Phuket jet-ski thug gets first taste of swift tourist court justice

[geezer2]

1000 baht fine ?????????????? Is that a joke ? or a typing mistake ?

as if a thai could make a mistake

[Thai at Heart]

If it stops him doing it again, it's progress....

[geezer2]

For the first hit... But if he does it again within 2 yrs, then he will be facing jail time

Is is great... Perhaps less than he deserved, but a least it went through the system very quickly and no 'damages' seemed to be paid by the tourists

So clearly far far better than the old system of 'shake down at the Police station'

So still call it a win...

If this happens again and again, then there will soon. Be a lot of jet ski operators, taxi , Tuk Tuk drivers on probation before too long...

Once they are on probation and looking at Jail time for repeat offense, may cause them to think twice

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa appmay cause them to think twice

so you are saying they can think once..where money is involved

[webfact]

No Phuket Tourist Court hearing – yet
Naraporn Tuarob

PHUKET: Karon Police have denied reports that a jet-ski operator who assaulted two tourists had his case tried by Phuket’s new Tourist Court.

Pol Lt Channarong Prakongkuea, who handled the case, said that the jet-ski operator, Danaichet Yomjinda, 25, admitted assault, and was therefore sent the day after the attack to the Provincial Court for sentencing.

Phuket’s Chief Justice, Parinya Chaowalittawin, agreed. He said, “If there was an application for a Tourist Court hearing, I would know about it.”

A denial also came from Sunti Pawai, Director of the Phuket Tourism & Sports Department, which has under its umbrella the Tourist Assistance Centre (TAC). The TAC is an indispensable link in the process whereby cases reach the Tourist Court.

“I have no information about a first case [in the Tourist Court]. If there was such a case it would go through the TAC.”

Justice in the Provincial Court can be swift when the accused admits guilt, and there is no need for a trial. The judge simply has to decide on the penalty.

In this case, Danaichet went before a judge on Saturday and was fined B1,000. He was also sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for two years.

The hearing was the day after Danaichet and the two tourists got into an argument over damage to his jet-ski. Enraged, Danaichet grabbed a ‘No Swimming’ flag and beat the father, 66, and his son, 43, with the flagpole, giving them both bruises.

Meanwhile, the first test of the new Tourist Court is yet to come.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/no-phuket-tourist-court-hearing-yet-42160.php

-- Phuket News 2013-10-01

[chooka]

If it stops him doing it again, it's progress....

When he making 100K a day from his scams 1K is hardly a problem for him. Will be easy to adjust your scam to cover the 1K expected fines.

The guy should've got a prison sentence for Assault with a weapon and intentionally causing injury. Should've also been banned for life from working in the tourism industry. Giving a thug a hug and nice cup of warm milk hardly deters others.

Edited September 30, 2013 by chooka

[chooka]

No Phuket Tourist Court hearing – yet

Naraporn Tuarob

PHUKET: Karon Police have denied reports that a jet-ski operator who assaulted two tourists had his case tried by Phuket’s new Tourist Court.

Pol Lt Channarong Prakongkuea, who handled the case, said that the jet-ski operator, Danaichet Yomjinda, 25, admitted assault, and was therefore sent the day after the attack to the Provincial Court for sentencing.

Phuket’s Chief Justice, Parinya Chaowalittawin, agreed. He said, “If there was an application for a Tourist Court hearing, I would know about it.”

A denial also came from Sunti Pawai, Director of the Phuket Tourism & Sports Department, which has under its umbrella the Tourist Assistance Centre (TAC). The TAC is an indispensable link in the process whereby cases reach the Tourist Court.

“I have no information about a first case [in the Tourist Court]. If there was such a case it would go through the TAC.”

Justice in the Provincial Court can be swift when the accused admits guilt, and there is no need for a trial. The judge simply has to decide on the penalty.

In this case, Danaichet went before a judge on Saturday and was fined B1,000. He was also sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for two years.

The hearing was the day after Danaichet and the two tourists got into an argument over damage to his jet-ski. Enraged, Danaichet grabbed a ‘No Swimming’ flag and beat the father, 66, and his son, 43, with the flagpole, giving them both bruises.

Meanwhile, the first test of the new Tourist Court is yet to come.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/no-phuket-tourist-court-hearing-yet-42160.php

-- Phuket News 2013-10-01

So I guess the process is that a person is 1st presented before the Provincial Court where he has the opportunity to lodge his plea. If he pleads guilty it is dealt with there, if he pleads not guilty it is then referred to the tourist court where a date is set for a trial.

