Aus Hon Con in tense talks over Phuket jet-ski incident

[eezergood]

Will we see some BOYCOTT PHUKET as we saw some Boycott Sochi ? I have to congratulate the Hon Con in this mater. Could be an example for the other consuls on the island. Anyway the threat from this lady is absolutely amazing .

It actually wouldn't be too hard for someone with the technical know how to have an Anti-Phuket webpage rank very highly on a google search using some simple SEO techniques. I don't feel the need to personally dissuade people from going, but a boycott campaign will really hit them where it hurts. I am actually surprised it hasn't been done already, given the amount of people who get ripped off there.

Tell me how to do it, I will pay for it!

Actually, you wouldn't even have to set up a web site. You can set up a Facebook account where incidents and photos can be placed. The hard part would then be getting it listed on Google, and other search engines, so that it pops up when anyone does a search. Otherwise, simple enough to do.

1) Purchase, download and install a program that hides your IP address.

2) Set up a new email address to use when setting up the Face Book page, using the IP hiding software.

3) "Share" it with all of your friends, and ask them to also share with all of theirs, and so on.

4) Every time there is an article in regards to scams, attacks, murders, etc, against foreigners by Thai, post it.

I have a feeling it wouldn't take long for it to become "viral" and, of course, the Thai government would be looking for ways to shut it down because it gives Thailand a "bad image". lol

PM me - I am happy to get this going!

[yourauntbob]

My only question is, why would anyone vacation in Phuket? Its impossible to do any research on the place without coming up with a ton of stories like this. Anytime i have friends or family in Thailand I tell them straight up to avoid the place, there are plenty of islands just as beautiful that are infinitely more honest.

[yourauntbob]

Will we see some BOYCOTT PHUKET as we saw some Boycott Sochi ? I have to congratulate the Hon Con in this mater. Could be an example for the other consuls on the island. Anyway the threat from this lady is absolutely amazing .

It actually wouldn't be too hard for someone with the technical know how to have an Anti-Phuket webpage rank very highly on a google search using some simple SEO techniques. I don't feel the need to personally dissuade people from going, but a boycott campaign will really hit them where it hurts. I am actually surprised it hasn't been done already, given the amount of people who get ripped off there.

Tell me how to do it, I will pay for it!

Actually, you wouldn't even have to set up a web site. You can set up a Facebook account where incidents and photos can be placed. The hard part would then be getting it listed on Google, and other search engines, so that it pops up when anyone does a search. Otherwise, simple enough to do.

1) Purchase, download and install a program that hides your IP address.

2) Set up a new email address to use when setting up the Face Book page, using the IP hiding software.

3) "Share" it with all of your friends, and ask them to also share with all of theirs, and so on.

4) Every time there is an article in regards to scams, attacks, murders, etc, against foreigners by Thai, post it.

I have a feeling it wouldn't take long for it to become "viral" and, of course, the Thai government would be looking for ways to shut it down because it gives Thailand a "bad image". lol

PM me - I am happy to get this going!

dont forget to set up a google alert so you get a message anytime an incident hits the news.

[eezergood]

My only question is, why would anyone vacation in Phuket? Its impossible to do any research on the place without coming up with a ton of stories like this. Anytime i have friends or family in Thailand I tell them straight up to avoid the place, there are plenty of islands just as beautiful that are infinitely more honest.

Because some people dont believe the hype! Also, for example, my family will come here to vaction in order to visit me - as for now this is my workplace & therefore my home!

[eezergood]

Tell me how to do it, I will pay for it!

Actually, you wouldn't even have to set up a web site. You can set up a Facebook account where incidents and photos can be placed. The hard part would then be getting it listed on Google, and other search engines, so that it pops up when anyone does a search. Otherwise, simple enough to do.

1) Purchase, download and install a program that hides your IP address.

2) Set up a new email address to use when setting up the Face Book page, using the IP hiding software.

3) "Share" it with all of your friends, and ask them to also share with all of theirs, and so on.

4) Every time there is an article in regards to scams, attacks, murders, etc, against foreigners by Thai, post it.

I have a feeling it wouldn't take long for it to become "viral" and, of course, the Thai government would be looking for ways to shut it down because it gives Thailand a "bad image". lol

PM me - I am happy to get this going!

dont forget to set up a google alert so you get a message anytime an incident hits the news.

I am somehting of a technonitwit! I need it explaining in Baby steps!

[cekipa]

Here is a briefing of the whole story: "aussie boy was conned of a discounted 16,000 baht thanks to police involvement when he should have paid not more than 5,000. The Governor is willing to pay the rest even if it does not exist. The director of Phuket Passport Office scolds Aussie Consul for complaining too much wishing him to leave". Amazing sequence of events. Larry, we really wish you all the best.

