It is reported that the Phuket Marine Office Chief who, allegedly, was one of the main supporters of the "jet ski industry", has been transferred to a land locked province.

Maybe times really are changing ?

Yes times are changing. They're changing the pigs at the trough.

The mind BoGGles at the workings of Thainess... Waste of Time and money all round with another false show of force. Instead of actually correcting the flaws and making good - nothing amazes me in LOS anymore...

More proof that Thailand doesn't care about the safety of its guests and is happy to scam its visitors. Once again we see Thailand does not deserve any tourists.

More proof that Thailand doesn't care about the safety of its guests and is happy to scam its visitors. Once again we see Thailand does not deserve any tourists.

If you are a guest and are afraid of being "scammed" or "fear" for your safety when will you be leaving ?

Millions of tourists come to Thailand every year and the vast, vast majority of them enjoy their holiday and return home unharmed!

Despite all the criticism of the pitifully low fines levied it is possible that the real message here is that the previously untouchable are no longer quite such delicate little snowflakes.

These guys have acted with impunity for so long that even a 50 Satang fine would be an unthinkable insult in their minds so the amount isn't all that relevant; the fact that they got fined at all and that somebody is finally paying attention is hopefully of far more concern to them.

Time will tell if it is really back to business as usual or there is an actual change in the works.

I (with many I'm sure) am not optimistic but hope springs eternal as they say.

Despite all the criticism of the pitifully low fines levied it is possible that the real message here is that the previously untouchable are no longer quite such delicate little snowflakes.

These guys have acted with impunity for so long that even a 50 Satang fine would be an unthinkable insult in their minds so the amount isn't all that relevant; the fact that they got fined at all and that somebody is finally paying attention is hopefully of far more concern to them.

Time will tell if it is really back to business as usual or there is an actual change in the works.

I (with many I'm sure) am not optimistic but hope springs eternal as they say.

A good point, and when it is considered in conjunction with the transfer (demotion) of their protector, and possibly major stake holder, a strong message may have been delivered.

Confiscate their jet skis for a period of say 4 weeks, (along with the fine) and have the jet skis securely locked up a within a military compound (NOT a Police precinct) AND the operator/s or jet ski owner/s banned from any form of jet ski operation for the same period. And the jet skis can only be released on the order of the PM or the written order of a Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau. Any future repeat offenders will be "invited" to watch the burning destruction of their jet ski! Attitude adjustment?

Maybe then, just maybe, the message will sink in! No more scamming of tourists with the tacit support of local officials.

300 men plus other backup support services how much did that cost the Thai tax payers?. even worse is that the amount in fines would not cover the cost of their fuel to get to the beach and back.

Huh? They were being paid anyhow!

Are you one of those who seeks an excuse for not doing rather than finding a reason how to improve something? That is sad, really. I can only assume you're never been a "victim" of anything.

300 men plus other backup support services how much did that cost the Thai tax payers?. even worse is that the amount in fines would not cover the cost of their fuel to get to the beach and back.

Huh? They were being paid anyhow!

Are you one of those who seeks an excuse for not doing rather than finding a reason how to improve something? That is sad, really. I can only assume you're never been a "victim" of anything.

What I am trying to conveying is why it had to take 300 men to do this, surely no more than 25 would have been sufficient. To me 300 men is excessive I just wished I see the days when I see the police having a considerably higher profile on the streets and in police cars. Looking to find police patrol cars is like finding rocking horse poop.

Tea money and only doing business the Thai way. What happened to keeping the jet skis till proven worthy! Give up Mr. PM you have no chance to change the rules in Thialand!

300 men plus other backup support services how much did that cost the Thai tax payers?. even worse is that the amount in fines would not cover the cost of their fuel to get to the beach and back.

Huh? They were being paid anyhow!

Are you one of those who seeks an excuse for not doing rather than finding a reason how to improve something? That is sad, really. I can only assume you're never been a "victim" of anything.

What I am trying to conveying is why it had to take 300 men to do this, surely no more than 25 would have been sufficient. To me 300 men is excessive I just wished I see the days when I see the police having a considerably higher profile on the streets and in police cars. Looking to find police patrol cars is like finding rocking horse poop.

