irritating noise of jet skis...

That will be a real treat...!

[Tanaka]

A friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a policeman arrived at the scene. After another hour of arguing, the jet-ski owner pointed a gun to my friend's head. The police stood by, and told my friend he should pay the guy. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

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Oh yeah? WHY had you not told your friend not to rent a jetski in Thailand?

[pauljones]

Pattaya One News video of the Governor meeting with the Pattaya City Officials.

The body language of the City Officials says it all.

[fasteddie]

I love Krabi/Lanta/Ao Nang, not a jet ski in sight!

...yet.

The incident I described happened at a beach in Krabi, albeit a more secluded one. But you're right that those places are generally better.

Not on a beach in Krabi! secluded or not, and with it's own very special atm???

are you so lonely?

[Chads]

I love Krabi/Lanta/Ao Nang, not a jet ski in sight!

...yet.

The incident I described happened at a beach in Krabi, albeit a more secluded one. But you're right that those places are generally better.

Not on a beach in Krabi! secluded or not, and with it's own very special atm???

are you so lonely?

I'm not lonely Look, I shared this here because it happened to someone I know. If some of you don't want to believe it, it doesn't matter to me at all really.

Anyway I don't know if the atm was at the beach area or somewhere else nearby. As far as I can remember, I believe he mentioned Krabi. I may be wrong, but I'm really not going to send him an email about this now to check every single detail. And because I'm new to Phuket myself, I may be getting the exact location wrong. I'm sorry if I did.

Edited August 11, 2012 by Chads

[Chads]

A friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a policeman arrived at the scene. After another hour of arguing, the jet-ski owner pointed a gun to my friend's head. The police stood by, and told my friend he should pay the guy. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

• 
  

Oh yeah? WHY had you not told your friend not to rent a jetski in Thailand?

He went before I knew anything about the jetskis in Phuket. I'm relatively new to Phuket myself.

[lonewolf99]

The other week the GF and I were strolling through the tented village that was set up selling the normal crapola on Pattaya Beach. I then heard the distinctive sound of two large vehicles colliding. No not cars nor motorbikes. It was two Jet Skis been ridden by young Indians. One Jet Ski was sitting on top off another clean out of the water. One guy was in the water with a huge lifejacket on that was tipping him on his face instead of keeping his head out of the water as it would do if it was the correct size. Several other Indians were on jet skis going round and round in circles at the scene as they had no clue how to steer them or control them. The Thai jet ski rental people were shouting at them from the beach to no avail. After a few minutes the top most jet ski fell off back into the water and the driver now joined the others going round and round while the "victim" splashed and kicked his legs like a demented starfish getting nowhere.

I left the scene at this time as I was apalled at the confusion and mayhem that was going on with not one person having a clue to resolve the issue. The water was shallow enough for a person of normal height to walk out and drag all these buffons back in by hand.

For me if you are stupid enough to think that "fun" is about flying about on a niosy polluting uncomfortable lump of plastic and steel you deserve all that the scamster throw at you and if you die in the process at least it increases the intelligence of the remaining gene pool.

[Rimmer]

Libellous post removed

[morrobay]

A friend of mine fell for the usual trick where the paint came off and scratches showed up when he brought it back. He was asked to pay US $5000. After 2 hours of trying to argue, a policeman arrived at the scene. After another hour of arguing, the jet-ski owner pointed a gun to my friend's head. The police stood by, and told my friend he should pay the guy. He withdrew the US $3000 left in his atm and gave it to the guy.

When you make a post like this but you give no details on time and place its only natural that people are going to ask questions.

[robertson468]

There are a couple of issues that concern me regarding these jet-ski scams. First it has been going on for years in more than one of the resorts in Thailand, therefore is well known about to Thai local and government authorities and to all the International Embassies. I have just come off the British Embassy Website and the advice regarding the hire of jet-skis no where near address this problem. It is pathetic, so say the least. It should clearly say, "Due to the high incidence of scams in Thailand, we recommend that British Tourist do not rent jet-skis". The Indian Embassy has taken the initiative and I believe all the other Embassies in Thailand should follow suit. This should have two results. It will once and for all shake the Tourist/Political bodies out of their apathy and more importantly, visitors will no longer be putting business to these cheating b*****ds and their overlords. Hit them where it hurts - in their pockets.

