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Thai Officials try to put ‘Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand’ series on hold


Koh Phangan Big Trouble Tourist Thailand 01
Koh Phangan Big Trouble Tourist Thailand

The second episode in the controversial ‘Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand‘ television series is set to screen in Britain on Monday night – but Thai authorities are now preventing the eight-part series from being completed.

Producer-director Gavin Hill says the Thailand Film Office has sent a letter asking the British production company, Bravo, not to screen any more episodes.

Episode Three, being edited in Britain, is in rough-cut form. The show can only go on with permission from all the people shown on-screen.

That includes Winai ‘JJ’ Naiman, the now-notorious Phuket jet-ski operator, who signed a release form so that his actions could be displayed to viewers with his approval.

Mr Hill said tonight’s second episode does not reflect badly on Thailand. That was never the intention of ‘Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand,’ he added.

‘I don’t know what’s going to happen now with the series,’ he said. The Thailand Film Office has ‘pulled all the releases and permissions that are required to complete the series.’

He has been told there is the likelihood of a complaint being made to the British embassy. At least one volunteer expat tourist policeman in Pattaya had also expressed concern.

Episode Two, Mr Hill said, contained no more about jet-skis on Phuket and was about ‘Brits behaving badly,’ with military police in pursuit of drunken sailors.

‘In some ways, it’s very positive for Thailand,’ he said. ”The young lady who was in trouble on Koh Phangan in the first episode is fined 50 pounds, she gets her bail money back, and she is allowed to go, with the only real penalty being an extra three weeks in Thailand.”

Koh Phangan Big Trouble Tourist Thailand 04
Koh Phangan – Busted for cannabis possession!
Koh Phangan Big Trouble Tourist Thailand 06
Koh Phangan – Busted for cannabis possession!
Koh Phangan Big Trouble Tourist Thailand 03
Koh Phangan – Busted for cannabis possession!

By coincidence, authorities on Koh Phangan have announced a plan to make the island, noted for expat full moon rave parties, drug-free as fast as possible.

Episode One of ‘Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand’ screened last week, revealing footage of what appeared to be an extortion bid by ‘JJ’ with a gun in hand, just before a planned summit on jet-ski scams on Phuket.

Nationwide, crackdowns are underway on crimes against tourists at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok as part of a push against corruption by the Prime Minister.

The jet-ski crackdown on Phuket came after the Deputy PM met with the Australian ambassador and other ambassadors echoed their increasing concerns to the Phuket Governor, Wichai Praisa-nob.

Mr Hill was keen to make the point that the jet-ski scandal coverage came about by chance. He still says that in fairness, there is no way of knowing whether the alleged damage to jet-skis in the show was genuine or not.

An incident involving ‘JJ’ and US marines, posted this week on You Tube, was not used in the series because the show was being made for a British audience. Only the first-episode incident involving ‘JJ’ and British marines was considered relevant.

Original article at phuketwan.com: Anxious Thai officials put big trouble series on hold

14 thoughts on “Thai Officials try to put ‘Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand’ series on hold

  • Becki

    well … how typical for thailand is this? let’s just cover up the whole story … prevent the awful truth from screening word wide and pretend that none of the issues exist. Welcome to the land of the smile … welcome to amazing thailand! or wasn’t it the unforgettable thailand?

    however … even more amazing is the statement about phangan authorities who announced a plan to make the island drug free as fast as possible!

    what a laugh 😉 and i bet that in 4-6 weeks phangan authorities will proudly announce that the full moon party island is now totally drug free and after that business as usual.

    this reminds me of another investigation the thaksin government did a while ago about mafia like structures in the kingdom of thailand. and guess what? a few weeks later the investigation panel proudly announced that there is indeed no mafia like structure present in the kingdom of thailand!

    that’s how you do stuff 😉

    greetings
    becki

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    I find it hard to believe that Thailand is able to stop the documentary from airing in the UK. Probably part of the price paid for access to all of the jails and incidents.

    As stated last week in an earlier post, I don’t believe that this documentary would hurt tourism. Yes it may keep families and some seniors from coming to Phangan, but will encourage more partiers to come. The FM party certainly looked cool and very exciting and walking street in Pattaya has some appeal too! For every tourist lost, I’m sure others will think it looks right on. So economically it’s a not an issue. A republican friend of mine in Thongsala told me in an email yesterday, that any publicity is good publicity and there is some truth in that.

