Arrest follows British television documentary
From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok, September 9th 2009
Pictures: Andrew Chant/Gavin Hill/
Face off Royal Marine Police Sergeant Wright and JJ
Thai authorities have arrested the leader of a Thai mafia gang and charged with him with extortion based solely on the evidence of a British television documentary.
Police today were holding a Thai known locally a JJ Naiman, aged 27, after he was seen on a British television programme trying to extort over £1000 from a British Royal Marine who had rented a jet-ski on the holiday island of Phuket.
The province’s governor Wichai Praisa-nob also stepped into the row today and called a meeting of police, jet-ski operators, Marine Police, and local government officials to discuss what action would be taken. They are also to be shown the film. He said he was considering banning jet skis from the island.
The British documentary ‘Big Trouble in Thailand’, which went to air on Monday on the Bravo Channel, showed Royal Marines, who arrived in Phuket on HMS Bulwark, after a tour of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, being held at gun point in a local boat yard run by local mafia.
The row was only resolved after the arrival of Marine Police Sergeant Tim Wright who defused the situation but not before exposing the Thai gangleader as a ‘corrupt crook’. The Marine Jack Tebbott, 21, from Leicester (right) eventually paid just over £600.
Tim Wright said: “These men openly threatened serving military personnel whilst on R&R in Thailand. The important thing is that I got them out of there with no one being hurt, other than pride and in the wallet. I don’t remember swearing but apologise if I did! The other important thing to remember is don’t hire jet skis in Thailand.”
The jet-ski con is widespread. Tourists are forced to pay for damage which they clearly have not created, but the mafia gangs have had assistance from corrupt police officers, who, according to one source, claim 20 per cent.
Copies of the programme are now widely available on the internet. Further programmes could also embarrass Thailand. A well known police rip-off on the island of Koh Phangan where police collect £10,000 every month from touri
sts on minor drugs charges on the threat of having to go to jail pending trial, is already getting exposure.
The boyfriend of one girl arrested says he received a demand to find £1,400 for possessing a small amount of cannabis, others had to pay more. For normal Thais the fine can be as little as £50.
And a similar jet ski scam will also be exposed on the Thai island of Koh Samui.
British Producer Gavin Hill said: “This was not designed to be an investigative programme. We just filmed what was going on in front of us.”
He said however the next programme in the series probably reflected more on bad British behavior than that of Thais.
“I am a little surprised at the big reaction now. This seems to have been going on for a long time.”
JJ Naiman has been refused bail. Allegations that he had been paid to help set up the scene were described by Gavin Hill as ‘hardly credible’. “We had to cut a lot of the footage. I am satisfied that what was presented was the absolutely correct portrayal of the situation. I have not taken any side.”
maybe they should “helpfully” supply the police with all the footage they have
Maybe they will. Thats probably up to the guys in London. The question is should it really need to take a foreign television documentary to sort out this well known scam which has been operating for some time now.
I must say I never ceased to be stunned by the experts or rather divs on ThaiVisa.com who claim the scenes with JJ must have been scripted. All mouth and no substance. You’d have to be a genius to script a show without the knowledge of someones like Marine Sgt Tim Wright - and who scripted him!
Can anyone seriously believe the Marines agreed to a scripted show with the likes of JJ.
Personally I have seen many Thais at this level talk exactly the same as JJ. He has a Dutch father I am told. The producer incidentally is a former Bureau Chief at APTN.
Regarding the sentence: “arrested for possessing a small amount of cannabis… ” —- I like to mentioned that I do support that drug users are arrested and punished as per the law! However, i understand as well that Police is actually making good pocket money out of drug users and don’t care about the law. they only care to show their power and make money from illegal businesses and practices.
You know, I am somehow very happy to see all this bad news about Thailand in the international news, … from airport scams to tuck-tucks to jet-ski’s!
I am happy as i know that authorities and police are forced to give up on some of their miscellaneous income and crack down on those crooks!
However, i am also very sad as i feel ashamed on behalf of so many good Thai people. I feel also ashamed that i know the facts. The facts are that all will crooks will be released, will return and will operate as usual ones the media attentions is gone.
Great to see the powers to be taking notice of foreign media we need more of it. Now wouldn’t it be something if they made a documentary about a certain pair of Scotish guys in Pattaya!
Poor JJ, they made him the scapegoat for what is an obviously organized crime.
Of course, in true Thai style, he will be blamed for it all, with all thinking that his arrest would have solved the whole mafia situation on the island.
How delusional, free JJ, ban the Jet Ski !!!
There’s an opportunity for a Roger Cook-type equipped with a tiny camera to go forth into Thailand and expose the scams.
I recommend Teakdoor’s cinematograher The Gentleman Scamp.
So the claim that his father was a senior Phuket cop was a complete bluff. Although, of course, he was probably talking about his godfather - given the local propensity to continually fudge the issue about one’s exact relations. And what happened to JJ’s Dutch father?
What does JJ stand for? Both serious answers and pisstakes gladly received.