[IAMSOBAD]

Write your Embassy and keep complaining and the word is getting out to the high Government people who fear losing tourism money.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

[PoodMaiDai]

What I find so funny about all of this is, year after year, lie after lie, nothing is done. However, they could ban them in one afternoon if they wanted to and the problem would really be solved. Krabi did it.

[timewilltell]

There are a couple of issues that concern me regarding these jet-ski scams. First it has been going on for years in more than one of the resorts in Thailand, therefore is well known about to Thai local and government authorities and to all the International Embassies. I have just come off the British Embassy Website and the advice regarding the hire of jet-skis no where near address this problem. It is pathetic, so say the least. It should clearly say, "Due to the high incidence of scams in Thailand, we recommend that British Tourist do not rent jet-skis". The Indian Embassy has taken the initiative and I believe all the other Embassies in Thailand should follow suit. This should have two results. It will once and for all shake the Tourist/Political bodies out of their apathy and more importantly, visitors will no longer be putting business to these cheating b*****ds and their overlords. Hit them where it hurts - in their pockets.

Here's a few thoughts:

You can withdraw up to 200,000 with SCB and probably other Thai banks too if you have the funds in the account. Most ATM's will allow only 20,000 baht per withdrawal, you just do multiple withdrawals one after the other. you need to ring the customer service line (02-777-7777 for SCB) and maybe at the branch for other banks (not sure as I use SCB). Some ATM's will allow 30k withdrawal bu8t I forget which as 20k is usually enough for me.

I totally believe the guy who wrote about his friend being scammed and the police standing by while a gun was pulled to his head. I have seen the violence and intimidation from the Jetski boys on several occasions. I have also seen violence from private taxi guys who adopt a public parking spot as their own and if you park there will either threaten you with violence, pick up a handy nearby piece of 4 x 2 to smack you with or call their mates over to intimidate you - I have never pushed because it would be foolhardy but I am sure they would not hesitate to inflict injury of you do not back off. There have been several issues where foreigners have been beaten up by these sorts and well reported - although I am sure there are many unreported as well. Alternatively they will let down your tires or scratch the car depending on how important they think they are. You can threaten to call the police - they do not care the police protect them. They have even started picking on the locals with one recent report of a local judge being threatened for parking in some taxi driver's self appointed spot. It took a call to an influential Bangkok person to resolve the altercation!

Many of the tuk tuk's in Phuket have a 'business' relationship with the mayor's son - that is public knowledge - QED.

The Thai mafia control the transport system in Phuket and that is why nothing is ever done. No one will do anything either because they simply get killed - remember the high profile Thai reporter who was shot and killed for reporting on the Paradise Beach corruption?

Tourists and expats are under great danger in Phuket - if you accept being scammed that's fine - if you don't you will be hurt or end up in prison because the police are in on the deal. A s a foreigner you have no rights here really - the best you can hope for is to keep a seriously low profile and hope no one targets you because you are defenseless.

The Thai justice system is hopeless. Overworked and in a straight jacket with the procedure - but you will be in good company as there are many foreigners there trying to get justice - just go look on any day of the week. Court hearings are scheduled half a day at a time, several hearings in each session at which you will get about an hour or so for your case if you are lucky. Adjournments are the rule - one after another and each time a different judge will take notes. How they manage to pass on the demeanor of witnesses and so on in their notes I have no idea, mostly they are not looking anyway as they have to dictate everything into a voice recorder and are preoccupied often with that more so than looking at the witnesses - however it seems the system is in place to stop one judge ruling on any one case because in the past they were just bribed ying and yang!.

