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

[jacko45k 17,731]

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 3,714]

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 681]

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 2,913]

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 75]

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

[happysanook 614]

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 5,108]

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 1,449]

Small beginning’s

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

[Time Traveller 3,323]

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 3,602]

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 271]

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 351]

"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 570]

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 6,024]

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 6,143]

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?