How are we to feed our families JJ asks? Pawn the gun! Give notice to your scumbag sidekicks! Get rid of the pickup with the bassbins! Economise on pharmaceuticals! Get work on a construction site. Sell the Jathukham! Ditch the mia nois! Sell the Jetskis! Don’t bother us with your whining Punk!
Thank you Andrew.
If anyone is still of the opinion that the scene with JJ is faked then I will today provide links to the raw, uncut footage from the events of that day and our full interviews with JJ - before and after. If JJ must face trial by TV then at least let it be as fair as possible. For those who seem to profess a knowledge of the reality of ‘reality’ TV production - and I’ve lectured at university in it - comparing the unedited material with the broadcast version will be illustrative.
I’m the Producer/Director of ‘Big Trouble In Thailand’ or ‘Thai Cops’ as it was known during production. I came up with the idea and shot it mostly myself, with the help of a Thai cameraman. And with the full co-operation of the authorities concerned in Thailand whom I cannot thank enough for their kind co-operation and trust.
The sequence with JJ was NOT staged and I hope he is not in jail based solely on his contribution to the series. JJ was a willing participant and at the very least I am grateful for his contribution to the programme. JJ was not paid to take part in the filming. In fact. he invited us along. Nor were the Royal Marines paid as I’m sure they would be happy to confirm. Nobody was paid. These days I’M lucky to be paid in TV - as the self-shooting P/D.
You want to see an email from my boss complaining how much the shoot was costing. That would shatter some illusions, believe you me.
I am grateful for the comments about the camerawork - someone on a forum somewhere called it “too good”. Please pass that onto Vera Productions and Bravo, my employers.
I have had very little involvement and influence in the editing of the series - my job was to provide the content from the field, on the ground in Thailand.
We(my Assistant Producer, our Thai fixer and I) filmed JJ over a few days in Phuket. I met him in the lobby of the Patong Beach Resort where he was trying to get an Indian family to pay up for the damage he said their son had caused to a jet ski and a parasail tow rope he’d severed.
I had heard of jet ski scams - a fight that took place and was captured on camera in Chaweng, Samui - and I asked JJ if he would take part in our filming to tell his side of the story. I explained that we wanted to show both sides, that undoubtedly in my view foreign tourists must damage jet skis, there must be genuine cases. Based on this understanding JJ agreed to take part in our programme. He also understood that our primary focus was British tourists in Thailand. JJ agreed to call us when he had a case which would illustrate that not all jet ski hire outfits are scam artists. That case turned out to be the Royal Marines who we’d also been following around Phuket during the visit of their ship HMS Bulwark. And when the call came JJ even sent a motorcycle and sidecar to pick us up. I have the photo of me in transit. We had a good working relationship with both the Royal Marines Military Police and JJ. In the end - when JJ called our fixer with the case - the two parties ended up coming together, and the rest is, well, all over Bravo and the internet. I simply filmed what unfolded (albeit with flair and agility
I set out to make ‘Thai Cops’ - a Thai version of the sorts of shows you see all the time in the U.S. and the U.K. - on a shoestring. If you were expecting “insight” as one poster on a forum observed the programme lacked then you’re unlikely to find it on Bravo I’m afraid - certainly as I define the word. These days you are also extremely unlikely to find insight anywhere on TV. So, as an old favourite UK TV show of mine used to say: “Go out and do something less boring instead”.
Not to put too fine a point on it if Bravo were a pub in Pattaya it would be ‘The Dog’s Bollocks’. Or ‘The Lazy Pig’ where we popped in for a few drinks. See lads of ‘The Lazy Pig’? I had no intention of “tripping you up”.
I simply wanted to make an engaging - entertaining even - series about the work of the Thai police, the Brits who assist them and the tourists, preferably Brits, who unfortunately get into trouble in what can be a very foreign and culturally challenging country indeed. I will say that of all the countries I’ve been to Thailand is my favourite - by far. And that this series was even possible is for me why Thailand is so amazing and magical. I would urge people to travel to Thailand. Even the prisoners we interviewed in Thai jails aren’t keen to return to the UK - either to serve the remaining periods of their sentence or when they’re released.
Years ago I used to work on a U.S. series called ‘Real TV’ in Los Angeles - probably the first caught-on-camera show which sold around the world making Paramount Domestic TV who produced it $25 million USD a year. I never heard anyone say it would damage America’s reputation or put Brits off traveling to Disneyworld. Same goes for Hill Street Blues, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, America’s Scariest Police Chases and The Wire.
And in the UK better not watch the nightly news - it’s horrendous and would put off even the most hardy Korean from booking a fortnight for two there. But enough of Gordon Brown.
If you have any questions about the making of Thai Cops I believe in absolute transparency - so ask away.
And gird your loins for today’s first online TV ‘tutorial’!
Thanks everyone for your interest,
Gavin.
Gavin: If I had known you were shooting in the ‘Dog’s Bollock’s’ as a DB casualty I could have provided you with something that might have upped the ratings!
“He said he was considering banning jet skis from the island.”
That would be a great shout. Aside from these scams and the noise pollution they are a very real menace to swimmers. Bring it on.
