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Phuket jet ski scammers are BACK !!



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 23rd, 2009, 05:56 PM posted to soc.culture.thai,rec.travel.asia
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Default Phuket jet ski scammers are BACK !!

Phuket Jet-Ski Collision: Back to the Bad Old Ways

By Alan Morison

Monday, November 23, 2009

DOUBT has been cast on the new jet-ski insurance scheme after a
weekend collision between vehicles led to an old-fashioned row about
who should pay.

A senior manager at a resort, who became involved as the dispute
became more heated, said: ''Jet-ski operators don't know how to use
the new system, so they went straight back to their old ways.''

However, in this case, a tourist also turned out to be in the wrong
when he at first refused to pay what was eventually agreed by all
parties to be adequate compensation.

Sunday's collision, the first reported jet-ski insurance claim since
the new system was agreed by more than 200 jet-ski operators late last
week, took place off a popular resort.

For understandable reasons, the manager who reported what happened in
detail to Phuketwan prefers not to disclose the identity of the
resort.

''Two jet-skis collided, with the husband on one and the wife on the
other,'' the manager said. ''Fortunately nobody was hurt, but the jet-
skis were damaged.

''I had been down earlier on Sunday morning to check and all the jet-
skis carried the new diamond insurance sticker.

''But after the crash, nobody knew what to do, so the jet-ski
operators immediately demanded US$1000 in compensation.

''It was a case of going straight back to the system they knew. When
we intervened, we pointed out to the operators that there were numbers
to call on the new sticker on the jet-skis.

''The general numbers only work on weekdays, but fortunately there was
a mobile number and we were able to contact somebody, although it was
an hour before they actually came on the scene.

''It turns out that the new insurance system contains provision for a
1000 baht excess, which has to be paid with each claim.

''Another problem emerged in that there is nothing in the new
insurance scheme dealing with the period a jet-ski is out of action.

''So in the event of an indicent, it is still necessary to negotiate a
settlement. We discussed what would be a reasonable figure, and agreed
on 3000 baht a day for the three days that the badly damaged jet-ski
would be out of action.

''However, by this time, the guests had retreated to their room. When
the guest, a non-English speaker, heard that he had a bill for 10,000
baht, he refused to pay.

''It was explained that if he did not pay, the jet-ski operator would
be forced to call in the police, and dealing with the effects of the
incident would probably consume a large part of the rest of his
holiday.

''At that point, he decided to pay up.

''It's worth noting, too, that the insurance does not cover injuries
to the riders, only damage to the jet-sksis.

''This particular guest had been asked to sign a permission form when
he hired the jet-skis, but waved it away and the operator simply took
the cash.

''The insurance representative said that this means he had effectively
entered a legal agreement anyway, even though he had not signed the
official form.
''Our conclcusion is that a lot more work needs to be done on
educating operators and guests, and that standard forms are required
to help solve this and other cases that are bound to happen.

''Provision also needs to be made for the many jet-ski hirers who do
not speak either Thai or English. I have no doubt that until the
changes are fully implemented, the old system of claims and counter-
claims will continue.''

Governor Wichai Praisa-ngob is due to join the jet-ski operators in a
''regatta'' and celebratory fair on Patong beach from 9am on Thursday.
  #2  
Old November 23rd, 2009, 06:00 PM posted to soc.culture.thai,rec.travel.asia
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Default Phuket jet ski scammers are BACK !!

The impounded jet-ski at Patong police station
The impounded jet-ski at Patong police station
Photo by phuketwan.com
Bangkok Horror at YouTube 'Threat to Tourism'

By Chutima Sidasathian and Paweena Petyoi
Friday, November 20, 2009
THE SENATE Committee on Tourism met with Phuket's leading officials
and tourism industry representatives today and projected an
illuminating view of the island's future.

Phuket Member of Parliament Rewat Areerob told the gathering that
diplomats from China, Australia, Korea and Japan had complained lately
about jet-ski rip-offs, the high price of tuk-tuks, ladyboy cheats,
and lack of public transport.

He said that the 330,000 registered Phuket citizens paid taxes that
had to support an infrastructure for hundreds of thousands of Thais
from other provinces, hundreds of thousands of tourists, and at least
100,000 legal and illegal Burmese workers.

Because of the lack of proper funding, disposing of garbage at a rate
of 600 tonnes a day was just one of Phuket's difficulties.

The chairman of the committee, Torpong Chaisan, said the screening of
the television series 'Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand' was one of the
reasons the committee had come to visit Phuket.

They would like to close down YouTube screenings of the series on the
internet, which has a worldwide audience, but YouTube management had
told them there ''had to be a victim who suffered'' for the footage to
be removed.

The committee spent some time discussing Winai ''JJ'' Naiman, whose
case of alleged extortion, arising from the series has yet to come to
court.

The vice president of Patong Jet-Ski Association, Singtong Jalernsub,
told the meeting that Khun Winai's father was from the Netherlands,
and his mother was a Thai from Udonthani.

Khun Winai was born on Phuket. ''JJ takes care of jet-skis for many
other people as well because he has good English skills,'' Khun
Sintong said.

Committee vice chairman Thitima Chaisang asked whether ''JJ'' was the
best person to represent Phuket jet-ski owners in dealing with
tourists.

''Why don't other people know how to speak English so they can all
talk to the tourists?

''Why aren't people taught how to behave properly with people from
other countries who come here?

''Why hasn't the local tessaban taught people the skills they need to
be good tourism ambassadors?

''Please don't tell me that JJ is still fulfilling this role as the
main contact for tourists on Patong beach.''

Khun Sintong said that JJ was only called in when other jet-ski
renters discovered they couldn't properly communicate with tourists.

The committee laughed at this response.

When asked whether he thought the scene depicted in the reality
television show 'Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand' was genuine or
playacting, Khun Sintong said he thought it was genuine.

''JJ would like to be famous,'' he said.

Permission for making the controversial series came from Bangkok, not
Phuket, Deputy Patong Mayor Chairat Sukhban told the committee.

''Why try to find a victim now?'' he said ''The damage has been done.
Thousands of people around the world have seen the series.''

Committee chairman Khun Torpong said much of their time was taken up
with reading reports in Bangkok when clearly, they needed to see the
real situation, as depicted on 'Big Trouble' and YouTube on Phuket and
other destinations in Thailand.

''We have to skip the paperwork,'' he said.

Phuket was the first stop for the committee because of its importance
to Thailand. The income from Phuket tourism amounted to 94 billion
baht a year.

''With good management and a decent image, the income could be 150
billion baht a year,'' he said.

Khun Torpong said that having seen the show, he could not say who was
right and who was wrong in the case involving JJ, but the image of
Thailand was clearly going to suffer.

It came at the worst possible time, when political uncertainty also
complicated Thailand's future. Phuket, the pulse of tourism, had to be
kept beating in a healthy fashion, he said.

It was at least good to see that the Governor of Phuket had reacted to
end the jet-ski problem, he said.


 




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