Phuket vehicle rental operators warned of passport scam

[sabaii69]

Brits back at it again? Look around especially at fish n chips shops. Hey, Samui is a small island.

[impulse]

The investment recovery time on motor cycles for most operators is about three months, after spurious claims for the cost of repairs to minor scratches and such paying them off.

Rental rates I've seen (not Phuket, BTW) are around 250 baht per day.

250 baht a day x 90 days is about 22,500 baht, assuming 100% utility and no maintenance cost.

Unless they're getting a steep discount on the scooters or buying them pre-thrashed, that doesn't come close to investment recovery.

But just out of curiosity, what do they rent for in the more touristy areas like Phuket?

[eezergood]

Yeah huge scam

Foreigner nicks a bike, oh wow, call the FBI! Foreigner gets scammed every time he visits the beach, normal practice, nothing to see here

I have 3 passports - that lets me nick 2 & still get out of dodge........

[LivinginKata]

The investment recovery time on motor cycles for most operators is about three months, after spurious claims for the cost of repairs to minor scratches and such paying them off.

Rental rates I've seen (not Phuket, BTW) are around 250 baht per day.

250 baht a day x 90 days is about 22,500 baht, assuming 100% utility and no maintenance cost.

Unless they're getting a steep discount on the scooters or buying them pre-thrashed, that doesn't come close to investment recovery.

But just out of curiosity, what do they rent for in the more touristy areas like Phuket?

The idea that the cost of a bike can be recovered in 90 days is rediculous. I realise that the poster is implying a vast revenue from damage claims. But that is not the case with most of the rental people. 250 baht/day for an automatic sound about correct, less on a month rate. Rentor or would be lucky to recover costs in a full year, and that would need to a busy year.

[LivinginKata]

Wonder if the vendor rented it out fully insured which they would have been legally obliged to have?

Really ... fully insured. The only legal insurance requirement is the compulsory gov insurance which covers almost nothing, only limited hospital costs, no mechanical damage. That's why rentee must sign an agreement to cover all damages and losses.

[F4UCorsair]

Thais scammed by foreigners??? That's turning the tables!!

[sirchai]

Krabi restaurant owner Jurgen Weber reported that two foreigners used a third party’s passport to rent a motorbike from his sister-in-law’s shop in Samui. And they never returned it.

Maybe your sister in law sold it and will never tell you that, Mr.Weber. Why does it smell fishy?

And Jurgen Weber seems to live far away from Samui.. Confusing is the headline of the "story". One motorbike that was stolen, by using somebody else's passport, makes it to a scam.

I'm speechless that they show a U.K. passport. But it's not discrimination, or?-

Edited February 28, 2014 by sirchai

[SDM0712]

Brits back at it again? Look around especially at fish n chips shops. Hey, Samui is a small island.

Or in a cake shop at about 4.30.

SDM

PS. Or in a Kebab shop at chucking out time...

Edited February 28, 2014 by SDM0712

[starkey_rich]

I wonder why a picture of a British passport was used in the article?

No mention up there of them having a driving licence for a bike then!

It was some-time ago but the rental operator on Samui kept my passport when I had a jeep.

Obviously because he was british------------ DUR !!!!

He was Russian actually---------DUR------------DUR

[lee b]

Rent a Jet Ski and go down the coast to near where you are staying and dump it. Renters Revenge.

I love that idea will be going to Phuket very soon 5555 !

[TinoThailand]

Ah they can always take the scooters from the honest people at night with the copy key to clear the balance...

[Guest]

I wonder why a picture of a British passport was used in the article?

They could have used this one.

[Jonmarleesco]

'... the operator learned from Krabi Immigration that the person named in the passport had left Thailand in 2012.' And left his passport behind? For a rental business operator in a town known for its rental scams, that seems pretty naive.

[kimamey]

I wonder why a picture of a British passport was used in the article?

No mention up there of them having a driving licence for a bike then!

It was some-time ago but the rental operator on Samui kept my passport when I had a jeep.

Obviously because he was british------------ DUR !!!!

