Another reason to avoid Phuket

[harrybarracuda]

Love the attitude of the hotel when it's their thieving little c*nts that did it.

Unsafe Phuket: Resort Declines to Compensate Robbed Aussie Tourists

By Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian
Sunday, January 1, 2012
PHUKET: An Australian couple on holiday on Phuket ate a Christmas dinner at their resort that they say cost them US$20,000, plus tip.

The meal was enjoyable, but the size of the bill only really became apparent once the couple returned to their room.

There, Tamara Robins, 28, and Derryn Ruolle, 29, found the front door ajar, and the room safe open and empty, except for their passports.

Gone were laptops, a camera, a mobile phone, a purse containing cash and credit cards, wedding and engagement rings, and another precious ring that once belonged to Tamara's great-grandmother.

''If only I'd worn the rings to dinner,'' said Tamara later, tearfully. The biggest shock, though, was to come when the couple were told that the resort where they were staying, the Manathai at upmarket Surin beach, on Phuket's west coast, would only be offering a refund on their room as compensation.

All expenses were waived, however, ''to show concern and support.'' Basically, the resort management say they have no way of knowing the real value of what the couple put in the safe until the stolen items are recovered.

The management decision not to make any offer of compensation came even though a data log showed the safe was last opened by the resort's master key, which is usually kept at the resort front desk, just a few metres from the resort's restaurant, where the couple had dinner.

Investigating officer Lieutenant Sarit Bootnongsang from Cherng Talay Station says 10 members of staff have been interviewed about the theft, but he describes the resort management as ''unhelpful.''

On the other hand, resort manager Tanadol Pongkhankam says he hopes that the police can resolve the case and that their guests get back the stolen items. But compensation? Out of the question.

Ms Robins and Ms Ruolle, who come from Adelaide and live in Hong Kong, remain shocked and angry. Although both acknowledge they should have had travel insurance, they believe the resort has a moral obligation to compensate them and have engaged a lawyer to pursue further action.

Thefts that are probably inside jobs are not uncommon on Phuket, where the tropical holiday island's image has been suffering lately from revelations of jet-ski scams, rip-offs, drink-spiking thefts and other criminal activities.

Intimidation and extortionately high fares have made the local tin-can tuk-tuks an undesirable form of transport, but the drivers impose a public transport monopoly after dark that leaves tourists with few choices except to pay through the nose.

Although Phuket remains a great place for a holiday, increasingly there appears to be a lack of appropriate assistance from authorities for those who do find themselves in trouble.

The most disturbing point of all is that holidaymakers everywhere tend to have faith that if they do need help, authorities will come to their assistance. On Phuket these days, that's not always a certainty.

A Russian man whose leg was badly cut by the propeller of a parasail speedboat as he swam at Kata beach in early December was left to languish in a local hospital. No effort was made to enforce compensation or even to reprimand the driver. The official who oversees Phuket's speedboats and jet-skis, Phuripat Theerakulpisut, merely described the incident as ''natural.''

Soon after, a South African man on a jet-ski crashed into two Australian women on another jet-ski at Patong, putting one of them in hospital for more than a week. While the South African agreed to pay for all the damage to the jet-skis, two hirers turned up at the hospital a couple of days later, seeking to extract more compensation from the injured woman.

The latest rip-off is for motorcycle hirers to let a visitor take a rented motorcycle then steal it back in the middle of the night, using a second key, to demand compensation come daylight.

One expat resident of 10 years' standing says Patong, the nightlife hub on Phuket's west coast, is ''completely and utterly out of control'' when it comes to protecting tourists from scams and rip-offs.

Police say drink-spiking and theft is rife but few victims report the crime - Asian male visitors are said to be a popular target - possibly out of embarrassment. It's certainly possible for men on the make to get laid and robbed in quick succession faster in Patong than just about anywhere else in the world.

More difficult to establish are claims that some bar hostesses brush sleeping drugs onto their nipples.

Phuket, though, has enough broad entertainment options to appeal to families as well as fornicators. Luxury villas and five-star resorts are these days attracting an upmarket audience at the same time as expat beggars are becoming less rare.

