Pattaya Jet Ski Scammers Emboldened

[CrossBones]

All these "conservative" people who have no tolerance for this that and the other. Blacks, young people, drugs, jet skiiers, blah blah. Just go out and pick up whores every night.

Too many bloody asians in england and australia.. lets move to asia.

Complain about corruption, Thai people being dumb, living in a third world country... of course they will complain if the prices go up.

Western hypocracy?

LOL

Have you been to see someone about your anger issues ?.....

LOL means laugh out loud (ie funny, not angry) woohoo boo boo, did i rustle your feathers?

[ozzieman05]

I have in the past hired many cars in Thailand, and before leaving the yard take pictures of the front back and both sides

I make sure the company rep knows I have done this

In my 10 years of doing this not once has my car been checked when I return, yet to other I talk to who have hired from the same yard have found damage on their return and had to pay a waiver fee

I also use my own GPS in the car when driving and it records the highest speed in the last 15 mins

The wife explains this at all Police stops and I see them grumble under their breath and say "Okay Move on"

Maybe a water proof bag and a basic camera will stop these scams on the spot

Once a Thai scammer had an argument with my Thai Wife

Saying she was bad Thai

She should look after Thai as she is Thai

and Farlang can afford to pay

Sadly my Thai wife believe my money is her money

and no way will she part with what belong to her

I agree with you , I photo anything I hire or buy - it has proved useful simply as a deterrent. once they see you have a photo they are much more reluctant to even start on that sort of scam.sorry about your last comment though - if you look at your marriage vows and your moral obligations, you'll find your wife is right.

This not worry me

When I marry her in Thailand I buy her a house, cost 1 million Baht

My western wife we divorce in Australia

at the end she take the house $700,000 dollars

These odds I can live happily with

[PattayaOneTeam]

Small cutting from Pattaya Times on the knife incident recently

Steven noted, “The guys immediately went to check this damage as I came out of the water, as though they knew what to look for. They then demanded 18,000 baht for it.”

Being in no way a reasonable estimation of the damage, and having not damaged the machine anyway, he refused to pay.

To the shock of all watching this incident unfold, one member of the jet ski gang pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around a long-bladed knife, thrusting it at Steven, threatening to stab him unless he paid the extortionate amount of cash demanded. This happened in broad daylight in full view of dozens of members of the public, both Thai and foreign, on the busiest stretch of road in this tourist orientated city.

The rest of the jet ski gang surrounded Steven and his two friends, and the physical encounter threatened to spill over.

A phone call was made by one of the jet ski gang, and, within minutes a number of men in uniform, who looked like police but may only have been volunteers, or imposters, arrived on the scene. What is certain, they only made matters worse by ignoring the tourist’s request for help and not doing anything about the man who had pulled the knife.

The local residents told the pleading tourists to ask for the tourist police to attend. A sympathetic bystander allowed them to use his phone to call a lawyer and the Irish Embassy to report the situation. cont

http://thailandtimes.asia/thailand-news/pattaya-jet-ski-scam-horror/

We just want to clarify something.

This extract is NOT from the PATTAYA TIMES. It was in our PATTAYA ONE front page story of the Irish jet ski guys in December 2010, which we allowed the THAILAND TIMES to reprint in full.

[sharecropper]

I see alot of people focusing on how much they hate the Jet Ski's. I will say this. I just hate Pattaya.

That beach is the worst kind of cesspool, attracting the lowest forms of life. Maybe at one point it was a nice resort town. Now it represents everything that the world thinks is wrong with Thailand. It is sad that a country with so much diverse culture and history is legendary for this wretched den of scum and villainy. When I first started coming to Thailand I went to Pattaya several times. That is what you are supposed to do, or so I thought. Now I know better. Let the Russians and Iranians have it. They get what is coming to them. I have no sympathy for the tourists who go to a beach that is legendary for two things, whores, and scams, and then get scammed, any more than if they contract HIV from one of the whores.

