The series ‘Big Trouble in Thailand’ has provoked quite a controversy across the internet blogs in this part of the world and is now begining to hit the mainstream Thai media.
Royal Marine Police Sergeant Wright confronts JJ
Accusations have been made. Was the confrontation with the Marines set up? What sort of guy is JJ – the Thai mafia figure featured in this seemingly shaming episode for the Thai tourist industry.
Anyway Gavin Hill the producer/director is throwing the issue wide open. He says he has not formed a judgment, but of course the film had to be cut and edited, and it is apparent that although his comments were ‘taken on board’, perhaps not all were acted upon.
You can form your own opinion of JJ by clicking on the following links.
We all get edited. Make your own mind up.
Of course JJ may seem worse! Personally I may have cut the film in pretty much the same way, I think the producer is entitled to make a judgment. We start today with JJ on the beach whinging about bad tourists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzeui3rC5yo
and continue with him whinging on the beach. I rather picked up on the piece where JJ said : ” We call the police”
http://www.youtube.com/user/BigTroubleInThailand#play/all/uploads-all/1/yFJsyJccTWE
He believes a lot of foreigners have money to spare. He just needs to feed his family.
They come off the beach tomorrow, Saturday, not before time, when I am sure we will hear about JJ’s police contacts!
Meanwhile JJ has not sold himself to me, although to be sure there are some idiots hiring jet skis from time to time.
It’s all over Channel 7 Thai News at 22:15 this evening. Outtakes of JJ on the video, even. Headline item, in fact.
From what I have seen and heard on Channel 7 News so far, I think you can almost bet your bottom dollar that certain locals are going to claim that the film looks to ‘crisp’ to be totally authentic. I smell another poo-yai cop-out coming on.
Andrew,
how would you rate the idea of the governor to allow only operators with 100% insurance coverage to limit disputes to Thais vs. Thais ?
cheers
Well its a problem in many ways for tourists. Firstly I think these guys are uninsurable. Certainly JJ seems to claim that, as the jet skis are being rented out for sporting purposes. Also the small print on many ‘holiday insurance’ policies probably says that jet skis and water sports are not covered.
Thirdly, and I am writing a piece on this, if something does happen to you by accident in Thailand, even fatal, the sums the courts will award you here are minimal, Life remains cheap. Jet skis are just the tip of the iceberg. The sum offered to the family of a boy who drowned in Pattaya Water Park recently does not even cover the cost of flying his body home.
Certainly worth investigating though.
Andrew I may be missing the point here but what exactly has the producer “bared?”
The general opinion in the local blogs, mine included, is that the marine scene was indeed scripted and not fly on the wall stuff. This is based on available video clips via U Tube.
BTW Howard Miller made an interesting comment on the “Thailand Land of Smiles blog.
One positive here with the Thai media picking up on this is that there might be some positive action taken to protect “genuine” unsuspecting tourists in the future.
Ex Old bill: Well by showing the uncut video you can see pretty much what he filmed from start to finish. And it quite clearly sees JJ enjoying himself putting his views across on tv. Now if you are suggesting something was said off camera, and JJ was slipped something, then of course you then have to include the other side. Its clear at first that when JJ brought in the crew, he did not know he was dealing with Royal Marines. The only way there could be an acting element of this is that JJ hammed himself up as the big guy who would take no nonsense from foreigners. In fact JJ probably thought he was going to look good because inititally he had a rather meek Royal Marine. The others had run away he claims to the programme makers and us.
Finally as the producer points out there’s no real cash in UK programmes like this. They are shot on very tight budgets. Almost not worth doing in my opinion.
The risks taken in trying to set up something like that would far overweigh the value added to the programme. Present company excepted its the typical sounding off of a bar room bore. Everyone is, of course, an expert on the internet. I do not believe for a second it is the general opinion unless the British IQ has sunk considerably.
Finally I know Gavin Hill. He would not do it. Period.
How do you script JJ:
Now then JJ say after me: “I’m not you dad, your pa, your father. I’m just a fucking normal person. I’m a businessman.”
No JJ says what he likes, when he wants to and how he wants to.
I took at a peek at the Land of Smiles thingy by the way. Reading the other blog there’s no mistaking the cut of this guys jib.
PS: The only thing JJ did not say is : “This is Thailand. This is MY country. I can do what I want!”
If you are going to script a typical encounter surely you have to include that
“I’m not you dad, your pa, your father. I’m just a fucking normal person. I’m a businessman.”
Sounds like a Thaksinism.
Now that JJ is getting scrutiny from the local police as well as national media coverage, here’s hoping Gavin is smart enough to avoid Phuket for the next few years. JJ’s legal troubles are all of Gavin’s making…
Preposterous? To Western minds, yes. But perfectly in line with the general Thai principle that whatever bad thing happens, it’s always someone else’s fault.
MOngerSAE
I think we are seeing all this today. Channel 3 say today that police are rounding up everyone including programme makers!
Then again they also say I am from ‘The Guardian’. 7 had a piece last night.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Gavin had said yesterday he was going to release the full uncut version of the standoff with the Royal Marines not just the before interviews. So when is that coming out?
I’m also curious to find out what exactly the cut of my jib is if you wouldn’t mind.
No you are right, unusually! I think he’s sending them now. I trust they will go towards correcting some misguided assumptions on your ThailandLandofsmiles blog
If you think the JJ piece was bad then stick to the screen I think you will see there are other jet ski operators who do take the law into their own hands.
This may and up as a Phuket Vs Koh Samui - which is the most dangerous.
I would take issue with many things on your blog particularly this about the marine who was cornered in the back of beyond.
