Since kiteforum has no "like-button": a great big Thanks to Vlad for posting with clear descriptions! (...and Alexrider should have a thank you for contributing to make the topic at hand even more clear)

Many addicted kiters around the world are eagerly following this thread -as a thank you I will re-post to my "national" forum and hope that others are inspired to do the same.

Didn't you know? Valentine is cancelled this year:

14-2-12=0

no need to make fun of WH these days. We lost a great artist!

I think there is something we ALL can learn from this, and we all should tell all our friends etc:

check for a serial number before you buy! this way we, the customers, don't get ripped off and those dealers who sell not official authorized gear will have nothing to sell anymore and will stop that.

I hope some mags are readying here as well, so they can write an article about to spread this info!

Greets
Toby

Alexrider, If some of the readers are not sure if Your character is really so bad as it comes out of Your answers, I can help them. Your SON has worked for KBA without working permit. And please don´t try to tell us the story he wanted to become an instructor. I know this trick! To become an instructor You need around 30 000.- Bath and one week. Not many weeks or months......Thailand seems for You really a paradies! You compere a Noth Kite with Billabong, how stupid did You expect us to be. If a Kite cost just $ 200.-- we know it is a fake! But with just $ 100,-- less ......you will not get the feeling to buy a fake..And be happy, that I don´t tell You where my friend was, You would be very, very, disappointed!!!
When he said it, it was for me just a remark, nothing more, after I read your postings I unterstand , what he really meant!

Is it legal to use brand logos like KBA doing?
Its interesting, why North and other brands don't try to sue KBA for this kind of advertising.

The other thing I've wondered about is the whole IKO thing.

I have no idea what it takes to get an IKO certification to teach kiting, but many instructors that I have seen at KBA's all over Asia have had next to no experience teaching kiting and were themselves barely intermediate kiters.

I remember one guy in Vietnam who was giving my girlfriend lessons asking to borrow my board because he didn't have his own equipment. To my surprise he was barely riding toeside.

Then there was this Russian chick who I never saw kite once the two weeks I was in Vietnam.

An Australian instructor chick stalled and crashed her kite right into the drink while bodydragging her student out past the shorebreak.

It seemed that most of the non-asian KBA teachers were backpacker kids that needed to make a few bucks in order to live in Asia during their gap year.

It doesn't really bother me, because I don't think you need super expensive trained and qualified people to teach someone to kite. I basically taught myself and so did plenty of people. But once again, for those "Germanic" people here concerned with safety and having everything be very straightlaced and tidy it does seem suspicious. Especially when they still charge 60 dollars an hour for lessons.

ChickenTikka, I confirm this. Met one guy in Phuket last year from USA. He had really small experience with KB. Last week on Facebook — he's still in Thailand and "working as instructor at KBA"

I think it's not only KBA's problem. Very easy to start teaching people KB this days. In high season in winter demand for instructors is so big, that they hire everybody to teach.

As far as I know from Boracay advertising, obtaining IKO instructor certificate is 1000$ and 2 weeks of training. All instructors here are IKO certified.

That is wrong. So big risk, so many injuries in KB.

Free advice for all KBA customers:

Pay cash, for god's sake, but remove all serial numbers from your bank notes!

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/phuket-expats-tourists-trouble-law-list-15569/

last name on the list "Eran Forsleger Israel February 23 Tachatchai robbery"

im sure this is one of KBA's owners,

still trustworthy?

That's him for sure — http://thailandkiteboarding.com/team

What's happened?