You get what you pay for in life, and Pattaya is to tourism what the bargain bin on the sidewalk outside the dollar store in the ghetto is to retail shopping. Screw them, and everyone that looks like them.

There are plenty of decent Beaches in Thailand, and other neighboring countries where my tourist dollars are appreciated. Keep Pattaya. See you on Koh....

Let me guess.......Koh Larn?

[saintofsilence]

Small cutting from Pattaya Times on the knife incident recently

Steven noted, “The guys immediately went to check this damage as I came out of the water, as though they knew what to look for. They then demanded 18,000 baht for it.”

Being in no way a reasonable estimation of the damage, and having not damaged the machine anyway, he refused to pay.

To the shock of all watching this incident unfold, one member of the jet ski gang pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around a long-bladed knife, thrusting it at Steven, threatening to stab him unless he paid the extortionate amount of cash demanded. This happened in broad daylight in full view of dozens of members of the public, both Thai and foreign, on the busiest stretch of road in this tourist orientated city.

The rest of the jet ski gang surrounded Steven and his two friends, and the physical encounter threatened to spill over.

A phone call was made by one of the jet ski gang, and, within minutes a number of men in uniform, who looked like police but may only have been volunteers, or imposters, arrived on the scene. What is certain, they only made matters worse by ignoring the tourist’s request for help and not doing anything about the man who had pulled the knife.

The local residents told the pleading tourists to ask for the tourist police to attend. A sympathetic bystander allowed them to use his phone to call a lawyer and the Irish Embassy to report the situation. cont

http://thailandtimes.asia/thailand-news/pattaya-jet-ski-scam-horror/

We just want to clarify something.

This extract is NOT from the PATTAYA TIMES. It was in our PATTAYA ONE front page story of the Irish jet ski guys in December 2010, which we allowed the THAILAND TIMES to reprint in full.

My apolagy Pattaya One I was aware that they reprinted it from Pattaya One and I should have mentioned that.

Edited February 1, 2011 by saintofsilence

[BOS2BKK]

yes and all this also feeds, clothes, schools 100's of 1000's of mums dads and children

builds houses condos businesses

etc etc

you cant have one without the other

one day when Pattaya grows up it will be Los Vegas

Wow. never have a more ridiculous collection of statements been uttered. Crime and filth is okay because people use it to feed their families? So a mugger is a pillar of society because he buys his kids school uniforms? A drug dealer is deified because he feeds his wife? I think anyone who can think that way is justifying having more than once benefited from the fruits of shady enterprise. I wonder if you could dismiss it so easily if it was your 15 YO daughter taking Yaba and screwing drunk Arabs?

Next. Las Vegas has from day one been a haven of long term smart business. Was it mob run back in the day? HELL YES. But the average gambler never saw any of that. They skimmed at the top realizing, unlike your friends in Pattaya who are just feeding their families, that the big money came from people coming back, year after year. The only time a gambler ever saw anything that had to do with the Mob, was if they tried to cheat the house. Seems a little backwards from your logic, since I can get a hotel room in Vegas cheaper than I can in Pattaya, and nobody will try to rob me or scam me, and I will never have to get into a punching match with a drunken Brit.

I love Thailand, but one thing that drives me nuts is the myopic nature of the Thai thought process. To a Thai it seems long term planning means 3 months. This handicap is what causes all their problems. They struggle for the short term gains rather than focus on long term stability.

Some day Pattaya may grow up and become Las Vegas....one can only hope...Las Vegas is one of the most tourist friendly places on earth. There are no cheap condos for barely solvent retirees to take poor little Isaan girls for cialis fueled supporting of families, so I can see why the average Pattaya resident would not care for it.

[Rimmer]

Another off topic post denigrating Pattaya removed from view also a quoted reply, for reminder the topic is:

Pattaya Jet Ski Scammers Emboldened Using new tactics to avoid police involvement

[SICHONSTEVE]

This seems to be happening recurrantly. Do the Tourist police not get involved?

