Phuket marine chief threatens jet-ski ban
Saran Mitrarat


A jet-ski operator narrowly misses a surfer at Surin Beach. Photo: Saran Mitrarat

PHUKET: -- The head of the Marine Office has threatened to ban jet-ski operators from beaches after being shown photographs of dangerous riding taken by a Phuiket News reader at Surin Beach.

Marine Office Chief Phuriphat Teerakulpisut made the comments yesterday (November 4) after seeing one photograph of a jet-ski operator riding at high speed towards the shore and almost collided with a surfer, and another of another jet-ski operator landing on the beach after narrowly missing a group of children.

“If jet-ski operators do not follow the rules laid out by officials, there will no longer be jet-skis operating on the beaches,” warned Mr Phuriphat.

“We have already set zones for jet-skis at the beaches. There are 286 jet-skis in total operating on the island, most of which [about 90 per cent] belonging to local villagers, not big companies,” he added.

The marine chief immediately assigned officers to look into the actions of the jet-ski operators at Surin Beach, ordering them to warn the jet-ski operators of the consequences if they did not adhere to safety standards and regulations.

“If they continue to ignore the regulations, I will have no choice but to ban all jet-ski operators on the beaches."

Asked about restrictions on parasailing and other adventurous beach activities, Mr Phuriphat said the existing laws were very old so they did not necessarily take into account modern-day beach activities.

“Even if we propose changes to the laws, they will take a long time to be approved,” he said.

Mr Phuriphat conceded that the popularity of jet-ski riding among foreign tourists meant that a balance had to be found between allowing tourists to enjoy adventurous beach sports such as jet-skiing while at the same time maintaining safety standards.

“The best we can do at this stage is to enforce licensing regulations and give safety advice. All operators of jet-skis, as well as boats and other adventure sport activities, must have licenses,” he stressed.

The Marine Office has published brochures advising tourists to always wear life jackets and to keep within speed limits when operating or riding on motor boats and jet skis.

“Jet-skis should be ridden between 300 and 800 metres from the shore – away from high waves closer to the shore,” said Mr Phuriphat.

New regulations would be issued soon, he said, adding that fully comprehensive insurance cover for boat and jet-ski operators would be among the new stipulations.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-marine-chief-threatens-jet-ski-ban-49495.php


-- Phuket News 2014-11-05

Yes please. Ban please.

Empty threat.

Sent from my LG-D858

“Even if we propose changes to the laws, they will take a long time to be approved,” he said.

And never be enforced anyway, just like the laws already on the books.

" PHUKET: -- The head of the Marine Office has threatened to ban jet-ski operators from beaches after being shown photographs of dangerous riding taken by a Phuiket News reader at Surin Beach. "

What about photos of the actual deceased Russian jet ski renter ? Apparently that doesn't carry as much weight as photos of jet ski riders being in the proximity of swimmers. If a dead tourist doesn't do it , what will it take to make people safer on Phuket beaches ?

"Phuket marine chief threatens jet-ski ban"

but does absolutely jack s**t.

It is only a "threat" to ban them. This means the tea money price is delivered 3 times a week to him, instead of the usual twice.

Just ban them and get it over and done with. They cause nothing but big problems for everyone.

Empty words, thicker envelopes.

>>All operators of jet-skis, as well as boats and other adventure sport activities, must have licenses,” he stressed.

So why doesn't he have someone down on the beaches making sure the people renting out the jet skis are making sure the renters have proper licenses? (rhetorical question).

“If jet-ski operators do not follow the rules laid out by officials, there will no longer be jet-skis operating on the beaches,”

If?

Judging by looking at that photo (and others) they don't follow the rules.

Case closed.

Ban them.

Next...

After all the marine accidents and deaths, regulations and licences "still" aren't in order.

We even had a ferry sink with many deaths months ago, yet still no implementations.

What are the "regulators" doing ? Obviously nothing !!

2 Koreans "lost" at sea when that speedboat driver decided to pick up a plastic bag that had blown under his seat and rammed a fishing vessel.

Any training for any of the "alleged professionals" ? Doubt it.

there are 286 jet skis operating on the island and a further "5000 goto jetski doctor because of crazy tourist not ride good and damage."

Amazing how immigration laws , surrogacy laws ect are all fast tracked in a matter of weeks.

Amazing how immigration laws , surrogacy laws ect are all fast tracked in a matter of weeks.

Are they? The only law in relation to immigration that will be changed is the overstay rule, and that has not yet been made into law. Nothing else has changed, just more enforcement of existing rules.

And bla bla bla!! and bla bla bla!!!

You know when you are on a family vacation and the dad threatens to turn the car around....but never does because he has too much invested in the vacation.......same same but different.

How supportive you couch potatoes are.

The real issue is somebody bought these jet skis and they cost a small fortune. The government should compensate the operators for their loss or move them offshore or to the EAST Coast where tourists who want this kind of fun can join the speedboats and other machines (without swimmer, surfers, divers etc).

Or conduct a study which shows the revenue earned by all beach goers versus (what I assume to be) the majority that hate jetskis and they ruin their day in the water.

Just ban them and get it over and done with. They cause nothing but big problems for everyone.

For some they cause nothing but big profits; even w/o the scams, what is it like 1000 baht for 10 minutes or something?