” It’s also very troubling that this whole scenario plays out at the jet ski owners house and not at the beach which is highly unusual. Nothing rings true about this incident”.You don’t get it do you? If these guys can get punters off the beach to make their threats - and this boat repair yard was a good ten minutes from Patong Beach - then they can do what they like.
If the cameras had not been there and if Marine Tebbott did not pay the asking price and had the Marines not turned up in force - that is what would have happened I have no doubt. And unless the programme makers pull their series from British television that (violence) is what you are going to get a sample of.
Look, we all know that thailand has devolved from being a warm, welcoming destination into a cesspool of corruption and vice that is aimed squarely at farangs. Why? “Because farang can pay”, goes the thai refrain. Pattaya, Phuket are lawless cowboy towns where a guy who is not careful can end up losing a lot more than his money. The fact that you can expect little or grudging help from the thai police makes it really scary for an individual who is going just to have a good time. Everywhere you look theres some sort of thai mafia…taxi mafia in Patong ripping people off blatantly, jetski mafia, police mafia asking for huge bribes instead of protecting people…..this programme does border on sensational but such is the subject matter. Long overdue….thai govt needs to clean up their f****d up country instead of trying to stifle the media that is just reporting what generally happens.
In response to the post enquiring about the pre-production of ‘Big Trouble In Thailand’ aka ‘Thai Cops’ I shot a pilot a year and a half ago, having teamed up with a specialist Thai TV co-ordinating company approved by the Thai Film Office. We secured the permission of the Thai Tourist Police - at the highest levels - to film with them and their foreign volunteers in Pattaya and Chiang Mai over a three week period. The pilot - or taster tape - was paid for by Sky One in the UK and then sat on their shelf for nine months until their option to make the series expired and was not renewed. Dean Palmer, Development Producer at Vera Productions who’d been my Series Producer at September Films - another UK production company - was then free to take the project elsewhere which after a long and drawn out process resulted in the commission ‘Thai Cops’ from Lucy Pilkington - Commissioning Editor for Virgin Media/Bravo. The remit of the series was broadened to include access to Thai jails and filming began in June. The Thai Department of Corrections - again at the highest levels - also kindly gave us permission to film in seven Thai jails and interview British inmates about their experience of the Thai justice system and Thai prison life. The prison service has also been extremely helpful in the making of the series and I am very grateful to them. To the best of my knowledge NOTHING in the making of the series has been faked - certainly not by our Anglo-Thai production team - and I hope upon conclusion of the series the Thai Tourist Police and their foreign volunteers will have be seen doing a good job in most challenging and unusual circumstances.
Hats off to Gavin Hill for making this documentary. Yes, most Thais are decent hard working people that do not get a fair deal from their own government, police force and leaders. Having said that, JJ personifies the Thai criminal gangs that prey on foreign tourists with the idea that they can rip off foreigners with impunity. Truth be told, there is ZERO downside for abusiing foreigners and unlimited upside potential for scamming them.
Call me a cynic, but why should JJ and his type be controlled when the tourists still come? Sad really…
Because change is needed in this country.
Billy Baht:
Yes, the actual damages by these scam artists may be negligible, but people complain much louder than praise in the age of internets, it is only a matter of time when other unspoilt countries become actual competition for tourist.
it also may not be in the Police’s interest to act.
It comes down to whether Thailand still sees herself as a Tourist destination and enjoy the associated income.
The Tourist Police and Tourism Authorithy is generally powerless in this regard, it is up to the local of tourist towns like Pattaya and Phuket that makes their living off tourism to act.
Mayors of these towns often talk of helping the business, yet do nothing of these scams and crimes within their city, which is telling of how much ‘connections’ they are embroiled in on their way to power.
Gavin, don’t urge Bravo to pull the series. Don’t cave.
The Truth is the Truth.
Urge it to be shown.
I am a former police officer and have lived in Thailand for a number of years.
Corruption, especially within the Thai Police, is rampamnt…the ‘order of the day’. Foreigners are fair game. Anythng, and everything, goes. Thai police complain they are undermanned, yet have plenty of staff to collect ‘extortion’ money from bars and businesses. Refuse to pay? Then the threats start.
Thais will tell you they ‘do not lie’…but they do not tell you ‘I always tell the truth!” Big difference.
Most Thais are undereducated and the ‘gang’ culture is big…and permeates all levels. Foreigners are targets because the belief is they are easy money and can do little to fight back. Usually true.
Right now, Thailand is seeing a significant drop in tourism. Bookings for the upcoming ’season’ are down in most places. There are far more safer places to go with less of a hassle and more positive mentality towards tourists. The Thai police are the major problem, and will continue to be until someone ‘cleans house’ and makes them accountable. They are now just a bad joke.
I have watched the Youtube clips of the JJ boat yard. I have lived in Thailand for ten years and offer my opinion - for that is all it is:
It was un-scripted. JJ shyte himself when the Marine Police Seargent showed up. You can see it on his face - his little hole was all a quiver. Arrrhhhh thank god for the concept of “face”. Poor little JJ could not back down if he wanted too. The Poice Seargent gave him an out….and how fast little JJ grabbed it.
Poetry - pure and simple
This clip is make by script! I have enjoyed reading. This is The new festival in Thailand, Travel in Thailand, Pay Less festival will run until 27 September from 10.00 to 20.00 hrs daily. The campaign will allow travelers in Thailand to contact over 375 tourism businesses that will have booths set up with special deals.
Cheap Hotels in Thailand: Ok I am letting this advert through.
Anything which promotes an alternative to the over-priced tourist sector is helpful! And I am all for promoting the right tourism.