[marcusd]

I am sick of pattaya and phuket extorting us. Lets write articles on trip websites and drive these maffia operators and tge corrupt officials back to the jungle.

There are better places and more deserving people in Thailand

[Time Traveller]

The Australian honorary consul is an idiot, did he just wake up to this scam against foreigners? Last month he was complaining foreigners were clogging up Phuket hospitals, now this. Seriously the best he could do was just tell all foreign visitors to avoid phuket altogether or the very least never hire a jetski in Thailand. 15 years ago Thailand was begging for tourists, now there's so many tourists they don't care about robbing and scamming as many foreigners as possible. The only way to beat the Thai scammers is don't give them your money by going elsewhere.

[chooka]

Just heard this on the Australian radio news, two scams against Australians in a week and mentioned how Larry is being intimidated by Thai authorities for speaking out and tarnishing Thailand's reputation as the worlds best and safest holiday destination.

[LomSak27]

EU ambassadors and Aussie H C are constantly trying to work with the Phuket authorities for things to get better - and they never do.

How long before the finallly realize the only way is to issue travelers warnings, then let Phuket authorities prove things have changed before they remove them.

[bbradsby]

Unbelievable, the blatant coercion between the jetski mafia and the Phuket government is an embarrassment to Thailand and should be dealt with severely. All under the watch of the DSI, shamefull.

Just don't hold your breath for any changes to the status quo.

The authorities in the realm don't seem to realize (nor do they appear to care) just how much negative publicity is being generated and published right around the world about Thailand and Thai related issues.

Oh well!, I don't really give a shyt either.

and neither does the rest of the World nor its media quite frankly. Petty crimes against foreign tourists and complicit local officials... uh, next

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Stop going to Phuket. Everybody should know this is the status quo.

A consular person being threatened by local government officials. Insane.

If anyone had any doubts about this being a place it would be wise to avoid, the antics of the OP article should remove any doubt.

Venture there are your own risk...

[outsider]

He did well, but also he did his job so we don't go overboard with praise.

Are there people knowledged about jet skis who know what kind of damage a submerged jet ski incurs? Surely a watercraft like this is designed to withstand a dunking?

There is no damaged caused by submerging a jet ski. It may foul the plugs in which case you remove them, clean them and put them back in. I've seen the jet ski's they use in Phuket and they are all pretty recent models which means that most of those issues have been fixed. Jet ski's are designed to be submerged. I had two early models and that was nearly 10 years ago and I could completely submerge them and as long I kept my hand on the throttle it would not die. If it so happened that it did die, about 90% of the time you could reboard and it would start back up again. If you get water in the engine hold, you simply put the jet ski on the trailer and pull the plug and drain out the water. These guys are simply just shaking folks down. The bottom line is don't rent from these thugs. Unless your stay in a local condo includes watercraft, don't bother renting from the thugs bad, bad, things happen.

Many decades ago I rented a jetski while on holiday on a Malaysian island. It was my first time so the operator gave me a 10-min crash course on how to operate it. Including how to right it if I flipped it upside down, how to re-mount and so on. He told me it won't sink even if it was belly-up. Even did a demo, and flipped it just to show me! He just told me not to panic. I actually did flip it during my ride, and got it up and running again. The operator scrambled to my position, but just to make sure I was ok! Before he left, he just asked me to rev the engine a little. Told me it sounded 'healthy' and then left me to enjoy my afternoon. When I returned, they just moored my jetski and didn't even bother to take another look at it, much less check for damage.

As for Phuket, well I say people should just avoid the place until it changes for the better. I have told friends not to go there. Some posters here said boycott. It may not be a bad idea after all. When these scums realise just how much their scams are actually hurting themselves, they will learn to have more strategic vision and see further down the road, and understand the concept of 'honest business create happy customers who come back - with more customers'. People change at the percipice of disaster. Give them the 'disaster' i.e. no tourists, no business, no income... and let them evolve to have a little bit more intelligence and hopefully humanity.

[chooka]

EU ambassadors and Aussie H C are constantly trying to work with the Phuket authorities for things to get better - and they never do.

How long before the finallly realize the only way is to issue travelers warnings, then let Phuket authorities prove things have changed before they remove them.

Governments do have travel warnings on their websites but who actually logs in and reads them. The Thai authorities know very well that tourists don't seek out these warnings before they travel so why change anything.

Auatralia's currently travel warning to Thailand is, Exercise a high degree of caution

"Carefully consider your safety and the implications of accidents if you hire a motorcycle or jet ski and seek advice on any restrictions that may apply (such as insurance cover if you are not licensed to ride a motorcycle in Australia). You should check with your travel insurer whether these activities are covered by your policy. You may be detained and arrested by police following jet ski and motorcycle accidents until compensation, often in thousands of dollars, can be negotiated between parties"

If the government made it compulsory for travel agents to hand out a pamphlet to tourists then they may actually read it but then on the other hand that may be bad for the agents business.