They almost certainly are involved. No doubt they are given a nice little back-hander to conveniently disappear when you need them or turn a blind eye to the perverse actions of these thieving scammers. Maybe they will advise you "to pay what they ask for" and then take their cut of the money, or EVEN kindly get a slight discount on the original amount - yeah right, thank you very much to the so called 'beholder of the law in Thailand'!!! You are clearly unaware of how corruption is rife in the fabric of society in all walks of life here, notably the police and immigration service. It is amazing how the payment of money speeds certain things up or miraculously gets you off the hook in seemingly dire circumstances. They even regard it as being one of the perks of the job to be able to accept bribe money (coffee money as it is commonly known amongst the perpretators). Politicians do it all the time - you only have to read the Bangkok Post or The Nation to realise this!! My advice is simple and is the same given by many other posters on this scandalous treatment of tourists wanting to have a bit of fun with their hard earned money and that is to find something else to spend it on and put these scammers out of business. They might end up having to sell their Jet-skis (with a 100,00 Baht reduction of course) - due to the slight damage in the paint-work. I'm sure, that if someone had the audacity to attempt this they'd complain to their police friends in double quick time and want them arrested as being conmen - I mean, why should they take a loss when all of those nasty tourists have repeatedly damaged their beloved jet-ski's by their wreckless handling of them!!!!! They would undoubtedly claim that is just a little bit of natural wear-and-tear over the years (that people seem to have paid for over and over again) only for it to mysteriously reappear every time someone takes to the water - strange that, don't you think?????

[BOS2BKK]

Let me guess.......Koh Larn?

Never been, is it nice? The point of that ending was to suggest there are countless resorts in Thailand, take your tourist dollars somewhere that appreciate them.

Don't worry too much. I promise everyone they will be able to find whores wherever they go.

[BOS2BKK]

Let me guess.......Koh Larn?

Never been, is it nice? The point of that ending was to suggest there are countless resorts in Thailand, take your tourist dollars somewhere that appreciate them.

Don't worry too much. I promise everyone they will be able to find whores wherever they go.

[khunsiam]

Usually the tourist police want 50% of the money that's paid up by the foreigner, they will speed it up and say: " you both make a deal or I'll put you both in jail".

This seems to be happening recurrantly. Do the Tourist police not get involved?

[bangkockney]

What is the biggest source of outside revenue for Thailand? Tourism.

Nahhhh. Tourism contributes approx 6 - 7% of GDP.

Foreign investment contributes (gross fixed): 26.8% of GDP (2007 est.)

All 2007 figures.

Exports of goods and services, equivalent to nearly 70% of GDP in 2010.

[Deeral]

What is the biggest source of outside revenue for Thailand? Tourism.

Nahhhh. Tourism contributes approx 6 - 7% of GDP.

Foreign investment contributes (gross fixed): 26.8% of GDP (2007 est.)

All 2007 figures.

Exports of goods and services, equivalent to nearly 70% of GDP in 2010.

Thailand is an industrialised nation, where d'you think it comes from?

[Wallaby]

yes and all this also feeds, clothes, schools 100's of 1000's of mums dads and children

builds houses condos businesses

etc etc

you cant have one without the other

one day when Pattaya grows up it will be Los Vegas

Wow. never have a more ridiculous collection of statements been uttered. Crime and filth is okay because people use it to feed their families? So a mugger is a pillar of society because he buys his kids school uniforms? A drug dealer is deified because he feeds his wife? I think anyone who can think that way is justifying having more than once benefited from the fruits of shady enterprise. I wonder if you could dismiss it so easily if it was your 15 YO daughter taking Yaba and screwing drunk Arabs?

Next. Las Vegas has from day one been a haven of long term smart business. Was it mob run back in the day? HELL YES. But the average gambler never saw any of that. They skimmed at the top realizing, unlike your friends in Pattaya who are just feeding their families, that the big money came from people coming back, year after year. The only time a gambler ever saw anything that had to do with the Mob, was if they tried to cheat the house. Seems a little backwards from your logic, since I can get a hotel room in Vegas cheaper than I can in Pattaya, and nobody will try to rob me or scam me, and I will never have to get into a punching match with a drunken Brit.

