Tour guide who can’t speak Thai arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport

[webfact]

Tour guide who can’t speak Thai arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport – VIDEO

By The Thaiger

 

 

A tour guide, with a license but who can’t speak Thai, has been arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

 

Officers are investigating the tour guide arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport this week. The tour guide has a legal guide license but was unable to speak Thai during questioning.

 

The Tourist Police at the airport then arrested the man at the terminal.

 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/tour-guide-who-cant-speak-thai-arrested-at-suvarnabhumi-airport-video

 

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2019-02-26

 

[SkyNets]

Can I do this if I find out Immigration staff cant speak English?

[RichardColeman]

5 police to arrest him ? He must have been very dangerous in his own language !

[bluesofa]

16 minutes ago, SkyNets said:

Can I do this if I find out Immigration staff cant speak English?

I'm sure you must mean Engrish?

 

[shady86]

Is there any law mentioning tour guides need to speak specific language?

[bluesofa]

3 minutes ago, shady86 said:

Is there any law mentioning tour guides need to speak specific language?

Tour guide is a reserved occupation, so they must assume not being able to speak Thai meant the guide wasn't Thai. But you never know...

 

[Justgrazing]

54 minutes ago, webfact said:

A tour guide, with a license but who can’t speak Thai, has been arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Can't imagine many of any of his " clients " can gibber Thai either so what's the problem or are the authorities insisting on the ability to speak the lingo as some sort of insidious plan to inflict it on the wider world .. 

[NCC1701A]

a TV member was a eyewitness and reported this last night. cant find the topic now.

[White Christmas13]

6 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

a TV member was a eyewitness and reported this last night. cant find the topic now.

maybe it was the violent arrest at suvarnabhumi

[mok199]

They look like a couple of lost Asian mimes.

[sammieuk1]

Looks like he is being guided to the language class for the people with perfectly legal paperwork for the fist available general to check????

[sitanonchai]

he's there because Thai guides lack language skills.

[DavisH]

I can't imagine Australian immigration arresting the Thai guide of my tour group (I was with Thais) when we visited Perth:) 

[Thunder26]

I'm just wondering. Isn't it a human basic right to be allowed to have a job? Thai government is unspeakably racist towards foreigners. I hope there will be some changes in their attitudes in the future.

[Jan Dietz]

No it isn't.

[crazygreg44]

1 hour ago, sitanonchai said:

he's there because Thai guides lack language skills.

correct.

My sister worked as a group tour guide for the german tour company Diethelm Thailand. Her job was completely legal, there was no Thai who could speak adequte german and able to explain the historic sites, the history, culture and the religion. Yet, the requirement for these bus tours always was - there had to be a Thai tour guide who went alongside my sister. The legality derives from the fact that doing so, she wasn't taking a job away from a Thai. As long as the tour company made sure local guides were on the busses, she was allowed to stand by.  This is actually still in use nowadays. One local Thai guide plus one foreign guide

[fruitman]

1 hour ago, Thunder26 said:

I'm just wondering. Isn't it a human basic right to be allowed to have a job? Thai government is unspeakably racist towards foreigners. I hope there will be some changes in their attitudes in the future.

That's why thai shops have 5 times more staff than western shops...it's their right to have a job so they got one. It's also the reason why thailand is more expensive than europe these days and with a far lower quality.

[fruitman]

12 minutes ago, crazygreg44 said:

correct.

My sister worked as a group tour guide for the german tour company Diethelm Thailand. Her job was completely legal, there was no Thai who could speak adequte german and able to explain the historic sites, the history, culture and the religion. Yet, the requirement for these bus tours always was - there had to be a Thai tour guide who went alongside my sister. The legality derives from the fact that doing so, she wasn't taking a job away from a Thai. As long as the tour company made sure local guides were on the busses, she was allowed to stand by.  This is actually still in use nowadays. One local Thai guide plus one foreign guide

Most W-european tour groups bring a native speaking guide with them or they hire one at the destination...

 

And in Paris in the Palace of Versailles i also heard a guide speaking Thai to his group...

[bbko]

1 hour ago, Thunder26 said:

I'm just wondering. Isn't it a human basic right to be allowed to have a job? Thai government is unspeakably racist towards foreigners. I hope there will be some changes in their attitudes in the future.

In the USA, a foreigner can't legally work unless on a work visa, is the US government racist in that matter?

[Seth1a2a]

Xenophobic maybe, but racist can't be the right word considering the following statistics :

Approximately 75 percent of the population are Thai, and 14 percent are ethnic Chinese. Other ethnic groups include Malay-speaking Muslims (4 percent), Khmers (1.3 percent), Soai, or Kui (1.3 percent), Karen (1.3 percent), and Indians and Pakistanis (.4 percent).

 

This was a pretty hot issue back in November  2018  in Phuket

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30358884

Chinese-speaking Thai guides take to Phuket streets...................

“There is a lot of news that speaks about illegal tour guides who have stolen our jobs. We are now in trouble, as tour-guiding is a reserved occupation for Thai people only.