[BudRight]

If the police steal your passport, you should notify your embassy immediately. After all - it really belongs to them, not to you. Let them deal with it.

[lovetotravel]

Congrats to this man for standing up to this scam and associated government corruption! More foreign government officials need to take a stand like he did.

This website might be a good place to start:

http://bribespot.com/

As for traveler's warnings, the USA's travel advisory for Thailand lays these things out quite well. But doubt many travelers read these. I know I didn't when I first came here. What it should also describe is how corrupt the police are:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1040.html#crime

And how it's supported at the highest levels of government:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/618784-chalerm-not-a-bribe-if-cops-ask-for-money-on-chinese-new-year/

I love this video. And Thailand's concerned about their image? They created it, and it ain't good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf9JW5PrBfc

[bander]

The actions of the Governors office seem to suggest that the office is at the least indirectly involved in the jet ski scam.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Right, no need for Sherlock to figure that out

[razer]

It is time for foreign tour operators to boycott Phuket and for foreign governments to issue travel warnings. Pattaya soon to follow if they don't clean-up. Want to make these people cry? Cut off their money supply.

[chooka]

The Australian honorary consul is an idiot, did he just wake up to this scam against foreigners? Last month he was complaining foreigners were clogging up Phuket hospitals, now this. Seriously the best he could do was just tell all foreign visitors to avoid phuket altogether or the very least never hire a jetski in Thailand. 15 years ago Thailand was begging for tourists, now there's so many tourists they don't care about robbing and scamming as many foreigners as possible. The only way to beat the Thai scammers is don't give them your money by going elsewhere.

You may think Larry is an IDIOT and that is your right but no he did not just wake to this scam. Larry has actually been fighting against these scams for years and hasn't backed down an inch infact I actually thinking he is now raising the bar at his own risk. He is probably the most verbal opponent of these scams in Thailand. He even fights for injustices against normal Thais on the island.

[bigbamboo]

My nephew and some of his university friends were in Thailand on their gap year trip recently and I told them you'll have the best time here but remember to stay away from drugs and jet skis.

[EQ San]

When number of tourists visiting Thailand will start to decrease, they will start wondering what they have done wrong...

When the whole country, the whole economy, will really start suffering of Thailand ripping off reputation, and I am really talking about the whole thing, not only the tourism industry, I mean the whole figures.. When it will be obviously too late.. Then, maybe (only speculation) they will start to look deeper into the problem, which is not less than the Thai attitude with the non-Thais printed so deep in Thai minds... So normal to suck money off foreigners, so fair to be unfair with them.. So Thai.

The more the monkey goes high in the tree, the more he shows his ass!

[robertson468]

So, the chargeable issues I see are:

1. Grievous bodily harm.

2. Fraudulent claim for damage.

3. Threatening a representative of the Australian Embassy, a representative of HM The Queen.

4. Illegally retaining a passport, the property of Her Britannic Majesty.

I think it is time that ALL the Ambassadors got together and submitted a strongly worded letter to the Foreign Minister, pointing out that this sort of behavior is totally unacceptable and is not only damaging the tourist trade of Thailand, but the Country as a whole which is being compounded by rude and ineffective Thai Officials.

[tomross46]

Things like this are good for the tourist trade. What happened to the agreement between the government and the foreign embassies to protect tourist? Is this another case of all talk and no action?

[chrisrazz]

Good for the Ozzie consul in refusing to be intimidated by this repulsive gang of thieves all colluding to rip off tourists.

He is actually acting in the best interests of Thailand. Now that the ruling party has botched economic management so badly with unproductive hand outs and growing corruption, the PM is desperation is saying they will have to boost tourism to avert a current account deficit, since exports have slumped. Firing all the corrupt government officials in tourist resorts from the provincial governors down to police station commanders would be a great place to start. But she wants her cake and eat it - allow rip offs, rapes and murders of tourists to go unpunished and hope that bare faced lying will always work to sweep the truth under the carpet and keep the mugs coming.

Than you Arkady, for a well written comment.

I think the reason I still love Thailand after 8 years here, on and off, is because I have never set foot on Phukhet, Samui or in Pattaya, and avoid Bangkok unless I have to go to the Embassy etc.

Have spent my time in Chiang Rai, 4 years, and now Chiang Mai for the last 4 years, and really don't have too many bad experiences to relate. I am careful when I go out for a beer and avoid Karaoke bars like the plague. Have trouble feeling sorry for anyone ripped off by such well known scumbags such as jet-ski touts etc.

I do like the idea of a website telling overseas visitors of the dangers of local scams, probably the best way to get the message to the masses.

