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The scammers very much look like they are in total control of the Authorities as there are still numerous disputes on the beach daily.
here is a brief outline of recent headlines.
29/08/2011 Jet ski Scam uses fake photo's more info here.
http://pattayatoday....se-fake-photos/
12/08/2011 Pattaya officials finally move against jet ski vendors
Pattaya officials have finally moved against the city’s many jet ski scam artists, ordering every vendor working the area’s beaches to register at city hall by Aug. 10 or be classified a criminal operator.
At yet another meeting Aug. 3 on the scandal that has besmirched the city’s image internationally for more than a year, officials pounded fists on tables and professed outrage at the seemingly endless string of incidents involving extortion and physical intimidation of tourists by jet ski touts plaguing Pattaya, Jomtien and Naklua beaches.
http://www.pattayama...s-5384?ref=pmci
Head of Senate tourism panel slams poor city management of Pattaya Beach Friday
07/08/2011
The chairwoman of the Senate’s Tourism Committee slammed poor city management of Pattaya Beach and said worsening environmental and leisure conditions are impeding efforts to attract high-end tourists.
At a July 20 hearing at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Thanyarat Ajariyachai said bookings at five- and three-star hotels in Pattaya have declined due to Pattaya Beach’s ongoing erosion problem, aging facilities and scams by beach vendors. She said the beach lacked proper management and control and said that unless something was done, Pattaya would quickly revert to a destination only for sex tourists.
http://www.pattayama...h-5209?ref=pmci
Full story HERE
5/08/2011 City Hall hollers for a marshal to come to grips with the jet-ski problem
PATTAYA: -- A meeting took place at Pattaya City Hall on Thursday afternoon at which a raft of new ideas were laid out with the intention of finally fixing the seemingly never-ending problems with jet-ski operators. All jet-ski operators from Pattaya, Jomtien, Naklua and Koh Larn were called to attend the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Khun Chaovalit, the Marshal of Banglamung. Following a huge amount of adverse publicity in recent times, both in the local and overseas press as well as from senior foreign government officials, City Hall was finally goaded out of its inertia by a damning news report aired on Thai TV Channel 3 last month. From now on the seabed will be a rosy place because all jet-ski operators will have to be licensed on a yearly renewable basis, all their employees will be registered as will all jet-skis, and operators will have to take out proper insurance. A coupon system, similar to what is in place in many food-courts, will be set up whereby a potential customer will have to pay at a City Hall-controlled desk on the beach,
4/08/2011
Registration of Jet Skis Begins
On Tuesday afternoon, Pattaya City Hall began the Registration of Jet skis, to regain Pattaya’s good reputation as a tourist-friendly town, and to keep the tough business operators from over charging for compensations for accidents etc.
Many Jet Ski operators cooperated with the Registration, which also included Banana boat and Paraglider operators. Some 565 jet skis and related vessels are expected to be registered with the Harbor Department, and the registration window is open until Wednesday, 10th August.
About 10 Jet Ski operators have been recorded for overcharging tourists in the past, which certainly does not outnumber the honest operators. The Harbor Department and City Hall will keep a close eye on this group of finagelers, for the good of Pattaya.28/07/2011
Pattaya Municipality Will Deal Urgently with Jet Ski Mafia
Pattaya Municipality Hurry to Solve Jet Ski mafia problem as it severely affects the image of Pattaya.
Pattaya, 26 July 2011 [PDN]; At the Pattaya Municipal Administratiion, Mr. Chaowalit Seanguthai, Banglamung Chief Administrator along with Mr. Ronnakit Ekasing, Pattaya Deputy Mayor, Mr. Soontorn Rattanavarakorn, Pattaya Assistant district director and related Pattaya goventment officers, and Jet ski entrepreneurs had a meeting to solve the serious problem of Pattaya’s tourism image relating to news that tourists were threatened and extorted for money by Jet ski entrepreneurs Pattaya were.
