jetski scam

[farangatang]

sittin on Patts beach, opp soi 4, yesterday with my lady, when 2 young white asain (they don't speak Thai) guys rock up & sit in front of us. We watched, over about 2 hours, a scam unfold in front of us. The 2 guys decided to hire a jetski each. l noticed 1 of the jetskis looked fairly new, the other a bit worse for wear, had bits of black rubber bumper missing & a small crack in its side. Anyhow after their allotted time of fun, they return, parking thier jetskis on the sand in front of their chairs & both sit down again. The thai guy they hired them from, takes thier life-jackets then starts lookin at the jetskis. He approaches the guy who was on the not so new jetski, & starts askin what happenned out there? How did this crack get here? Why r bits of rubber missin? etc.etc. The asain guy stands his ground. Soon 2 Thai guys rock up. They inspect the supposed damage & figures up to 20,000 baht fly around! The asian guy continues to stand his ground. My lady & l decide to go, was nearly 6pm. Just as we leave a BIB turns up! Feal sorry for the asian guy, but if l said anything, l would have suffered the rath of many thai guys! Has put me off ever hiring a jetski!

[lantern]

Yes heard too many of these kind of stories. They can stick their jetskis where the sun don't shine.

[matey phatphuck]

I have done the jetski thing and have had no problems but i did have a good look and pointed out minor damage before i left also took a video of pointing out the dings so was no problems later

 

regards Matey

[BobbyTits]

well known scam by these low end Thai scumbags just waiting to extort money from you and the cop who shows up gets a cut of the action.

[whitespider - RIP]

They should report it to the BiB at Soi 9 or the TVP. Contrary to popular myth they WILL help.

[Newton]

The usual culprets are opposite soy 8 . They go in the ploice station get a policeman . who agrees with them , Wala 20000baht , nice little earner for the police , thats why pattaya is on the way down..

[Jumpingman]

The usual culprets are opposite soy 8 . They go in the ploice station get a policeman . who agrees with them , Wala 20000baht , nice little earner for the police , thats why pattaya is on the way down..

 

This type of scam will get worse IMHO as the financial crisis deepens, desperate people will do desperate things----------

[Shuggy]

Saw exactly he same scam on Koh Samet a month ago.

[markyboy1008]

This sort of thing happens in many resorts worldwide.

 

Best thing to do, if you still want to hire one is make a point of showing them ALL the damage prior to taking it. This way they know you are onto them before they start.

[.Q.]

Most of the jetskis and boats that go to the Islands are owned by the Police so your fucked.

 

As someone said above. Video the whole jetski and take pics of the damage and show them to the guy. This should cut out any scams.

[biggles]

I regularly see one of the BIB on beach road opposite a jetski hire place. waiting for the call to adjudicate any disputes and pick up his share of the loot I imagine. Pattaya police, the best that money can buy!!

Edited October 7, 2008 by biggles

[Rob Jones]

If you use the same beach vendor for the duration of your stay I guess it minimises the possibilty of getting scammed, but I have read enough sad stories in my lifetime about all the serious accident that happen with jetskis to ever want to mount one (if you know what I mean)

[LaaMok]

These jetski scams have been well documented many times on the internet, why dont people use common sense anyway.

 

You should always inspect hired goods, and if your that worried take a couple of photos.

 

Once you threaten to call the tourist police, I heard these guys will leave you alone.

[cowboy1]

I saw the same scam happening directly opposite Soi 13/2 in the area just to the left of the marked off swimming area. Five young English boys (about 18 years old) were surrounded by 4 thai men who operated the jetskis. The "damage" was pointed out and a figure was demanded. After a lot of shouting and bad feeling one thai man led one of the young fellas over to a seat. The atmosphere became very pleasant and after shaking hands some money was given for the "damage". Obviously the farangs were so glad to pay a few bahts to escape.

BUT it didnt end there. Each thai man grabbed a farang and demanded the same amount from each of them. There were minor scuffles along the beach. The farangs were so frightened that they paid. I didnt blame them. One of the Thai men was built like a shithouse door and a really evil looking person. He still works there and can be seen walking up along the promenade looking for victims. He is easy to spot. Very short and broadly built. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!!! I felt really sorry for the farangs. One of the Thais involved owns and works at the umbrellas/chairs.

[bob1]

Y not hire 2, sink 1 and f off with the other 1

[biggles]

Yeah, you have to laugh. the Tourist people are complaining about the drop in tourist numbers yet everyone in authority is aware of this scam (and others) yet nothing is done about it. You get away with it for a long time but with the growth of the internet, word gets around eventually and people vote with their feet and you run out of suckers.

[gazman100]

And they wonder why tourism numbers are falling.

The authorities should be cleaning up the jet ski mafia and not Soi 6.

Cheers

[freddie]

try to take a picture before you rent without the guy seeing and hold back on it till the boys in brown turn up and watch the scammers faces.

[asianplay]

I've never been scammed. I once went out on one but didn't use all the alloted time. the guy ended up giving me a partial refund. nice of him to do it.

 

see, not all of them are bad guys.

[barney]

Just stay away.........if you're stupid enough to rent one, som nam na.

[hazze]

I've hired a few times from the beach and not had a problem, but I was always with a thai.

Now I think about it I remember the operators making me look over the the set ski with them in advance. So i guess thats a sign they were okay.

 

I did see something similar to this with some indian guys. There was some sort of problem. The police turn up, take them away on a boat. They come back about half an hour later presumably a bit lighter in the wallets.

[timorno]

I worked with a large jet-ski/speed boat operator in Samui a few years ago... although he and his managers were no Scammers some of the other jet-ski businesses surely are... but to be honest some of the guys who rent them are plain stupid and cause accidents... especially when a group of four or five young drunk blokes rent them... they drive close to each other... show off... and then... BAM... big accident and many tears when they see the bill....

BTW... its very important when you rent them without a contract that you make sure that "outside" damages are your problem but "inside" damages (engine etc..) are the vendors problem... They will agree to it... and if there's an an engine problem you'll have no worries... but if you haven't talked about this before they try to make you liable for this as well...

[Bagheera]

I'm afraid it happened to me on my first visit to Thailand in 2004.Me and my two mates were staying in Jomtien when we hired them on the beach there from a Thai husband and wife.When we returned he claimed my mate damaged his one and demanded 15000 baht for the repairs.I was kicking myself for being so green.While it was my first visit to Thailand I was well travelled and should have known better.Of course an argument ensued.I went to walk away when he picked up an iron bar and treatened me.At this stage my friend who at 22 was on holiday for the first time started to panic and said he would pay.I didn't want to pay but he insisted.We argued the price down to 5000 baht and reluctantly paid him.Lesson learned. I have since hired them on Pattaya beach and in Koh Samui without any hastle but have always checked them out and pointed out any marks on them.It won't happen again

[youngpattayaaddict]

this seems to be a well known scam that happens in many different countries.ive always wanted to do the jetskis,but was warned against it everytime.thankgod!now i just stay away.theres more fun to be had then jetskis especially in patts!