[jaapfries]

You all might makes jokes, but I consider this real progress. You have to realise that fines in Thailand seem low, but that is just the real Thai economy (not the tourist economy).

This is the part I really like ...

“If Mr Danaichet is caught committing a crime during his probation, he faces a penalty of three months in prison,” the officer explained.

@LivinginKata: you are correct, IMHO; however; the single biggest "blow" to this Mr. Danaichet, an many people obviously missed this, is

the enormous "Loss-Of-Face" his guy has and is suffering ! ! Don't underestimate the psychological effect this has an a Thai !

Under Thai' law, for 'light' assault; the max. [enalty is Bt. 500.- (Five-Hundred baht) per case: 2 cases here: hence the Bt. 1K

[deecee10]

1000 baht fine ?????????????? Is that a joke ? or a typing mistake ?

And that's for TWO assault charges.

[ajarnmarc]

woooo;

that will definately stop him from doing it again, 1,000 baht!!!!

If they had beat him would they also have had a 1,000 baht fine??

Most likely. After all the assault wasn't on a Thai.

So the fact that they provided some sort of justice for a foreigner is new.

In my thirteen years here it's always to attempt to spin the situation off on the foreigner somehow.

Stating Thai's never cause an altercation first,

it's foreigners who disrespect them,

and call the Thai's out.

Never mind if this is the case,

and the Thai man you were disrespecting now calls upon five more to assist.

This I've also seen happen each time.

That's all water under the bridge,

with the understand if you don't like how it is...

go home!

So justice of some sort has arrived.

Best to just buy your own Jet Ski,

if that's your thing,

and if you're just on vacation,

well stay away from them,

there's other things to do.

Once we avoid the attraction,

so to speak, they will be forced to calm down,

but of course that will take time for them to understand.

In the west if this were happening,

of course we would boycott there business.

The pain will only come with loss of revenue.

The nice thing about Thailand is,

the land of the people law themselves.

Do you really want the police involved in all your actions,

or the courts?

Best to avoid the situation all together, no?

Many people claim that the Jet Ski operators are owned by the police.

Don't know myself,

but I've seen men involved in issuing a beating upon a single foreigner,

with at least one or two claiming to be the police,

they weren't in uniform,

and they weren't shy about anything they were doing at the time.

No worries...TIT.

Rights come to those who are keen on timing...

[harrycallahan]

He's not being punished for his second uncommitted offence, he's being punished for this, his first offence.

For assaulting two people with a weapon the punishment is a 1000 baht fine.

Yes that is pathetic.

[laurentbkk]

the best way to avoid problem ..... DO NOT USE JET SKI in Thailand .

[Thaddeus]

I read the first post and thought 'well it's one small step, but it's a start'

Then I read post 34, nope, business as usual.

[GAZZPA]

I can see lots of people complaining about this but I think it is very good news. It is justice for the victims, the severity of the punishment can be debated but it is still justice in favour of the victims.

Next stop is to see a couple of these scammers locked up for 6 months sending a big message to everyone. At present they just get away with their behaviour, this is a step in the right direction and we should be happy about that.

Glad to see the Father and Son were not seriously injured.

[phitsanulokjohn]

Still cheap at 10 times the price.1000 Baht hardly a deterent.

[Andre0720]

You all might makes jokes, but I consider this real progress. You have to realise that fines in Thailand seem low, but that is just the real Thai economy (not the tourist economy).

This is the part I really like ...

“If Mr Danaichet is caught committing a crime during his probation, he faces a penalty of three months in prison,” the officer explained.

Definitely is a progress.

Though considering these ''business people'' as regular Thai people might be stretching it a tad bit.

I saw one of these jet ski handlers at the bank one day... The thickness of the 1,000 baht notes was impressive....

[jacko45k]

No mention of 'compensation', medical expenses etc.

You have to hit these guys where it hurts, in the pocket, and do something like take away his licence or confiscate his jet-skis.

1000 baht was probably chump change relative to the 45,000 baht damage claim he made earlier!!!!

[crazykopite]

A 1,000 baht fine to most Thais would seem an awful lot of money maybe it would have been better had this man been banned from plying his trade on that beach for 3 months, no doubt he will put up his charges for rental to pay off his fine at least justice is seen to be done to a certain extent

[Straight8]

A 1,000 baht fine to most Thais would seem an awful lot of money maybe it would have been better had this man been banned from plying his trade on that beach for 3 months, no doubt he will put up his charges for rental to pay off his fine at least justice is seen to be done to a certain extent

Let's get this corrected.. A 1,000 baht fine to most normal, hard working, honest, law abiding thais, is an awful lot of money.