Direct flights from Hong Kong and other regional destinations have helped to attract two million international visitors to Phuket this year.

As well as the appeal of Phuket's beaches and coral reefs, the place also has drawing power for travellers looking for fun because of its carefree approach.

While admitting they should have been more cautious, Tamara Robins and Derryn Ruolle would never-the-less like to see far greater accent on the ''care'' aspect of that phrase.

Their case is an object lesson to all travellers. Yes, you can use the safe in your room. But if the items in the safe are stolen, how do you prove it was theft, and how do you prove what was stolen?

[Bung]

Seems to me if there is data showing the safe was opened by a master key it is the resorts obligation to offer compensation. But then again, how to prove what was stolen?

[OhOh]

though a data log showed the safe was last opened by the resort's master key, which is usually kept at the resort front desk

This indicates that an inside job occured. A photograph of the items in the safe would be ample evidence.

[taxexile]

the Manathai at upmarket Surin beach,

it should be trashed on trip advisor and related sites.
the manager should be bombarded with e-mails about this and threatened with a public debagging at least.

low behaviour from irresponsible lazy greedy low people

having said that, who in their right mind would bring so much expensive stuff on a holiday to a dump of an island in a third world country, dont these people ever research their trips, and i've never seen a hotel room safe large enough to keep laptops.. plural.. and camera and phone etc. etc.

[FarangRed]

It's ok saying it now, but if they had taken a photo of everything in the safe that's all it would have taken to prove what they had.

I'm assuming they didn't have any cameras on that landing.

[OhOh]

low behaviour from irresponsible lazy greedy low people

Not all Australians are such people.

[taxexile]

^^

nice thinking inspector clousseau, doooh!!!

if they had taken photos of everything it wouldnt have made the slightest difference to their case seeing as their camera was stolen too.

[OhOh]

Does the Hotel have a time stamp on the room door usage as well?

[taxexile]

Manathai Resort, Phuket Hotel Reviews and Photos, Thalang, Thailand - TripAdvisor

lots of complaints about this place, and some weasling replies from the manager too.

I booked the Lana pool side suite after looking at the pictures on the website. The room looks nothing like thte picture and was in a poor condition of maintenance. Here is a summary of my experience.
A) rats running around in the false roofing making a lot of clawing and scratching sounds.
B) baby cot was a disaster, was set up without matteress, but with a blanket thrown in
C) hot water at first but then no hot water
D) water at first then no water at all and then brown water with sand sediment
E) ordering room servic food is so tough you might as well order pizza hut or leave the hotel to eat on the street. I was kept on hold for 10 minutes twice and then cut off without
F) the laundry service needs a minimum of 24 hours to get even a shirt pressed it is outsourced in the street out side.

Please note thAt I am paying THB 8000 per night to stay in this hotel. I would not say that this hotel comes cheap. It is something probably appreciated by travelers who do not stay regularly at hotels but for me this is the worst hotel I have ever stayed at. You have been warned.

[amazon777]

having said that, who in their right mind would bring so much expensive stuff on a holiday to a dump of an island in a third world country, dont these people ever research their trips, and i've never seen a hotel room safe large enough to keep laptops.. plural.. and camera and phone etc. etc.

My wife and I will always have two laptops with us and they fit into the room safe, as well as the usual staff like camera, phones, keys, passports wallets and (after I found some filthy porter at an upmarket hotel in Vietnam grooming himself with my shaver) my toiletry bag. That makes the load - basic necessities of today easily 5 Grand, no jewelry or large amount of shopping cash included.

At 8.000 Baht a night that resort doesn't seem to be of the variety where broke, unwashed backpackers tend to stay, so 20 Grand in goods in the hotel safe seems a fair bit, but not outrageous.

In their multi million Dollar Ad-campaigns Thailand and especially Phuket don't market themselves as third world dumps only appropriate for child molesters.
Just because some old hands on the forum here believe to know each and every trick in the book by now, doesn't mean that some short term tourists should be required to make a survival course before visiting the country.
Saying, that they are not in their right mind because they believe their staff is safe in the "safe" just shows how much many of us have already adjusted to and adopted the fucking Thai mentality.

