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Mafia & Jetski scam


LasseDK
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Cannot find the post that was posted a few days ago, i think by admin ? with the norwegian guy who got beat up by the jetski-mafia.

Anyways came across this one, dont kill me if you already discussed this before (you have discussed everything here before!) - but a standoff between US marines and theese mafia guys:

http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2009/09/07/picture-special-royal-marines-in-stand-off-with-thai-mafia/

The last picture, of the thai with all the tatoos he looks pretty crazy :shock:

It amazes me that anyone at all will be riding a jetski in thailand with the huge amount of stories about this scam ? do you know if there has been any effort to do anything about it ?`

If Thailand want to protect its tourism i find it strange that this is being so widespread and it afffects alot of normal people just on vacation.

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The governor of Phuket finally stepped in after a British company made a video showing Phuket Jetski pirates scamming people.

All Jetski operators in Phuket must be licensed and insured.

Almost all of the operators have complied with the law.

He is now turning his attention to the tuktuk and taxi mafias.... a good governor... I hope no-one shoots him.

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The governor of Phuket finally stepped in after a British company made a video showing Phuket Jetski pirates scamming people.

All Jetski operators in Phuket must be licensed and insured.

Almost all of the operators have complied with the law.

He is now turning his attention to the tuktuk and taxi mafias.... a good governor... I hope no-one shoots him.

Okay good to hear, reading the amount of stories about this scam makes you think of thailand on tourist hotspots as a lawless place.

Theese guys, or the "thaimafia" in general" is this an organized structure, or is it only group of smaller thugs acting on their own ?

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The governor of Phuket finally stepped in after a British company made a video showing Phuket Jetski pirates scamming people.

All Jetski operators in Phuket must be licensed and insured.

Almost all of the operators have complied with the law.

He is now turning his attention to the tuktuk and taxi mafias.... a good governor... I hope no-one shoots him.

Okay good to hear, reading the amount of stories about this scam makes you think of thailand on tourist hotspots as a lawless place.

Theese guys, or the "thaimafia" in general" is this an organized structure, or is it only group of smaller thugs acting on their own ?

A resolution to this is far from near...I would even hesitate that they have started tackling anything.

A lot of tourist island areas go through these phases...Peaks and valleys where it's all going to hell, someone steps in to be the hero, things look like they will change for a short while, yet nothing really ever happens.

Slightly entertaining if you are on the outside.

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Thai Mafia isn't like the Italian Mafia.

The 'Jetski Mafia' or 'Tuk Tuk Mafia' are just a bunch of thugs who collude on price and scams.

In Phuket (where the worst of these seem to be) every Tuk Tuk charges a minimum of 200 baht. Even local Thai people are charged exorbitant rates. As with any gang mentality, any argument or threat to their monopoly is dealt with by the use of violence.

Customers are beaten or threatened. Rival operators can be shot. And local police are either too ******* stupid, lazy or inefficient to deal with the problems.

Whether or not police get a kick-back from scams such as the 'jetskis', hasn't been proven to my satisfaction yet, but they are inevitably unhelpful and always seem to side with the operator (though that might be a Thai rak Thai thing.)

In any case, if the jetski scam situation arises... insist the police are called and go to the police station. Have photos taken of the damage and then tell the police that since the damage was caused accidentally and without malice that it isn't a criminal case, it is a civil case.... the jetski guy is welcome to sue you for the cost of the damage, but you want an independent quotation provided and proof that the work has been done.

(However, under new regulations all jetskis should be insured and display a sticker on the front saying so.)

Parts and labour are dirt cheap in Thailand - it will be about a tenth the cost of the money demanded.

And then leave quickly before you get beaten up.

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The governor of Phuket finally stepped in after a British company made a video showing Phuket Jetski pirates scamming people.

All Jetski operators in Phuket must be licensed and insured.

Almost all of the operators have complied with the law.

He is now turning his attention to the tuktuk and taxi mafias.... a good governor... I hope no-one shoots him.

Good Info EB

....and sounds like the Gov. is thinking long range...what will be good for both vistors and Phuket's economic base ( i. e. tourists)

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