For a foreigner there is little hope they will get any justice in the space of their holiday and most people cannot take years off work while a case is pursued - the cases go away because the holiday makers just give up. If you are an expat the cost is massive and if you are the claimant (as seems to be the case most often in Civil cases), every effort is made to assist the Thai defendant - the courts happy to adjourn, dragging it all out - good for lawyers fees though, happy to enforce 'security for costs' - a payment by you into court in case you run away because you are more risk of doing that as a foreigner of course, but strangely no such procedure exists for the Thai defendant who may well have no assets to pay your puny costs if he loses - so you need very deep pockets to bring a case and you need an exceptional lawyer to have any chance of winning - many if not most of the Phuket lawyers are corrupt (they will take a payment to sabotage your case), will give you misinformation and hide evidence, areinvolved with the police (who use the weak position of the foreigner to extort money - remember the South African guy who was arrested for supposedly passing forged notes - it cost him 900,000 baht supposedly paid to the International Law firm (and the lawyer he had was - mindful of the defamation law - not the finest), but I have it on good authority that a lot of the money was passe onto the good Thai Police in Chalong despite the investigation which heard he did not and a senate hearing on the matter which was sidestepped. At best you might get an honest but incompetent lawyer and that applies to the International Law firms as well, some of whom are not even run by a lawyer! You have no means of knowing who is good or who is bad because the defamation laws put you at risk of saying something that will damage another person - EVEN IF IT IS TRUE.

As for the British Embassy - they are not interested in the traveller - they are here to further business partnerships with this country - I am not sure what business they promote because this is a graveyard for foreign investment, with a mentality of deceit and cheating and a legal framework that works against the honest both financially and through bias. Anyway you will get less than no help from the British Embassy who are abusing the traveller by the huge fees charged for their services to pay for the costs of them supporting business. That is why you never hear of any criticism from the British Embassy - in fact many Embassies seem to adopt this stance which in the end will only harm Thailand which needs a drastic overhaul of it's customs procedures, anti-corruption measures, justice system and police and other official position regulation.

Of course all these issues of scamming, corruption and injustice could be tackled quite easily if there was a will. There is no will because corruption is a way of life here, if you buck it you will be hurt or killed and who is going to stick their neck out. Unfortunately it is a spiral of badness that is getting exponentially worse but never mind, there are a far higher percentage of Asians visiting here now than before and at least they have some affinity and education in the culture of corruption and are better placed to dodge and weave the obstacles of the scum who perpetrate these abhorrent scams.

You are on your own here!

[Scottythai]

Just an honest question here. Maybe I am just very lucky and never see this stuff. Mind you I live in Bangkok but every time I have had an argument with Taxi's / Bar owners it has never been more than just words and I can easlily say sometimes I have gotten my money back. But reading the way some of you gent's write it seem you dislike Thailand quite a bit but yet you still stay here? Are you guys into business here or even though you disagree with a ton of things that happen here still stay for family ect? I would think after reading some of the comments quite a few of you have left Thailand.

[TheWalkingMan]

Just an honest question here. Maybe I am just very lucky and never see this stuff. Mind you I live in Bangkok but every time I have had an argument with Taxi's / Bar owners it has never been more than just words and I can easlily say sometimes I have gotten my money back. But reading the way some of you gent's write it seem you dislike Thailand quite a bit but yet you still stay here? Are you guys into business here or even though you disagree with a ton of things that happen here still stay for family ect? I would think after reading some of the comments quite a few of you have left Thailand.

As sure as sunshine, someone invariably posts the standard... Why are you here comment/question. Many people have families or other personal/business obligations in country which necessitate them being in Thailand. I would think that with the variety of experience each of us have in our lives, we should be able to glean that many people need to be in Thailand for their own reasons. Whether they complain, praise or call out the bad while complementing the good in Thailand... many are here to stay.

[Chads]

Just an honest question here. Maybe I am just very lucky and never see this stuff. Mind you I live in Bangkok but every time I have had an argument with Taxi's / Bar owners it has never been more than just words and I can easlily say sometimes I have gotten my money back. But reading the way some of you gent's write it seem you dislike Thailand quite a bit but yet you still stay here? Are you guys into business here or even though you disagree with a ton of things that happen here still stay for family ect? I would think after reading some of the comments quite a few of you have left Thailand.

As for myself, though I shared the jet-ski story of a friend, I still came to live in Thailand. Phuket, in fact, but never Patong. I do generally enjoy living in Thailand and Indonesia.