The two suspects (far left
and far right) with the victim (centre) and the arresting officer.
Jet ski vendors on Koh Larn have found yet another way to
extort tourists. Malaysian national Yi Yiw Tieng complained to Tourist
Police that after a jaunt on a jet ski in the waters off Koh Larn on
Saturday, October 26, he was left without his fifteen thousand baht gold
chain.
Acting on Tieng’s suspicions that the jet ski operators were responsible,
Tourist Police sent officers to Koh Larn to investigate. After a lengthy
interrogation, officers arrested 2 suspects, Virat Viratana and Pramual
Khlaisem, the operators in question, who still had the necklace in their
possession.
Virat and Pramual admitted their method was to make the mark sit in front of
them on the jet-ski. After a short period they would accelerate the vehicle
until it capsized and then steal chains and other saleables from naive
tourists while struggling in the sea.
They would then enlist the help of an accomplice, waiting in a boat nearby,
who would act as if he were helping them, when in fact he would be taking
the stolen goods from the vendors.
After being apprehended, the two misguided men admitted to master minding
this technique several times before, but had yet not been caught.