http://www.pattayada...-jet-ski-mafia/
24/07/2011 Chanel 3 news showed the scam on tv and also witnessed the scam
Local authorities look for answers following Pattaya Jet Ski Scam exposé on national TV
24/07/2011
A national TV channel that recently exposed a Jet Ski Scam operating on Pattaya Beach has local government and the Police hastily seeking answers as to why this illegal activity has been allowed to occur for many years. Despite foreign television programs, You Tube and social networking sites featuring stories of Jet Ski scams, the local authorities have never taken definitive action to stamp-out the scams and regulate the Jet Ski operators, many of which operate as unlicensed individuals who pay no tax and possess no insurance cover for their customers. The latest exposé which was broadcast on Channel 3 here in Thailand has Pattaya Police and Local Government scrambling for answers to the scams which have been operating for many years under the noses of local authorities who have failed to eradicate the problem. Meetings were held at Pattaya City Hall and at Pattaya Police Station led by the Chief of Banglamung District and the Provincial Commander of Police to come up with solution
http://www.pattayaon...national-tvJune 2011
British embassy officials quiz city, legal officials on problems facing U.K. nationals
Representatives from the British embassy called on top city, law enforcement and immigration officials to gauge how the government is responding to concerns of the area’s more than 5,000 United Kingdom nationals.
British Consul Michael Hancock and embassy Director of Trade and Investment Bradley Jones met with Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and heads of the Pattaya Tourist Police and Chonburi Immigration Office during a tour of the area June 3.
(L to R) Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, British Consul Michael Hancock and Director of Trade and Investment Bradley Jones talk about British citizens in Pattaya.
Hancock quizzed the mayor on how the city was protecting British investors and solving problems often cited by visitors to the embassy, such as ongoing scams with jet ski rentals and beach erosion. He also gathered information on Pattaya’s push to develop the city as a more-family-friendly tourist destination.
As for the jet ski issue, the city has yet to make any arrests but is still working toward a solution, he said.
http://www.pattayama...-nationals-3963
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Justice Ministry, Chonburi governor join fray over Pattaya jet skis
, Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome called in jet ski vendors to meet with city and police officials April 12, warning them that the Pattaya City Council wants to ban all jet skis on Pattaya Beach and that foreign media are now watching their every move.
2 The Justice Ministry, he added, became involved after seeing Internet videos of law enforcement officers helping vendors who falsely claim their customers damaged jet skis, then demand tens of thousand of baht in compensation, sometimes physically assaulting those who refuse to pay.
Ministry officials, Itthiphol said, called the situation an “insult” to the image of the entire country and believe swift action is needed to resolve a “serious problem.”
Itthiphol has been inundated with complaints from non-Thais about the jet ski problem since the Pattaya Mail posted videos and links to reports of the scams to his Facebook page earlier this year.
Since then, dozens of new reports, photos and movies have been added, all showing the same thing: Jet ski vendors are systematically targeting mostly non-Western tourists for ripoffs. And, photos show, they are getting a handful of corrupt police officers and non-Thai “interpreters” to help them.
http://www.pattayama...a-jet-skis-2849
March 2011
TAT begins planning 2012 marketing strategy
Pattaya officials express concern over jet ski scams
Pratchaya Kerdthong
Local Tourism Authority of Thailand officials have begun laying out marketing plans for 2012, but its overseas efforts could be hampered by the growing jet ski scandal at home.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay says the ongoing jet ski problem will hurt tourism if it is not solved immediately.
At a Feb. 28 Pattaya Business & Tourism Association meeting, TAT Pattaya Director Niti Kongkrut said Brazil and Australia are among Pattaya’s new target markets for potential visitors with “high purchasing power.” At the same time, TAT wants to put more resources into further marketing the city to Russia, India and China.
“Analyses done in Bangkok show that Brazil, China and Russia have strong purchasing power due to continued growth in their economies,” Niti said. “Together with the private sector, we will use this data to make a marketing plan for 2012 that will yield the greatest benefit.”
http://pattayamail.c...19/news11.shtml
Mayor declares war on scamming Pattaya jet ski vendors
Thursday, 17 March 2011From Issue Vol. XIX No. 11By Pratchaya Kerdthong and Bob James

Itthiphol drafts new rules, recruits informants online, tells vendors ‘I know your game’
After months of non-stop complaints about purported rip-offs, Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome personally warned Pattaya Beach jet ski vendors their “cards have been marked” and finally moved to write new laws to regulate their operation.