“Any tour operator who breaks the law shall be fined up to Bt500,000. We hope that we will get cooperation from you,” the letter stated.  "

 

 

 

[Bullie]

16 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Tour guide is a reserved occupation, so they must assume not being able to speak Thai meant the guide wasn't Thai. But you never know...

 

I know at least 10 young Thai people back in Amsterdam who hardly speak a word of Thai, having been born and raised in the Netherlands. They would be allowed to lead a Dutch tour group, being Thai by birth.

It is probably inconceivable for the arresting officers that anyone Thai would not be begging to speak the most beautiful language in the world....

[Katia]

16 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Tour guide is a reserved occupation, so they must assume not being able to speak Thai meant the guide wasn't Thai. But you never know...

 

But if he had a legal license, then someone must have issued it to him, which means at one point he was deemed eligible?  If being able to speak Thai is a prerequisite for getting one of these licenses, is that not tested at time of application?  Are they going to also arrest the person who granted the license, if it wasn't supposed to be given to him?

[jdlancaster]

46 minutes ago, Bullie said:

I know at least 10 young Thai people back in Amsterdam who hardly speak a word of Thai, having been born and raised in the Netherlands. They would be allowed to lead a Dutch tour group, being Thai by birth.

It is probably inconceivable for the arresting officers that anyone Thai would not be begging to speak the most beautiful language in the world....

In the US, I know some thai-american dual citizens. They have Thai passports but can barely speak Thai. My Thai is far better. I'm not saying that is the case here, but certainly possible for a Thai citizen that doesn't speak Thai... Also a few farang born here who are native speaker level in Thai but will never get citizenship...

[Maitdjai]

10 hours ago, crazygreg44 said:

correct.

My sister worked as a group tour guide for the german tour company Diethelm Thailand. Her job was completely legal, there was no Thai who could speak adequte german and able to explain the historic sites, the history, culture and the religion. Yet, the requirement for these bus tours always was - there had to be a Thai tour guide who went alongside my sister. The legality derives from the fact that doing so, she wasn't taking a job away from a Thai. As long as the tour company made sure local guides were on the busses, she was allowed to stand by.  This is actually still in use nowadays. One local Thai guide plus one foreign guide

What did the Thai "Guide" do? 

Waiting on the bus? Eating? Sleeping?

[EricTh]

1 hour ago, Seth1a2a said:

Xenophobic maybe, but racist can't be the right word considering the following statistics :

Approximately 75 percent of the population are Thai, and 14 percent are ethnic Chinese. Other ethnic groups include Malay-speaking Muslims (4 percent), Khmers (1.3 percent), Soai, or Kui (1.3 percent), Karen (1.3 percent), and Indians and Pakistanis (.4 percent).

 

This was a pretty hot issue back in November  2018  in Phuket

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30358884

Chinese-speaking Thai guides take to Phuket streets...................

“There is a lot of news that speaks about illegal tour guides who have stolen our jobs. We are now in trouble, as tour-guiding is a reserved occupation for Thai people only.

“Any tour operator who breaks the law shall be fined up to Bt500,000. We hope that we will get cooperation from you,” the letter stated.  "

 

Khmer is NOT 1%. Click below.

 

http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/07/main-ethnicities-in-thailand.html

[EricTh]

11 hours ago, crazygreg44 said:

correct.

My sister worked as a group tour guide for the german tour company Diethelm Thailand. Her job was completely legal, there was no Thai who could speak adequte german and able to explain the historic sites, the history, culture and the religion. Yet, the requirement for these bus tours always was - there had to be a Thai tour guide who went alongside my sister. The legality derives from the fact that doing so, she wasn't taking a job away from a Thai. As long as the tour company made sure local guides were on the busses, she was allowed to stand by.  This is actually still in use nowadays. One local Thai guide plus one foreign guide

 

The guy arrested in the video was Chinese.

 

Since there is a huge number of Chinese tourists, I don't see anything wrong with hiring Chinese tour guides if  he knows the tourist sites history well.

 

Local Thai tourist guide just can't speak Chinese well enough.

 

Of course, how many companies can hire both a local Thai guide and a foreign guide when all the local Thai guide do is just stand there and look pretty while the foreign guide do all the talking.

 

Thailand has strange laws.

 

[tingtongtourist]

12 hours ago, Thunder26 said:

I'm just wondering. Isn't it a human basic right to be allowed to have a job? Thai government is unspeakably racist towards foreigners. I hope there will be some changes in their attitudes in the future.

Id say just about every country in the world require the foriegners to have some kind of work visa or licence, permit. etc

 

you cannot just go to some other country and start a business or work at your own liesure.

 

if they allow it in your country, then please let me know where it is, i will consider to go and start business there

;0)

[hansnl]

14 hours ago, sitanonchai said:

he's there because Thai guides lack language skills.

I gather hé had the same problem.

But I am quite certain he is fluent in mandarin.

[hansnl]

1 hour ago, tingtongtourist said:

Id say just about every country in the world require the foriegners to have some kind of work visa or licence, permit. etc

 

you cannot just go to some other country and start a business or work at your own liesure.

 

if they allow it in your country, then please let me know where it is, i will consider to go and start business there

;0)

The EU maybe?

[Burma Bill]

So, what language was he speaking - Chinese by any chance?