Thailand’s most famous resort is not only well known for its beaches or entertainment places but also for scams targeting tourists. Local police wants now to take action…
BANGKOK- It is well known as ‘Sin City’ but it could also earn the accolade of ‘Scam City’, certainly a consequence of its immense popularity among tourists. Thailand’s resort city of Pattaya makes regularly headlines for crimes or scams targeting foreign visitors. Earlier this year for example, the police arrested prostitutes who drugged their clients to take their belonging… until they killed two of them. With its reputation at stake, it was time for local police to finally act. The English-speaking newspaper Bangkok Post reported on its Monday edition that twelve representative groups of expatriates as well as leaders for the business community met with Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers to discuss what one of them called the “cancerous” crime levels in the resort town.
The Bangkok Post highlighted that Pattaya is struggling to improve its image, “much of which comes from foreign mafia groups based there”. Not only, as the newspaper seems to forget that scams targeting tourists are also done by unscrupulous local Thais.
The meeting between the Police force and expats was arranged by Pol Lt Col Natthapong Trongthieng, inspector of the CSD 2nd sub-division. Foreigners from Denmark, France, Belgium, India as well as Jusmag Thai, an American unit which takes care of US soldiers in Thailand, took part to the meeting.
“We had to go to them or we wouldn’t understand their problems. It’s our job to serve not only Thais but foreign communities as well,” he said to the Bangkok Post. The idea of meeting up with foreigners living in Pattaya has been brought by a “Community Policing” concept initiated by the commissioner of Central Investigation Bureau. “It is part of the police’s job to work with the community,” the police officer explained to the Bangkok Post.
Expats identified the jet-ski scam run by mafia-like operators on Pattaya Beach as the most critical issue for tourists, the police said. People renting jet-skis by some local operators are then forced to pay out huge amount of money to crooks to pay for incurred damage when returning the skis. Slight damage was already done before rental but tourists tend not to see them as they are on the underside of the craft. Generally, customers accept to pay the sum of money to avoid running into problems instead of complaining to the Police. In South Pattaya, the police identified already two jet-ski and boat operators. However, the police suggested that a list of operators of jet skis should be compiled and given to travellers. The Tourism Authority of Thailand but also Thailand Ministry of Tourism could play then an active role by posting the list on internet but also on advising tourists with some security tips. Other actions could target cheating shop owners or taxi drivers…
“The police work must be done step by step as sudden enforcement may initially scare away the wrongdoers. But they will finally return to the business,” said Pol Lt Col Natthaphong to the Bangkok Post.
By checking on business owners and requiring information from operators dealing with foreign visitors is probably the easiest and probably one of the most efficient way to separate ethical from non-ethical business owners.
There are plenty of reports on the internet about the most popular scam with jet-skis. You can check on TripAdvisor or the following video on YouTube:
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