Making a surprise, plainclothes visit to Pattaya Beach last week, Itthiphol intercepted a number of the jet ski operators allegedly scamming tourists out of hundreds of thousands of baht weekly for non-existent damage to the water craft and served notice he’d had enough.
“I know your game and your cards have been marked,” Itthiphol, writing on his online Facebook page, said he told the jet ski vendors.
Mayor Itthipol makes a firsthand inspection of the jet ski activities on the beach. http://www.pattayama...ki-vendors-2140
Thursday, 17 March 2011From Issue Vol. XIX No. 11By Pratchaya Kerdthong and Bob James
Aug 2010
Water traffic, not road traffic, was the subject of the Ferry Cooperation Committee meeting at City Hall on Monday afternoon. The Chairman, Mr. Saksit Potisit, presided over the meeting, which was held to discuss boat traffic and other water transportation issues, as well as review guidelines for boarding ferries correctly and safely. The main issue that arose, however, was jet-skis and their unscrupulous owners, and the various ploys they use to overcharge tourists. The committee expressed concern that Pattaya’s image was being ruined by these scammers, and discussed ways to regulate the jet-ski business. Until then, tourists should deal with the jet-ski jerks carefully!
November 2010
Knife used in Pattaya Jetski Scam - Irish Tourist’s Life Threatened
PATTAYA: An Irish tourist, on his first visit to Pattaya with two friends, was threatened with a long-bladed knife by one of a group of Thai men who hire out jet skis opposite Mike Shopping Mall.
In what is becoming an increasingly common occurrence in Pattaya, certain jet ski operators have taken a leaf out of the scam book made infamous by their Phuket cousins, and are almost daily extorting money for alleged damage to their property from tourists who hire out the vessels.
A local resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, witnessed a violent confrontation recently between the scammers and tourists, where a large knife was pulled.
Within half an hour of arriving on Pattaya beach he saw three young men (later identified as Irish tourists) hire jet skis for half an hour from a vendor. He watched as they took the jet skis out into the water and later was adamant as he [more...]
http://www.thaivisa....ife-threatened/
March 2010
Another tourist beaten by rouge jet ski vendors city promised to clean up
Boonlua Chatree
Government officials in Phuket may have clamped down on renegade jet ski operators after being embarrassed worldwide by a British television series, but in Pattaya scammers are still trying to extort money from tourists for alleged damage and beating them up when the victims refuse to pay.
April 2008
Governor Pracha cracks down on unruly jet-ski operators
Australian Ambassador complains to Ministry of Interior
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Chonburi Governor Pracha Taerat is leading an initiative to clamp down on the dangerous activities of jet-ski operators, following pressure from the Ministry of Interior.
A meeting organized by Governor Pracha on April 4 at Banglamung district public hall, which included Pattaya City permanent secretary Sittiprap Muangkoom and Banglamung district chief Mongkol Thamakittikhun, discussed the zoning proposals with more than 70 jet-ski operators.
http://www.pattayama...news.shtml#hd17
There have been reports of tourists being scammed by Jet Ski's for many years now including tourists being assaulted for not paying extortion money.
As soon as the press gets onto a story then the authorities will have a meeting to make it look like they are doing something but there are very few reports of Jet Ski Vendors being punished except for one a couple of years back with the famous JJ who did serve a bit of jail time ,there are pictures online of him holding a gun while ageing with a bunch of military guys.
The Jet Ski scams never for one reason The Police will not do anything.
If you visit Thailand you are putting yourself at risk financially and physically by renting these jet ski's.
Pattaya has had reports of knives being used to scare people into paying money others have been bashed.
There also is no insurance if you have an accident.
Do some internet research before you do something drastic.
The day that the scams stop will make Thailand a much better place .
This thread will also include plenty of info for research.
If you have a story please put it up but please don't break the forum rules .
Edited by saintofsilence, 2011-09-21 20:22:36.