I love Thailand, but one thing that drives me nuts is the myopic nature of the Thai thought process. To a Thai it seems long term planning means 3 months. This handicap is what causes all their problems. They struggle for the short term gains rather than focus on long term stability.

Some day Pattaya may grow up and become Las Vegas....one can only hope...Las Vegas is one of the most tourist friendly places on earth. There are no cheap condos for barely solvent retirees to take poor little Isaan girls for cialis fueled supporting of families, so I can see why the average Pattaya resident would not care for it.

Did someone from Pattaya steal your pushbike when you were young?

[jbrewer]

This seems to be happening recurrantly. Do the Tourist police not get involved?

like they would help?

[Ricardo]

Thailand is an industrialised nation, where d'you think it comes from?

Dunno, China perhaps, via some wholesale sales-city ?

[Kilgore Trout]

How many more years must this go on?

Ban the jet skis as they are illegal to pilot without a skippers license.

Oh, that's right that would require law enforcement.

Is that true? Wouldn't surprise me.

Agree with other poster about Hua Hin, only place I've ever jet skiid and didn't have a problem. Apparently though Phuket and pattaya are to be avoided at all costs

[Jingthing]

The reason po-lice go after bars is that they have a way to make money from those raids. Where is the money for them if they go after the organized mafia running the jetski violent scams?

[Chunky1]

who is the famous police officer.

[Chunky1]

20k baht/incident. At 1 per day you are at 600,000 baht per month. 2 per day is 1,200,000 baht per month. 3 per day is 1,800,000 baht per month. Lucrative business.

[Chunky1]

The Police have admitted they are aware of the scams in thailand yet still no one is being held accountable everyday still the scams are ocurring personally I think scam is not the right word it is more serious than that, when you see evidence on youtube of the scam and then see the same operators on the beach still scamming thats not on.

Mr. Police Boss. Oh, I like your new Ferrari. Oh, we have the very big problem. Yes, the jet ski scammers are back and robbing farang.

I guess the above is what you expect the tourist police to do about the situation?

[sharecropper]

who is the famous police officer.

If I may speak in riddles, it's a Pattaya Secret where you can see his photo.

And he seems to be in attendance at many scams. I'd love to see what his official job is. He's certainly seems to be more on duty than any other Pattaya policeman.

Chunky1 - thanks. Simple maths and a great way to illustrate how this scam has become so entrenched. Imagine that, what, a low 10 times a day on the beach? In 30 days it's a 6,000,000 baht industry, and I bet that's a conservative figure.

If the ""Powerless" That Be" take a 10% commission on that, it is probably the second best earner to shaking down bars.

[saintofsilence]

20k baht/incident. At 1 per day you are at 600,000 baht per month. 2 per day is 1,200,000 baht per month. 3 per day is 1,800,000 baht per month. Lucrative business.

And thats only the figures from calling on one jet ski operator , then multiply it by another dozen.

[raylo]

All these "conservative" people who have no tolerance for this that and the other. Blacks, young people, drugs, jet skiiers, blah blah. Just go out and pick up whores every night.

Too many bloody asians in england and australia.. lets move to asia.

Complain about corruption, Thai people being dumb, living in a third world country... of course they will complain if the prices go up.

Western hypocracy?

LOL

Couldn't agree more. Liked your earlier post as well. Right on the money.

Plus as I posted earlier where does it identify you need a licence for a Jet Ski in Thailand?A skipper licence for **** sake. If you really did and you ride one and have an accident you are in serious sh*t with no insurance cover.

[saraburioz]

Why are people so resentful at this particular illegal activity?

People go to Pattaya for what? No need to spell it out, we all know and it is illegal, isn't it?

A case of wanting your cake and eating it too.

Like the drug addict complaining that his dealer isn't law-abiding.

if the police did their job in Pattaya, you wouldn't want to go there.

