Boonlua Chatree
Five jet ski vendors were arrested for physically
threatening a group of Saudi Arabian tourists who refused to pay
exorbitant sums for alleged damage to watercraft they rented.
Chaturong Singhakam, 24; Somporn Thongpaiwan, 27;
Sriphaiporn Montho, 27; Aukrin Tongpiwin, 26, and Aroon Choomkaew, 36,
were apprehended in the lobby of the Marriott Resort & Spa Sept. 24. The
suspects had allegedly pursued their four Saudi customers into the hotel
after police refused to help them extort 200,000 baht from the tourists
for supposed damage to two jet skis.
Hotel Manager Somsak Tanruengsri called police,
reporting that the Thais were physically threatening his guests and
barring them from going to their rooms.
The confrontation was the most-brazen assault to date
by Pattaya’s unscrupulous jet ski operators and shows that thugs have
little fear of police or city officials, who vowed early this month to
stamp out the widespread scams by having vendors register with city hall
and obtain valid business licenses by Sept. 10.
The incident played out in common fashion: The four
Saudis rented two jet skis from the beachfront vendors near the Marriott
and, upon returning the craft, were told they had severely damaged the
boats and had to pay compensation. In this case it was 100,000 baht per
boat.
The Saudis, who admitted to scraping the two jet skis
together, said 200,000 was far in excess of the damage and refused to
pay. They called in police, who brought both parties to the Pattaya
Police Station. No settlement could be reached with the Saudis saying
they preferred to have a court settle the matter.
Police sent both sides on their way, promising to
continue the matter later. But the vendors, unaccustomed to being denied
a fat settlement, apparently tried to settle matters on their own. Their
mistake was taking it into one of the city’s most-prestigious hotels.
Tourist Police commander Lt. Col. Arun Promphan said
that while police were content to let the extortion complaint run its
course through the legal system, the suspects’ alleged physical
intimidation of the tourists inside a five-star resort crossed the line.
The epidemic of jet ski scams - illustrated on Thai
and international television, newspapers and the Internet - has been a
huge embarrassment for the city, he said, and extortion would not be
tolerated.
Following the arrest, the four victims contacted the
Saudi Embassy, which reportedly will press legal charges against the
alleged extortionists.
