3 days Ago
Illegal foreign tour guides, including Chinese and other nationalities, are still operating in major tourist destinations, surviving by paying monthly bribes to officers, according to the Professional Tourist Guides Association of Thailand. Paisarn Suethanuwong, a committee member of the association, said illegal foreign tour guides and nominee businesses during the past high season remained severe issues and continued to hamper the tourism industry. Foreigners of various nationalities have flocked to Thailand to perform these jobs, with some even establishing their own companies using Thai nominees, notably those from Russia, India and Vietnam, he said.
Recent news reports found a former Israeli special task force offered tours to children in Koh Phangan, while a South Korean illegally worked as a tour guide in Pattaya. Mr Paisarn said foreign tour guides are typically found in major tourist cities, such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Many of them sold tour packages via online platforms and social media, exploiting their entry permits, such as the 60-day visa exemption, long-stay visas or even using the student visa as a cover, he said.
Mr Paisarn said roughly half of tour companies offering inbound tour packages are nominee businesses entirely managed by foreigners to target tourists of the same nationality, and hiring foreign guides to accommodate them. "Paying bribes to officers on a regular basis has become a typical practice in the tourism industry," he said. Though some illegal guides have been arrested, there are still many who bribe officers every month to run their business without interruption, said Mr Paisarn.
In many cases, those found guilty were not prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He said he agreed with the government's plan to reduce the visa-free period for foreigners to 30 days, as this could help solve the issue to a certain extent. At a minimum, it would be more difficult for visitors as they would be required to exit and re-enter when their visa-free period expired, said Mr Paisarn.
He said it is essential for the government to restore public confidence in Thailand's law enforcement, which should work to prevent further illegal and nominee businesses. "Thailand has a problem with loose law enforcement," said Mr Paisarn. "Foreigners learned that money can solve all of their problems here, unlike other countries, such as Singapore.
" He said Thailand already has comprehensive laws, such as Section 12 of the Immigration Act, which restrict foreigners' ability to do work that violates foreign labour laws. Jaturon Phakdeewanit, director-general of the Tourism Department, said it constantly probes for foreign guides in major cities, searching for connections to nominee businesses. He said owners of such tour companies will be blacklisted for five years, and can be deported from Thailand.
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