Catching illegal guides is tricky: ‘They disguise themselves like tourists’

[snoop1130]

Catching illegal guides is tricky: ‘They disguise themselves like tourists’

By The Phuket News

 

Tourists wait at Chalong Pier. Catching illegal tour guides is difficult because they disguise themselves like tourists, Phuket Vice Governor Thanyawat Chanpinit said yesterday (Nov 6). Photo: The Phuket News / file

 

PHUKET:-- Phuket Vice Governor Thanyawat Chanpinit has pointed out that catching illegal guides leading tours around the island was more difficult than it seems as they tend “dress like tourists”, he told a meeting yesterday (Nov 6).

 

The meeting was called after a formal complaint was filed by some 50 members of the Andaman Tour Guides Association (ATGA) at Phuket Provincial Hall last Monday (Nov 5), calling for the government to take steps to counter the growing incidence of illegal tour guides operating in Phuket and the surrounding region.

 

Present at the meeting yesterday were officials from the Tourism and Sports Phuket office, military officers, Tourist Police officers, officers from Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket office, representative of tourism businesses as well as local officials from relevant departments.

Full Story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/catching-illegal-guides-is-tricky-they-disguise-themselves-like-tourists-69264.php#SerWiV4hHlQ1aGLg.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2018-11-7

[Goldieinkathu]

Not that difficult, according to Google this is what a Barbarian looks like ????

[RotMahKid]

That's the point if you don't speak your languages, otherwise you could go to a goup-member and just ask: " who's the guide?"

When I was a policeman/immigration officer it's was good to know and speak Dutch, German, French and English as most of my college's did.

[bluesofa]

36 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Phuket Vice Governor Thanyawat Chanpinit has pointed out that catching illegal guides leading tours around the island was more difficult than it seems as they tend “dress like tourists”

Ha ha ha!

So what he means is there are no Chinese-speaking Thai tour guides who could mingle with the group, to listen to them talking, in order to work out which one is the Chinese tour guide?

Or does it mean the Thai Chinese-speaking guides don't have the gumption to do this?

They seriously want someone else to everything for them, when they know they it's the language barrier that allows the illegal guides to get away with it.

 

The way i see it, the Thai guides don't seem capable of helping themselves.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, perhaps it's the government who are afraid to upset the Chinese, judging from the way they keep kowtowing to them about everything?

[simoh1490]

13 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Ha ha ha!

So what he means is there are no Chinese-speaking Thai tour guides who could mingle with the group, to listen to them talking, in order to work out which one is the Chinese tour guide?

Or does it mean the Thai Chinese-speaking guides don't have the gumption to do this?

They seriously want someone else to everything for them, when they know they it's the language barrier that allows the illegal guides to get away with it.

 

The way i see it, the Thai guides don't seem capable of helping themselves.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, perhaps it's the government who are afraid to upset the Chinese, judging from the way they keep kowtowing to them about everything?

2

Rubbish!

 

The Thai government runs courses which are pretty intensive and designed to teach tour guides the history of the area in which the guide wishes to be licensed, license training for the North, for example, involves four weekends of class study, homework each week followed by a three day tour of the North giving presentations to the rest of the group in transit...days are long and start at 6am and end at 8pm, a final exam determines whether candidates pass or not...the pass rate is around 80%.

 

In parallel with the above:  licensed guides are encouraged to learn various languages and the demand amongst licensed guides for Chinese language courses is extremely high, my wife has was licensed last year and has been studying Mandarin every week ever since, plus, she uses the language daily in her work, virtually all of the other tour guides she knows and works with are similarly trained and skilled - four months ago my wife passed the Thai Open Uni. Mandarin course with distinction, she is fluent and can read and write the language easily and she is certainly not unique in Thailand in that respect. Finally, licensed tour guides are easily identified by the ID they wear around their necks which is state issued.

Edited November 7, 2018 by simoh1490

[BritManToo]

14 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

The Thai government runs courses which are pretty intensive and designed to teach tour guides the history of the area in which the guide wishes to be licensed,

four months ago my wife passed the Thai Open Uni. Mandarin course with distinction, 

 

Yeah, but they only speak Thai, and none of the Tourists speak Thai.

Making it an exercise in futility.