[oldsailor35]

I've absolutely NO sympathy for these selfish bloody tourists (note they're ALL male) who think nothing of ruining one's quiet day at the beach because they want to race noisily about the ocean destroying the coral and putting bathers lives at risk regardless.

They should (and I repeat 'should') by now be aware of these so called scams, given that jet skis are 'illegal', believe the word 'scam' inappropriate. How can one be scammed by someone conducting an illegal business in the first place, rather like a john complaining to a brothel keeper about having been ripped off by one his sex workers, given all the publicity this particular aspect of Thai tourism has been given worldwide. Or do they not have access to international news in India and Iran?

Coral at Pattaya beach ..................wot you been smoking mate, what ever it is, i'll have a couple hundred bahts worth of the same.....lololololol

[oldsailor35]

I personally had no problems with jetski operators in hua hin recently, would go back nay time again. in fact got a 300 bht reduction and an extra 10 mins on the ski at the end of the day at sundown , brilliant guys operating the skis here, Pattaya maybe has a lot to learn. If you want customers to come back, be fair to them!!!

In the parts of Thailand I have been exposed to in my 24 years I have not seen many situations that " If you want customers to come back, be fair to them". Very much more often that not it is get as much as you can as quick as you can and forget about return customers in the future. Snatch and Grab.

From what I am told, you cannot find a straight jet ski operator in Samui. They run this scam daily, and the police do NOTHING. It has been caught on videotape, and played around the world. Still, the police do nothing, and the scams continue on a daily basis. I warm everyone that I speak with who visits. The #1 rule here in Samui, is stay at least 100 meters away from any jet ski operator. They are ALL thieves.

Try Cheong Mon beach almost opposite Honey Bungalows, a small family operation with just a couple of skis.

[oldsailor35]

I have in the past hired many cars in Thailand, and before leaving the yard take pictures of the front back and both sides

I make sure the company rep knows I have done this

In my 10 years of doing this not once has my car been checked when I return, yet to other I talk to who have hired from the same yard have found damage on their return and had to pay a waiver fee

I also use my own GPS in the car when driving and it records the highest speed in the last 15 mins

The wife explains this at all Police stops and I see them grumble under their breath and say "Okay Move on"

Maybe a water proof bag and a basic camera will stop these scams on the spot

Once a Thai scammer had an argument with my Thai Wife

Saying she was bad Thai

She should look after Thai as she is Thai

and Farlang can afford to pay

Sadly my Thai wife believe my money is her money

and no way will she part with what belong to her

Every time i have hired a car from a reputable company, they produce a chart of the car and with a quick 'walk around' with the company rep., one is able to clearly mark the chart indicating any damage present. The same proceedure on return either clears one of damage or shows new damage..................easy!

[transam]

The reason po-lice go after bars is that they have a way to make money from those raids. Where is the money for them if they go after the organized mafia running the jetski violent scams?

I think it's a weekly income for the BiB, no presence needed.

Edited February 1, 2011 by transam

[saintofsilence]

I have in the past hired many cars in Thailand, and before leaving the yard take pictures of the front back and both sides

I make sure the company rep knows I have done this

In my 10 years of doing this not once has my car been checked when I return, yet to other I talk to who have hired from the same yard have found damage on their return and had to pay a waiver fee

I also use my own GPS in the car when driving and it records the highest speed in the last 15 mins

The wife explains this at all Police stops and I see them grumble under their breath and say "Okay Move on"

Maybe a water proof bag and a basic camera will stop these scams on the spot

Once a Thai scammer had an argument with my Thai Wife

Saying she was bad Thai

She should look after Thai as she is Thai

and Farlang can afford to pay

Sadly my Thai wife believe my money is her money

and no way will she part with what belong to her

Every time i have hired a car from a reputable company, they produce a chart of the car and with a quick 'walk around' with the company rep., one is able to clearly mark the chart indicating any damage present. The same proceedure on return either clears one of damage or shows new damage..................easy!

And if it is your word against theirs who is going to assist you ?