The Bangkok Post had a story last week that the Thai police are furious about the British Bravo TV series called Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand. Yeah, blame the messenger but don't fix the problem is the mai pen rai way to do things in that country. Before it disappears into the internet netherlands, I'll post the entire story here for your reading pleasure and great amusement.
Oh, the British film producer fled the country yesterday, since he's not interested in spending a year in jail and a hefty fine.
Widely distributed video recordings of foreign tourists reputedly being ripped off over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents have been made to damage Thailand's tourism reputation, authorities say.
The producers of the video clips - shown on British cable television and YouTube - and the victims of the alleged scams have denied the accusation.
Pol Lt Gen Santhan Chayanont, chief of Provincial Police Region 8 which covers the upper South, yesterday said efforts to tarnish Thailand's image might be coordinated.
The video clips show a female British tourist being arrested for marijuana possession at a full moon party on Koh Phangan and a British marine and a US marine being threatened to pay exorbitant compensation for damage to rented jet skis on Phuket in separate incidents.
The footage, in which Thai police appear, were broadcast as part of the series Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand on Britain's Bravo cable TV station and then spread to the internet.
Pol Lt Gen Santhan said the arrest of the British woman was real. She was found with marijuana in her possession. In her testimony through a translator, she confessed.
In the video clip she claimed she had to pay 80,000 baht to local police to be released on bail.
The other clips feature a Phuket jet ski operator, Vinai Naiman, also known as "JJ", demanding compensation from British and American clients, both marines on rest and recreation leave.
In the clip of the British marine, Mr Vinai was seen to go to a storeroom and return with a gun which he dangled by his side. Pol Lt Gen Santhan said the way clips had been made suggested a set up.
They had been edited to tarnish the image of both Thai tourism and the police force and presented only the negative side of the story through narrators, he said.
Pol Lt Gen Santhan ordered police investigators to find out if any Thai individuals were involved in the making of the footage.They could face criminal charges.
He also ordered his subordinates to run a check on the production of the clips and report the findings to him as soon as possible.
The producer of the video clips, Gavin Hill, and some of those involved told British freelance journalist Andrew Drummond the footage was not faked or stage-managed and there was no intention to damage Thailand.
They insisted they were prepared, if necessary, to make the incidents a diplomatic issue.
Phuket governor Wichai Praisa-ngob yesterday said the clips might have been produced by someone who stood to benefit from Thailand tourism losing its competitive edge.
Mr Vinai said he had demanded compensation for damaged jet skis from his foreign clients. But the compensation had been settled before the filming.
He said he had been tricked into appearing in the clip as the producers claimed they wanted to do a positive documentary about tourism in Phuket.
The gun he was seen holding was only an air gun, he insisted.
Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa said he did not think the controversy would have a far-reaching effect on the tourism industry.
Anusorn Salay, head of a club of jet ski operators on Phuket, yesterday said the club would establish procedures to prevent disputes over jet skis.
It would set rates for compensation based on where and how bad the damage was to a ski.
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