Incidents relating to Jet Skis, their operators and customers continue to occur in Pattaya

Incidents relating to Jet Skis, their operators and customers continue to occur in Pattaya and on Thursday, 5 Ukrainian’s were involved in such a case which began with them hiring 3 Jet Skis on Pattaya Beach in front of the Royal Garden Plaza for a period of 30 minutes. During this time the tourists admitted to colliding and are believed to have caused minor damage to each Jet Ski. At this point the operators surrounded the 3 women and 2 men and demanded they hand over the equivalent of 78,000 Baht in US Dollar currency. The money was demanded prior to an inspection of the damage by a qualified repairman. During the initial confrontation, one of the operators, Khun Sarayoot aged 33 is alleged to have placed his hands around the neck of Miss Eleanor aged 23, an allegation he denies. The three women were allowed to return to their Hotel to collect the money which they reluctantly agreed to pay, leaving the two men at the beach. They were ordered to remain there as guarantee of payment. At this point the Police were called and joined the three women at the Hotel. The Police Officer then made contact with the Jet Ski Operator and asked to inspect the damage. However Khun Sarayoot claimed the Jet Skis had already been taken to the repair shop and could not be inspected. The Officer then negotiated a reduction in the cost of repairs to 30,000 Baht. Jet Ski cases such as these undoubtedly damage the reputation of Pattaya and it appears that they are set to continue indefinitely.