Until demand (by tourists) ceases, nothing will be done

Ban the Jet Ski... Too many problems. Clean the beaches.

If money to be made or scammed from tourist’s jet-skis will always be there at the forefront all just bluff and bluster and idle threats ban money making scheme in Thailand not in your wildest dream.

"If jet-ski operators do not follow the rules laid out by officials, there will no longer be jet-skis operating on the beaches,” warned Mr Phuriphat."

They have never followed any rules whatsoever, and are illegal for so many reasons to begin with, no matter how they operate.

"There are 286 jet-skis in total operating on the island, most of which [about 90 per cent] belonging to local villagers, not big companies"

Just because a few "local villagers" avoid taxes and other regulations by doing business without setting up a company, does not mean they are not operating as a big business, making lots of money.

"Mr Phuriphat conceded that the popularity of jet-ski riding among foreign tourists meant that a balance had to be found between allowing tourists to enjoy adventurous beach sports such as jet-skiing while at the same time maintaining safety standards."

First of all, the jetskis annoy and endanger many times more tourists than they benefit. Secondly, you cannot maintain any safety standards when giving a deadly weapon to someone who has no experience operating it.

Conclusion: Marine Office Chief Phuriphat Teerakulpisut is either a moron who has no idea what is going on, or he is corrupt, being bribed by the jetski mafia. My guess is he is both, hence nothing will change as usual.

"if, might , could, perhaps a definite maybe"

Full of crap as usual.

Empty words, thicker envelopes.

>>All operators of jet-skis, as well as boats and other adventure sport activities, must have licenses,” he stressed.

So why doesn't he have someone down on the beaches making sure the people renting out the jet skis are making sure the renters have proper licenses? (rhetorical question).

yeah, except its licence to kill!

Marine Office Chief Phuriphat Teerakulpisut and other officials must have received alot of complaints from tourists who are agaisnt jetskis. Further, they must be aware of the enormous amount of youtube videos and website warning against jetski scams and jetskis in general. So clearly there is strong opposition from tourists against jetskis.

I wonder however, if they have ever received even a single message from a tourist who actually wanted to kep jetskis on the beaches? My guess is no. Sure, some tourists like to ride jetskis now they are there anyway, but few if any are going to miss them or skip their holiday in case jetskis were not there.

It is a fact that jetskis and the jetski mafia has caused many accidents, assaults, extortions etc., and that they are doing great damage to Phuket's reputation.

In other words, the only reason to keep jetskis around is to satisfy a few rich and influential operators, as well as to make sure a bunch of criminal beach boys on drugs have jobs. Keep in mind here, that despite making lots of money operating jetskis, these mafia people have never paid even one baht in income taxes, so there is absolutely no benefit to Phuket, only to the mafia operators themselves, as well as the officials and police officers they bribe.

I can't count how many times I've seen these jerks buzz swimmers with less than one meter to spare. No concern if someone is going to get hit, not even thinking that someone might be swimming underwater. These craft should not be in the same areas where people are swimming.

Gimme Gimme Gimme Ya Money....

Marine Office Chief Phuriphat Teerakulpisut gave Phuket to the jet ski mob earlier this month, giving them the right to operate 170 jet skis on Patong alone. That's one hundred seventy jet skis. At Kamala Beach he gave them the right to operate 28, twice as many as currently there. The fix was in from the start.

One Russian killed, numerous documented close calls, a tourist run over by one of their truck, don't hold your breath waiting for the ban. Obviously that would be killing the golden goose.

This guy just decided to have everyone wear life preservers on the boats to Phi Phi, which is ridiculous. And banned the renting of surf boards which I don't think anyone was having a problem with.

"The Chief" has risen to the level of his incompetence. The NCPO should take all decision making away from this office.

This is the absolute single best thing that could possibly happen in Phuket. Not only does it take away one of the most corrupt and displeasing aspects of Phuket, but it would make the holidays for the 99% of beach goers who don't use the jet skis much more enjoyable. Let's face it, Phuket has the best beaches in Thailand, but if you are uncomfortable going into the water for fear of being hit by a jet ski, if you don't like touts pushing you to rent jet skis, or if you like the sound of breaking waves and sea gulls and people laughing, but don't like the sound of a blaring engine drowning out your discussions and taking away the peace and quiet you wanted on your holiday, then getting rid of these smelly, loud, machines is a WIN. If they must be present on the island, please just confine them to Patong. Patong visitors are quite different than the rest of the vacationers and residents in Phuket I've found.

Marine Office Chief Phuriphat Teerakulpisut [/size]gave Phuket to the jet ski mob earlier this month, giving them the right to operate 170 jet skis on Patong alone. That's one hundred seventy jet skis. At Kamala Beach he gave them the right to operate 28, twice as many as currently there. The fix was in from the start.

One Russian killed, numerous documented close calls, a tourist run over by one of their truck, don't hold your breath waiting for the ban. Obviously that would be killing the golden goose.

This guy just decided to have everyone wear life preservers on the boats to Phi Phi, which is ridiculous. And banned the renting of surf boards which I don't think anyone was having a problem with.

"The Chief" has risen to the level of his incompetence. The NCPO should take all decision making away from this office.

"And banned the renting of surf boards which I don't think anyone was having a problem with."

They get in the way of the jet-skis. Doh!