Where does the report state that the persons renting the bike were British or the passport, which was not theirs, was British? There is nothing obvious apart from a generic image of a British passport which incorrectly implies it was British when nothing in the report substatiates this assumption.

It's just a file photo but it's an EU passport as well. Maybe the EU should sue them for defamation. Just to show we understand their culture of course.

[LoZth]

I went to rent a bike on Koh Chang but in the end was refused.

I wouldn't let him have my passport, I told him to copy it, he said no, hold passport.

After I started to walk away he said ok, give me passport, I said no I put in copier, not you.

He refused, I started to walk away, he said ok.

Before we went in to copy my passport I started to take photos of the bike and pointed out the scratches and dents.

He question why I was doing that, I told him so we both know what it looked like when I took it back.

That was when he decided not to rent me a bike.

I went to the bike hire next door, the guy had been listening to what had been said.

He laughed and said, you take pictures, you copy passport, you hire bike, we happy ok.

I will not name names but if you hire a bike/jeep, if the name implies he should be wearing a stetson (or be a builder) walk away.

[Benmart]

It is an offence to leave a passport as security end of !!!!!

Which country passport are you refering to?

[impulse]

Before we went in to copy my passport I started to take photos of the bike and pointed out the scratches and dents.

He question why I was doing that, I told him so we both know what it looked like when I took it back.

He laughed and said, you take pictures, you copy passport, you hire bike, we happy ok.

I salute your diligence, and to some degree, your trustfulness.

But make no mistake, pictures or no pictures, if you are selected for a scooter scam (or jet ski scam), the pictures will not help you. These scams are not a game of wits and evidence, but rather sheer, brutal extortion.

Partly because the authorities you'll be showing the pictures to will probably be in on the scam, and partly because the scammers (extortionists, really) will enlist a bunch of buddies with knives, clubs and guns to make sure you pay regardless of any pictures in the cell phone they can pretty easily beat out of you.

More important to find a reputable renting company than trying to protect yourself against a dodgy one.

[LivinginKata]

It is an offence to leave a passport as security end of !!!!!

Which country passport are you refering to?

Every country. 2 reasons, the passport is the property of the issuing country, and in just about every country being visited the passport holder is required to produce his/her passport on demand to prove identity and entry status.

[sirchai]

Yeah huge scam

Foreigner nicks a bike, oh wow, call the FBI! Foreigner gets scammed every time he visits the beach, normal practice, nothing to see here

And losthimbike.-

[AloisAmrein]

Motorbike rental in Nepal, Laos and Vietnam all very easy, no deposit, no passport needed.

[sirchai]

Wonder if the vendor rented it out fully insured which they would have been legally obliged to have?

Really ... fully insured. The only legal insurance requirement is the compulsory gov insurance which covers almost nothing, only limited hospital costs, no mechanical damage. That's why rentee must sign an agreement to cover all damages and losses.

They'd covered 13,000 baht when I'd my bike accident. The rest of 85,000 baht was paid by my social security. That was about four years ago.

[bangon04]

It is an offence to leave a passport as security end of !!!!!

Yes this simple fact is completely glossed over by the Thais who are running shady rental scams or even nearly legal rental businesses..

[atlbravosfan]

no mention of two facts:

1. My passport is not actually mine, it is the property of the government from the issuing country. As such, it is illegal to require people to hand over their passports as some kind of collateral.

2. In Thailand, you are required by law to always have your passport on you at all times and if you don't you can get fined. Yet, it somehow totally makes sense to require people to leave their passports as a deposit because... they aren't going to go anywhere once they rented a vehicle?

[jacko45k]

I wonder why a picture of a British passport was used in the article?

No mention up there of them having a driving licence for a bike then!

It was some-time ago but the rental operator on Samui kept my passport when I had a jeep.

Obviously because he was british------------ DUR !!!!

I did not see that in the report.

Could you tell me how you know this?

And who is he.... could it not be a woman's passport?

Capital B by the way!

Edited February 28, 2014 by jacko45k

[chezy86]

We rented one out in Chaam and the guy never asked for any ID maybe because the wife's Thai and you can always trust your own!. Yeah right lol