 

Everyone passes, but still none of them can speak another language.

Edited November 7, 2018 by BritManToo

[bluesofa]

7 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Rubbish!

 

The Thai government runs courses which are pretty intensive and designed to teach tour guides the history of the area in which the guide wishes to be licensed, license training for the North, for example, involves four weekends of class study, homework each week followed by a three day tour of the North giving presentations to the rest of the group in transit...days are long and start at 6am and end at 8pm, a final exam determines whether candidates pass or not...the pass rate is around 80%.

 

In parallel with the above:  licensed guides are encouraged to learn various languages and the demand amongst licensed guides for Chinese language courses is extremely high, my wife has was licensed last year and has been studying Mandarin every week ever since, plus, she uses the language daily in her work, virtually all of the other tour guides she knows and works with are similarly trained and skilled - four months ago my wife passed the Thai Open Uni. Mandarin course with distinction, she is fluent and can read and write the language easily and she is certainly not unique in Thailand in that respect. Finally, licensed tour guides are easily identified by the ID they wear around their necks which is state issued.

I wasn't faulting the Thai Chinese-speaking guides language ability at all.

I was following on from the governor claiming it was very difficult to catch the Chinese guides, because the ordinary Thais can't tell who they are. That was why I felt it would be ideal for the Chinese-speaking Thais to spot them - assuming of course this is the real reason why nothing appears to be happening.

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Yeah, but they only speak Thai, and none of the Tourists speak Thai.

Making it an exercise in futility.

The feedback/presentation sessions the guides have to go through during their 3/4 day tour of the North must be given in English, a professor of CMU judges their abilities and oversees the training - cost is around 17k baht and it's stipulated at the outset that candidates MUST demonstrate proficiency in English language.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

The feedback/presentation sessions the guides have to go through during their 3/4 day tour of the North must be given in English, a professor of CMU judges their abilities and oversees the training - cost is around 17k baht and it's stipulated at the outset that candidates MUST demonstrate proficiency in English language.

How many potential guides failed on your wife's course?

Come to think of it, how many of the CMU judges can speak any English?

Edited November 7, 2018 by BritManToo

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I wasn't faulting the Thai Chinese-speaking guides language ability at all.

I was following on from the governor claiming it was very difficult to catch the Chinese guides, because the ordinary Thais can't tell who they are. That was why I felt it would be ideal for the Chinese-speaking Thais to spot them - assuming of course this is the real reason why nothing appears to be happening.

I guarantee that most Thai tour guides who understand Chinese could identify them, which begets the question, why can't the authorities.

[simoh1490]

Just now, BritManToo said:

How many potential guides failed on your wife's course?

As said, the pass rate was around 80%, as far as I could figure out.

[BritManToo]

Just now, simoh1490 said:

As said, the pass rate was around 80%, as far as I could figure out.

And after the 20% that failed paid the 5K 'retake' fee, they all passed too.

[BestB]

Wellll....... if there were more Thai who were at least good not even fluent in other languages than there would be no need for foreign tour guides.

[simoh1490]

Just now, BritManToo said:

And after the 20% that failed paid the 5K 'retake' fee, they all passed too.

There was a study/mentor and retake session for many but that is factored into the 80% rate.

[bluesofa]

2 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I guarantee that most Thai tour guides who understand Chinese could identify them, which begets the question, why can't the authorities.

 

Do you think it's a political situation, as I suggested at the end of my post:

"Maybe I'm being too harsh, perhaps it's the government who are afraid to upset the Chinese, judging from the way they keep kowtowing to them about everything?"

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

‘They disguise themselves like tourists’

Those sneaky devils!

[simoh1490]

8 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

 

Do you think it's a political situation, as I suggested at the end of my post:

"Maybe I'm being too harsh, perhaps it's the government who are afraid to upset the Chinese, judging from the way they keep kowtowing to them about everything?"

It's almost certainly a brown envelope issue.

[seahorse]

Just another pathetic official excuse. 

[justinnsamui]

[emoji38][emoji38][emoji38]

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[madmitch]

If they really wanted to arrest Chinese tour guides they could go to a number of large hotels at 8am any morning and make a killing.

 

But they don't, and I won't bother to speculate as to the reason why!