Would have to be set up outside of Thailand, of course, and even then it would eventually be blocked for telling the truth.

Thailand can only block sites from Thailand, the whole point of the exercise is to warn those not actually here, but thinking of visiting. I actually tried this earlier this year, even posted on this site for people to add their own stories. Not one response received, so moral outrage lasts but a rew seconds.

[peterbkk9]

When number of tourists visiting Thailand will start to decrease, they will start wondering what they have done wrong...

When the whole country, the whole economy, will really start suffering of Thailand ripping off reputation, and I am really talking about the whole thing, not only the tourism industry, I mean the whole figures.. When it will be obviously too late.. Then, maybe (only speculation) they will start to look deeper into the problem, which is not less than the Thai attitude with the non-Thais printed so deep in Thai minds... So normal to suck money off foreigners, so fair to be unfair with them.. So Thai.

The more the monkey goes high in the tree, the more he shows his ass!

"... When it will be obviously too late.. Then, maybe (only speculation) they will start to look deeper into the problem"

Even then, I don't think so. They will blame it on something else, on some external event, but they will never, not in a million years, think they are responsible / accountable for anything

See, the attitude of the passport authority lady is so typical. The Thai way: blaming the consul for the bad publicity instead of focusing on the issue itself.

Embassies should issue travel warnings against renting jet skis. Stop using them. Put the scammers out of business.

[Baerboxer]

Stop going to Phuket. Everybody should know this is the status quo.

A consular person being threatened by local government officials. Insane.

Well lets hope the Aussie Ambassador takes this up at the highest levels. It's about time the apple cart was well and truly shaken.

Will it make any difference though............... doubtful when a government official has the confidence to make threats by sms without worrying about the consequences.

[Rinrada]

Well done Mr Aus Hon Consul Cunningham....who seems to be doing better than this lot..

from..

June 11, 2013 by Wanwisa Ngamsangchaikit

News, Thailand

Ambassadors fight Phuket scams

PHUKET, 11 June 2013:

Eighteen European ambassadors and senior envoys will visit Phuket, 14 June, to call for a crack down on scams including the islands infamous for tuk-tuks and taxis.

They will meet with Minister of Tourism and Sport officials and the islands top police.

According to report, the Ambassadors and Senior envoys will meet this Friday to hear briefings on scams and crimes involving tourists.

The ambassadors will ask for assurances that the islands police will tackle a rising crime rate and scams particularly related to transport.

Earlier, the ambassador to China, Guan Mu, said Thailand had not given any assurances on what measures it would take to protect Chinese tourists.

He warned that corruption among some police and immigration officers,and the lack of safety on the island would serious damage tourism from China.

A similar warning to France,gained a fast response and assurances from police there that they would tighten security mainly in Paris.

Netherlands Ambassador, Joan Boer, urged Phukets governor, Maitree Inthusut, to ensure taxis always use their their meters and end the constant rip-offs regarding transport.

Phuket has been hit by a wave of tourist discontent that is flooding social media sites and dominating online news channels that focus on the daily crime and safety lapses that face Phuket tourists.

Tourists complaints about tuk-tuks and taxis will blow up in our face and your face if more is not done to actively address the issue,the Ambassador said.

The fares are too expensive and people are beaten up if they refuse to pay"

Thailands newly appointed Tourism and Sport Minister, Somsak Pureesrisak, has already said that his priority will be tourist safety.

Safety is now the top concern for the government to ensure Thailand is perceived as a safe destination to visit

We will strengthen collaboration with related organisations.tourist arrivals to Thailand continually increase, but visitors are posting their negative safety experiences on Facebook and we have to respond

[Chao Lao Beach]

BareBoxer: "Well lets hope the Aussie Ambassador takes this up at the highest levels. It's about time the apple cart was well and truly shaken."

First it will have to be vetted by all the Thai staff in the Bangkok Embassy that will side with the Jet Ski Operator before it every got near the Ambassador.

The Thai staff don't wan't those pesty Australians upsetting the Thai scams now.

​Thumbs up for Mr Cunningham , there was talk a month or 2 ago to make it into a consolute due to so many Australian deaths and issues in Spewket. Would be a good thing one thinks.

[MK1]

Stop going to Phuket. Everybody should know this is the status quo.

A consular person being threatened by local government officials. Insane.

Then where should we go almighty evil one?

[cekipa]

All foreign authorities would be better off by warning tourists during their flight through announcements and signs on screen panels. Message should be "TOURISTS ARE WARNED OF CONSISTENT ONGOING JET-SKI SCAMS WITH COMPLICITY OF THAI POLICE. NO ASSISTANCE WILL BE GIVEN BY THE EMBASSY IN CASE OF A DISPUTE IF YOU HIRE ONE".