Gavin Hill’s raw/unedited interview with Phuket jet ski operator JJ, before incident involving Royal Marines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzeui3rC5yo
and Part 2 here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BigTroubleInThailand#play/all/uploads-all/1/yFJsyJccTWE
Final part (3) to follow …
Dear Gavin. Well done…. you got all my support.
The fact is that your movie clips did and will damage Thailand’s Tourism industry, but it will also HELP Thailand’s Tourism Industry as some issues will hopefully be addressed!
Here in Thailand things are never really BLACK or WHITE…. all is “GRAY”!
Most if not all people know well about the problems here, but nobody ever did bother to address those serious problems … problems such as scams and even killings.
Thai people don’t like to interfere in other peoples problems, so everyone just closes his/her eyes and let the party go on!
As a matter of fact, all this ‘compromising” “eye closing” “never clarifying things” and ‘gray” issues over the last 30 or so years did create the political problems we have here in Thailand as so many people don’t want to accept corrupt, unethical and ’stone-age” politicians and authorities anymore!
Gavin, in my opinion your work will make Thailand better if the authorities wake up and stay alert. I see your work as a contribution to safe Thailand’s Tourist industry before its too late.
Well I’m inclined to accept Gavin’s version of events. I don’t suppose we’ll ever get JJ’s. But it occurs to me that he probably thought he could swing it to his advantage - but that it ended up being somewhat of a disaster for him. I guess that is why he tried to play on the old heartstrings with his “How do we feed our families?” thing. I somehow doubt he is that hard-up, however. But if he is, it is probably through his own fecklessness. (Hence taking a huge gamble!?)
As many already know after seeing episode 1, I was followed around by Gavin and his team here in Pattaya. During that time, he acted totally professionally and because of his extensive time spent in Thailand over the years showed to me an excellent understanding of Thai Culture and appeared very “street wise”. I was not with him in Phuket but would happily stake my reputation on him doing what he said he did….just filming what he saw. Good job Gavin and if any TV companies are reading this blog, hire this guy straight away, he knows his stuff….and some!!!
The more comment and clips that come out of this, the more the original story can be seenm in a different light.
It appeared not to be scripted but a lot of coaching seemed to be going on. It came unstuck with the Royal Marines involvement and the obvious contacts they had later with the embassies. JJ had not foreseen that.
Hopefully the exposure will slowly have an effect on the Thai scam culture.
We’ll you sort of have to coach people sometimes not to move out of a fixed camera shot in the middle of an interview :-). Dont think its any more than that.
Gavin:
How much research was done before the start of shooting? are there any specific source/information that you get from your experience or local knowledge otherwise unavailable to the UK holiday makers eg: lonely planet et al.
People in Thailand, expats and local alike are probably aware of these things, but to the average holiday makers these expose would probably shatter their preconceptions about Thailand a bit.
Unfortunately it seems unlikely that the exposure from just this program on a very marginal channel in the UK will deter any holidaymakers from visiting.
I remembered seeing many Brits gone wild programme in plenty of European destination (Ibiza, Benidorm) and hardly any people were enraged by that, it seems most of the fuzz seems to be from the expat community and Thais here.
As many have pointed out, this is a wake-up call to the authorities, but unfortunately, I think all will be forgotten and it’ll be back to business as usual in no time.
Gavin is not available at the moment but I will be in touch with him later. Here’s what I know from what I have been told and what the case would normally be. The concept was first proposed two years ago.
The research stages I suspect involved checking all news stories and making contact with the local authorities for various permissions ie to film with police (2) to film with permission of the prison authorities. There wd have bn some sort of pilot. There would also have been a few central characters who were spoken to first, ie British volunteers, convicts etc, but the majority of the programme is actuality, ie lets run with the events as they happen using good contacts on the ground. I think that comes across. It was filmed over 15 weeks I believe. Of course Gavin may wish to correct some of this.
BOB W: Yep its a storm in a tea-cup with some enraged people blaming the film unit for destroying the image of Thailand and others claiming the filming was somehow set up. This programme was on a channel few people watch in the UK and has not been in the papers there, well only tiny bits. Its building into a story for the UK however if the Thais now try and shoot the messengers.
JJ refused bail. Ha ha I met him in a bar on Nanai Road last night.
As bail was later allowed I’m not surprised
Who exactly does Pol Lt Gen Santhan Chayanont (chief of Provincial Police Region
think he is speaking to (Police furious over ’staged’ video nasties - Bangkok Post 16/09) when this guy has been arrested and so much evidence of jet-ski scams exists (incldung Swiss couple in Koh Samui on this site)??
Maybe the Minister for Tourism will step in like he did for the airport scams and announce a day/time of a crackdown on jetski operators!! Then the problem will officially be over and everyone can get back to life as it was before. I love so much of Thailand and many Thai people I just wish someone would own up and start the cleanup…….
I saw this program when it aired, and I have to say I was quite amazed at how reserved the group of Royal Marine Commandos were. I know eventually he brandished a gun but with the training these guys receive I imagine they could have quite easily of took each and every one of these thugs down.
I’m quite proud of their reaction. My brother is in the Royal Marine Commandos, and I know from him what they go through in training. These are tough lads, very tough indeed.