I understand what you are now saying but TIT. Everything is about money and face in Thailand. 50 to arrest some elderly people playing bridge. It is about talking and hardly ever doing. The leadership thinks that with all their talking the world will sit up and take notice. NO. The world may take notice when something other than talking is done to improve the lives of the average Thai citizen. Nothing done (other than talking) = cronyism and corruption still reigns supreme. The trough is the same only the pigs change?

More proof that Thailand doesn't care about the safety of its guests and is happy to scam its visitors. Once again we see Thailand does not deserve any tourists.

If you are a guest and are afraid of being "scammed" or "fear" for your safety when will you be leaving ?

Millions of tourists come to Thailand every year and the vast, vast majority of them enjoy their holiday and return home unharmed!

Millions of tourists come to Thailand every year and the vast, vast majority of them enjoy their holiday and return home unharmed despite the lack of safety and little care for their well being by their hosts. So your point actually was...?

300 men plus other backup support services how much did that cost the Thai tax payers?. even worse is that the amount in fines would not cover the cost of their fuel to get to the beach and back.

Huh? They were being paid anyhow!

Are you one of those who seeks an excuse for not doing rather than finding a reason how to improve something? That is sad, really. I can only assume you're never been a "victim" of anything.

What I am trying to conveying is why it had to take 300 men to do this, surely no more than 25 would have been sufficient. To me 300 men is excessive I just wished I see the days when I see the police having a considerably higher profile on the streets and in police cars. Looking to find police patrol cars is like finding rocking horse poop.

Maybe the use of, "excessive" personel, was so that they could have a group, show up at EACH operators location at the same time,, to avoid the 1st, 2nd ones, "hit" calling their buddies and warning them they were gonna be next and giving them time to pack up, and head out?,,,, just a thought,,,,

What I am trying to conveying is why it had to take 300 men to do this, surely no more than 25 would have been sufficient. To me 300 men is excessive I just wished I see the days when I see the police having a considerably higher profile on the streets and in police cars. Looking to find police patrol cars is like finding rocking horse poop

300 is excessive if you look it from the point of view that their only reason for being there was to help to nab a few jetski operators and dole out some paltry fines, but try looking at it another way:

To get jetski oafs on the same day the big kahuna of jetski protection was whisked away outside of the normal transfer time for such things and also have 300 of the people who have (allegedly) been instrumental and active in the whole sorry mess and force them to be a part of fining the jetski guys is sending quite a loud message and hammering the point home.

If the jetski operators previously relied on the police to shield them then it will be a further blow to see those same police as part of the large contingent of officers sent to be a part of this rather public display of muscle flexing.

The operators are going to be left wondering what the hell they are paying for now, the dishonest members of the force will be weighing the pros & cons of continuing to support jestski thuggery against risking a nice government job with all the other perks that come with it for a few unsavoury jetski guys and the PTB have taken back the initiative by essentially saying 'Right, ball is in your court now so watcha gonna do?'

I personally rank the jetski alongside the karaoke machine and the Justin Bieber as possibly the worst things humanity ever invented and would have no objection if the Navy decided to use them for a bit of target practice (put Bieber on a jetski singing Hotel California through a karaoke machine and watch me strap on a suicide vest and swimming trunks as a gift to humanity!) but there is a legitimate (albeit unfathomable) market for all three of those things.

A suggestion. The Phuket RTP are always saying they are short staffed, instead of sending 300 of RTP's finest to raid the jetskis on the beach why don't they simply deploy 3or 4 of their finest officers at the SoiNamYen traffic lights (approx 50 metres fromthe main Patong Police Station) where every evening there are dozens of theses pesky jetskis being towed back to their bases between the hours of 1900 & 2000hrs. Half a dozen or so jetskis being towed by a pick up, no lights on the bloody things (towed jetskis), running the lights when red. Then there's the illegal motorbike sidecars towing 2 or 3 units with no lights at all.

As its only 50 metres from the copshop they could even rotate the crew so they can go for a cuppa every ten minutes or so.

And nabbing them for traffic violations takes the marine crew out of the equation.

Traffic violations....Nah forget about it, traffic violations in Phuket (other than helmets and licenses). What am I thinking...silly me.