The scams, and how they actually work

The jet ski damage claim

You rent a jet ski from a walk-up operator on the sand. On return the operator points out damage that was already there and demands a large cash sum, often with several people arriving to apply pressure.

It is the best-documented scam on the island. If you rent, photograph and video every surface of the machine before you get on, with the operator in frame, and never hand over your passport as a deposit — carry a photocopy for that.

Booking a jet ski through an operator with a real business, a booking record and an address behind it removes the whole problem, because there is somebody to complain to.

The taxi meter

Drivers say the meter is broken, or simply refuse it, and quote a fixed fare several times the metered price. The airport fixed-price counters work the same way legitimately — they are just expensive.

Use Grab or Bolt. The price is agreed in the app before the car moves, and there is nothing to argue about. Bolt is typically the cheaper of the two.

Rentals and deposits

The scooter and motorbike version runs identically to the jet ski one. Same rules: photograph everything first, never leave your passport.

A passport is not a deposit. Any operator insisting on holding it is telling you something about how the rest of the transaction will go.

Fees that are not real

The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is free at tdac.immigration.go.th. Every site charging you for it is a scam, and several of them buy ads above the official one.

Cash is normal here — most village stalls and 13 of the 19 Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants on this island take nothing else. Being asked for cash is not a warning sign. Being asked for your passport is.