Don’t rent a jet ski from
the man standing 2nd left, shown here being forced by police to hand
back 25,000 baht of the 42,000 baht he extorted from Indian tourists for
broken lights on his jet skis.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Two jet ski operators who extorted 42,000 baht from two Indian
medical students have been forced to return most of their ill-gotten
gains.
Rajkumar Ramachan Dran, 27, and Prabhakar Tamilmaran, 22, went to police
June 6 after a scary confrontation with up to eight Pattaya Beach jet
ski operators who forced them to pay 42,000 baht for lights on four jet
skis they broke during a collision. The victims told police the men
originally demanded 60,000 baht and they feared they would be attacked
if they didn’t pay.
Acting Superintendent Col. Chatchawan Pisuttiwong
summoned Mike Shopping Mall-area jet ski owners Sarayuth Jehmat, 36,
Suwat Sukhsawat, 18, Kalaya Thangsroi, 42, and Sunee Mitmana, 57, to
Pattaya Police Station where they were told to return 25,000 baht to the
Indians, who said they needed the money to pay their hotel bill and
escape Pattaya.
Sarayuth told the police chief that the Indians, while returning their
watercraft to shore, crashed into two parked jet skis, breaking lights
on all four boats. He did not explain how four lights justified
42,000-60,000 baht in damages. Sarayuth also denied accusations that the
Indians were physically threatened.
The four small lights still ended up costing the Indian duo 17,000 baht
and the pair left the station certainly never to return to Pattaya. City
officials, meanwhile, continue to delay any action to ending the series
of scams that have soiled Pattaya’s reputation for several years.