[cyberfarang]

Last year my friend and I went on a 2 week vacation to Danang in Vietnam. On one evening we stumbled across a parade, where young Vietnamese men and women where dressed in red costumes and marching to a band. Then out of the blue we were approached by an English guy and an English woman aged in their 30s I guessed.

 

The man told us to move on. I asked him on what authority does he have to tell me to move on, show me some I.D?  Then he began physically trying to push us away from the scene. Almost coming to blows with the man I took out my camera and was about to take his photo. Then the people in the parade began to surround my friend and I, out numbered we decided to leave. As we were leaving noticed a barrier with an admission fee notice on the barrier. To see the parade people were expected to pay.

 

Afterwards I realised that many of these tours and events are advertised on unofficial websites and via unofficial channels, maybe on facebook. The foreign organisers pay off whoever and then given a free hand and access to organise tours and events. Guess it’s the same in Thailand and why so very few of these unofficial tour guides are being caught.

 

It’s a racket and the first port of call the authorities should be investigating are the corrupt officials within the Thai tourist industry that are obviously being paid to turn a blind eye.  Easy to find these fake tourist guides and agencies just by doing a Google search and on facebook.

[stevenl]

11 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Ha ha ha!

So what he means is there are no Chinese-speaking Thai tour guides who could mingle with the group, to listen to them talking, in order to work out which one is the Chinese tour guide?

Or does it mean the Thai Chinese-speaking guides don't have the gumption to do this?

They seriously want someone else to everything for them, when they know they it's the language barrier that allows the illegal guides to get away with it.

 

The way i see it, the Thai guides don't seem capable of helping themselves.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, perhaps it's the government who are afraid to upset the Chinese, judging from the way they keep kowtowing to them about everything?

So you want the Thai tourguides to arrest the illegal Chinese ones?

 

I thought it quite obvious the police is charged with that, but unfortunately their language abilities are limited.

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, stevenl said:

So you want the Thai tourguides to arrest the illegal Chinese ones?

 

I thought it quite obvious the police is charged with that, but unfortunately their language abilities are limited.

Tourist Police (who have no arrest powers) frequently ferret out sellers of fake goods (a difficult job I know) and lead the RTP to the perpetrators who are then arrested - a similar scenario might prevail with tour guides. Alternatively, anyone with half a brain (another difficult part at times) might simply stand and watch a group of tourists at known venues and observe who appears to be leading the group, asking questions such as, why are you carrying that long stick with a flag on top and why are people following you, might produce useful answers - watching who is leading a group of travellers through the airport with a stick held high may also help. THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE and if the RTP is not up to the task of identifying these fake guides it beggars the question what tasks they are capable of. 

[Deli]

There is an extreme shortage of qualified tour guides, due to the applying restrictions.

Reasonable language skills in different European languages + others not even taken in account.

Why not opening this profession to foreigners, who are willing to study for this in useful languages ?

Edited November 8, 2018 by Deli

[worgeordie]

I think it will be the one leading them from the front ,maybe with a flag !

regards Worgeordie

[klauskunkel]

14 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

I guarantee that most Thai tour guides who understand Chinese could identify them, which begets the question, why can't the authorities.

either the authorities are not qualified, which makes them useless

or, they have been bought, which makes them corrupt

I tend to think it's both...

[Borzandy]

17 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

That's the point if you don't speak your languages, otherwise you could go to a goup-member and just ask: " who's the guide?"

When I was a policeman/immigration officer it's was good to know and speak Dutch, German, French and English as most of my college's did. 

" it's was good to know and speak Dutch, German, French and English as most of my college's did. " the very well instructed policeman I never seen.

[guest879]

Time to make a permit for Chinese guides to work in Thailand. Not those expensive ones that the rest of us have to get but a simple one that can help Thailand's  tourism industry. Could charge them a fair fee for the permit rather than chasing them around trying to charge them a cash fine for working illegally. current system is just stupid.

[connda]

I tell you want.  Provide a WP, the ability to conceal carry, and a sufficient bounty for catching them, and a RTP liason and I've form a team that will put a real dent in the 'illegal tourist operator' business.  It's not rocket science.

[Redline]

They wouldn’t be Chinese though right?