So seeing the case, the question arises (forgive my naiveté):
If the safe was locked by the master key, isn't the hotel outright responsible by even Thai-Law? Was that the reason the management is blocking, waiting for the couples departure date to come?
Also: Don't those hotels have to have insurance?

If so, claim an even higher amount of stolen goods, say 100.000 A$.
(Re-adjusting values on police reports seems to be good practice in Thailand) Management will quickly come up with the actual stuff missing.
If not, at least the culprits (who certainly are know to management and quickly to police as well) will have their fingernails pulled out by the BiB trying to get the share of the 100 Grand!
That way you beat them at their own game!

[harrybarracuda]

Security cameras? What's the betting they were nobbled?

[taxexile]

In their multi million Dollar Ad-campaigns Thailand and especially Phuket don't market themselves as third world dumps only appropriate for child molesters.

and since when has marketing had any bearing on the actuality of a product.

doesn't mean that some short term tourists should be required to make a survival course before visiting the country.

thats true, and why ambassadors should be more pro-active in informing their people about destinations and their reputations and making a stand with the authorities against the rip offs that plague destinations like phuket.

if they are powerless to affect any change they should advise against travel. full stop.

that should eradicate the problems in 5 minutes.

[amazon777]

if they are powerless to affect any change they should advise against travel. full stop.

that should eradicate the problems in 5 minutes.

Be careful what you wish for.
Before it's getting better it would get a lot worse.
Thais wouldn't adopt to working themselves very easily - Making the last remaining farangs, meaning long timers/ residents like us even more of a target.

[Jesus Jones]

There is no proof as to what was in the safe, however, the hotel should take resposibility for the theft.

[Spin]

they believe the resort has a moral obligation to compensate them

These two muppets believe that there are people in Thailand with morals? Hilarious!

[terry57]

There is no proof as to what was in the safe, however, the hotel should take responsibility for the theft.

Its a debatable point as the couple could be talking it up. All the shit they say they had is a tad strange especially grannies rings.

Dumb fuks anyway for not having insurance and makes it all the more sussed.

I had my safe broken into on Samui and lost 100k cash but took it on the chin for being a muppet and not putting the money into my Thai bank account.

Lesson learnt, tough shit EH.

[KAPPA]

This hotel was selling " Lifetime rooms " for a few million baht a couple of years ago.
Not to defend it , or any allegedly scammy hotels but every hotel in the world has a notice on the safe stating it will not accept responsibility for items stored there and for real security , use the hotel's main safe deposit boxes.

[harrybarracuda]

This hotel was selling " Lifetime rooms " for a few million baht a couple of years ago.
Not to defend it , or any allegedly scammy hotels but every hotel in the world has a notice on the safe stating it will not accept responsibility for items stored there and for real security , use the hotel's main safe deposit boxes.

What, so the tealeaves don't have to walk so far?

[amazon777]

This hotel was selling " Lifetime rooms " for a few million baht a couple of years ago.
Not to defend it , or any allegedly scammy hotels but every hotel in the world has a notice on the safe stating it will not accept responsibility for items stored there and for real security , use the hotel's main safe deposit boxes.

What, so the tealeaves don't have to walk so far?

So they know which one is worth getting out the key for.

[harrybarracuda]

^ Comical. I hope the place gets trashed all over the net, although TripAdvisor won't publish it if you aren't reporting your own stay there.

[petercallen]

$20000 for a meal sounds a bit far fetched to me
We recently had 15 days in SA, Cape Town Victoria Falls
Tinswalla safari lodge about $16700 fully catered

[petercallen]

I worked in the VTP Patong office a few years back, you would be amazed how many people came in wanting a official letter so they can make a claim on there travel insurance, mostly con merchants
Example travelling on a bus and claiming they left there money, laptop and camera in there suitcase they put in the luggage area under the bus and was stolen
Who would put there money etc in a suitcase which you cannot keep with you all the time