    For me personally the police road checks on Phangan have left a bad taste and have got me looking around for a different place to spend my time in the LOS. I don’t want to go to a destination where the police stop innocent people because of the colour of your skin, eyes and that fact we may have some cash. Thai’s were not being stopped in the same road checks. Do they really believe that Farangs are bringing smelly ganja thru the airport? No! It’s all about money, not cleaning up drugs. They should be going after the dealers who deserve what they get! Not a bunch kids and folks on holiday! A bad sign is when you feel safer when the police are not around!

    Phangan has to clean up its reputation and the police could do a lot to help! They seem to have reduced if not stopped the basket grabbers or maybe it just better education by the bike renters. The Baan Tai Road is over the top with people driving like lunatics, this needs fixing. Fortunately Phangan doesn’t have a Jet Ski rental situation yet. Some Thai destinations have already banned them and that’s one solution. Mandatory insurance would be a better one! Phangan has a similar situation with motor bike damage.

    Pattaya operates as a special region in Thailand and the bars stay open until six! They were being closed at 3:00 am for a while but are now staying open all night again. Phangan should consider trying to make Haad Rin an official party zone and aquire the same status as Pattaya, consolidate all of the parties there and make it party central 365 days a year. At least then people would know that good times and problems are all in one place. This would allow the rest of the island to promote and develop different markets. Which may help to reduce this boom and bust cycle too, that occurs monthly. I dare say it would really rock! Just thoughts! Some will agree with this post and some won’t, either way I welcome comments..

    Cheers n Beers! Enjoy your time on Phangan and be careful!

    Glyn

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      that jj fella comes accross as a right rotten cunt! love to kick the crap out of him.

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      I fucking hate mafia Koh Phangan polices!!! What can I do? many of them like to go to bar girls for get free drinks or some restaurants for eat free food!!!
      The mafia in the uniform!!!

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    Episode 2 did in fact air in the UK, but hasn’t made it on to YouTube? From the accounts read on other forums, it was embarrassing for the Brits to watch! It shows what a bunch of ah well, I’m not going to bash the kids from my home country! We all know that most people that get into trouble in the LOS often deserve what they get!

    So we wait… Maybe their (Brits) to embarrassed to post them? We need a German in the UK to report the aweful truth! 😉 Awesome! What do you think?

    Cheers Glyn

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    Some pretty pathetic souls on episode two! The guy who pissed on the taxi then cried when he was detained by the Thai’s, makes me embarrassed to be from the UK. Now he’ll have to endure all of his mates taking the piss for a year or two. Now that’s justice!

    The military on leave from Iraq are much like the Israelis are in Phangan, many of them just completing time in the services. These guys are so up tight and are a hazard where ever they go! Drinking makes the situation much worse! Avoid these guys when ever you can!

    Glad to see the young lass from Cumbria got off without jail time. Got of light if I can say that, she really did do her time already!

    The Farang cops in black would be okay if the stuck to the mandate of interpreting and explaining. This episode puts them in a better light than the first one! To bad they chose black uniforms and not something a little less intimidating.

    I’ll let some else comment on the hot looking lady boy!

    Cheers and not to many beers… Glyn

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      anyone got a link to episode 2 pls.

      tx!

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        now on YouTube…

        Reply
        • Anonymous

          tx!

          And i saw my friend “pen” on 8:23 on the right that thai tourist cop 🙂

          Good guy he owns a bar walking street…he invited me to eat snake last time lol

          Reply
    • “Avoid israelis where ever you can?”
      YOU ARE SO RACIST

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    The jet ski problem DOES exist on Koh Phangan – in haadrin many of the Jet ski operators are claiming travellers have damages the jetski’s when the obviously have not. Standard charges have been 100,000baht + … and others 50,000baht +. This is not just happening on Phuket this is here on Koh Phangan also. The jetski boys show a sign which lists warnings and disclaimers so you must be a fool to put yourself at risk by agreeing to this. This document is apparently produced by the Police themselves! I have been told of many situations by young travellers who have stayed at my resort and had problems.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    This website seems to be dead … no more real news … only stupid UK TV series …

    What’s about real news from Koh Phangan ?

    Reply
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