[GeorgeO]

1000 baht fine ?????????????? Is that a joke ? or a typing mistake ?

So they chose not to use the opportunity to set an example by imposing, as I had suggested, a five-year jail term. Let's not forget that the son received a serious head injury, which would be referred to as grievous bodily harm (GBH) where I come from, and which would indeed carry such a penalty.

If they believe that this is going to have a positive impact on the tourism sector, then I will also believe that in Bangkok, Mr. Plod's boats are indeed capable of pushing water out to sea...!

And don't even get me started on the headline: "First Taste of Swift Tourist Court Justice"....justice...? Gimme a break..!

Edited October 1, 2013 by GeorgeO

[WarProfiteer]

What I dislike here is... if the father and son assaulted the scammer, would their fine be just 1000 baht? I think not.

[happysanook]

You all might makes jokes, but I consider this real progress. You have to realise that fines in Thailand seem low, but that is just the real Thai economy (not the tourist economy).

This is the part I really like ...

If Mr Danaichet is caught committing a crime during his probation, he faces a penalty of three months in prison, the officer explained.

What rock are you living under? 1000 baht is nothing to them. This is a travesty and a joke. He's laughing right now and the other thugs now know they can beat the .... out of foreigners for a cheap price to pay. Some will gladly pay the fine just to do it for fun.

[terryp]

maximum fine under Thai law is 500 baht (thats why it was treated as 2 cases) ...but you can claim for damages ie Hospital etc

500baht is not the maximum if you are a non Thai assaulting a Thai National , it is then 20.000 baht +++

[Jim walker]

Small beginning’s

Edited October 1, 2013 by metisdead
Large font reset to normal.

[Time Traveller]

1000 baht fine ?????????????? Is that a joke ? or a typing mistake ?

Well he'll think again next time he tries to scam someone out of 40,000 baht and assault them. There's a 1000 baht fine waiting for him

[Docno]

I just wish these small-time news outlets would hire an editor with basic English skills. The original report refers to “The two assault cases, one against the father and one against the son..." Very confusing. Sounds like the father and son were charged with assault, which obviously was not the case.

[skorchio]

Seems to me to be progress. Remember that in days gone by, the victims would have been down the copshop negotiating a fee to get their passports back. A thousand dollars would not have been considered excessive. There will be certain members of the BiB seething at this outcome. I only hope that those who stand to lose out are unable to 'get at' the Court, by either getting them involved in the payout or through sheer threat of thuggery. Step in the right direction in my opinion. This beach thug will have to be on his best behaviour for 2 years.

[cloghead]

"A denial also came from Sunti Pawai, Director of the Phuket Tourism & Sports Department, which has under its umbrella the Tourist Assistance Centre (TAC). The TAC is an indispensable link in the process whereby cases reach the Tourist Court."

Aha...there's the rub

TAC don't want no part of this scam scheme...

[Wavefloater]

If it's true that the usual fine for physical assault on a fellow human being is only 500 baht in Thailand, that's a very sad statement on how the value of life is viewed here. Physical assault can do serious psychological damage to people. That's why it's not treated so lightly in civilized countries. (From some instances I heard of, it seems that the understanding of psychology is extremely poor here in Thailand, so it stands to reason that such a superficial society wouldn't consider mental damage in a situation like this.)

Saying that, if this thug actually did appear before the court, it IS a step in the right direction and beats having the situation concluded by a cop at the beach who's only waiting for his cut. Unfortunately, the Phuket Gazette has shown that they don't know the facts in this situation, so I think we are still in the dark as what is happening with this one. The problem is that operations like the Phuket Gazette (and those other horrible e-rags in Pattaya) are happy to publish exactly what the police tell them to, so we really can't have any faith in their journalistic integrity.

[cooked]

The jet ski scams are not about a few hundred Baht, they are demanding ฿10 - 20 000.-. I can think of some tourists that I would happily pay ฿1000.- for them to be hit over the head with a flag pole.

[smotherb]

You all might makes jokes, but I consider this real progress. You have to realise that fines in Thailand seem low, but that is just the real Thai economy (not the tourist economy).

This is the part I really like ...

If Mr Danaichet is caught committing a crime during his probation, he faces a penalty of three months in prison, the officer explained.

Totally agree.

First, there was moaning that nothing was done, now the moaning continues.

I am not familiar with the Thai penal code but I should suspect that fines in general are lower than say in Oz or the USA. Lots of Thais for which THB 1,000 are a fair chunk of cash.

yeah, let's see, two falangs, B1,000. that's B500 apiece, is it not?