A FEMALE JAPANESE tourist who rented a jetski then had the engine fail at sea after 20 minutes was intercepted by a jetski operator who turned back to shore, left her to float for more than an hour, then charged her for the extra time. Another tourist helped her to shore. The Governor told the media today that the behavior of jetski operators was ''unbelievably bad.'' He said that on Monday, he had received a letter from the Australian ambassador, highlighting consistent complaints about overcharging and scams. ''We are going to sort this out,'' the governor said.


THE GOVERNOR has intervened in a case where a jetski operator was demanding 50,000 baht from a tourist because of damage allegedly done to the vehicle in Patong Bay.

But in this case, the tourist was a Chinese visitor who was unwilling to meet the extortionate demand, made just last week.

Reluctant to be ripped off, the visitor called China's honorary consul for the region, who operates from Songkla province.

The honorary consul made two phone calls: the first one to the Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, Police Colonel Grissak Songmoonnark, who oversees Patong.

The colonel called back, and said he had spoken to the jetski operator, who was happy to reduce his claim to 30,000 baht.

The honorary consul was having none of that. His second call was to Governor Wichai Praisa-nob.

As a result, the governor called the colonel and told him to let the jetski operator know that the governor wanted him to settle for 3000 baht.

And so it was agreed by the governor, the jetski operator, the police colonel, the honorary consul and the tourist from China.

The fee for the damage was 3000 baht.

The governor related the tale of the jetski to Phuketwan yesterday. He has been advised by the Deputy PM and diplomats to end scams that continue to turn tourists away from Phuket.

Only the jetski operator can say for sure whether there was real damage to the jetski or whether it was a scam: a tourist who fails to detect damage before taking out a jetski is urged to pay a high price for a small, preexisting mark when the jetski is returned.

''We only need five percent of people from China to come here to assure Phuket's future,'' the governor said yesterday. ''We do not need these kinds of problems.''

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