Hi guys,

 

I have noticed that there are around 10 groups of what appear to be Chinese “professional” wedding photographer teams repeatedly working at Kamala beach daily at sunset.

 

Usually it is the same cameramen and 3 assistants in each group each day. So we are talking about 40 Chinese working in jobs that are likely reserved for Thais only.

 

There is a police station about 300 meters away from the photo shoots, but the cops haven’t stopped them. 

 

Am I right that the photographer jobs and assistants are only for thais? If yes, is this illegal business happening at other beaches in Phuket?

 

they were thrown out some time ago, the police was on top of them because they were working without permit and take precious jobs from Thais... are you saying they are back now, guess Thailand became the 52nd Chinese province

Somewhat expected.....Thailand is flirting with China to get tourist hordes. The illegal Chinese workers will come with the package and will soon crash the rates of the bar stool hookers entertainers.

 

Other trades will follow the trend. Hopefully, it will put competition, pressure and cra$h prices. ????

1 minute ago, batata said:

they were thrown out some time ago, the police was on top of them because they were working without permit and take precious jobs from Thais... are you saying they are back now, guess Thailand became the 52nd Chinese province

I have been coming to Kamala beach several times each week for the last several years, and i think those Chinese wedding photographer groups have been there everyday. 

 

This would be a great photo op for the Big Joke or his replacement if the coppers pulled up in paddy wagons and raided the beach.

1 minute ago, ChasingTheSun said:

I have been coming to Kamala beach several times each week for the last several years, and i think those Chinese wedding photographer groups have been there everyday. 

 

This would be a great photo op for the Big Joke or his replacement if the coppers pulled up in paddy wagons and raided the beach.

if were any westerners doing it they would have been expelled from LOS and passport red stamped... but these are Chinese and we all know how much they are loved and protected here, not considered foreigners/farangs or something similar

5 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

Somewhat expected.....Thailand is flirting with China to get tourist hordes. The illegal Chinese workers will come with the package and will soon crash the rates of the bar stool hookers entertainers.

 

Other trades will follow the trend. Hopefully, it will put competition, pressure and cra$h prices. ????

you mean Chinese girls will be cheaper than Thai girls... wishful thinking

4 minutes ago, batata said:

you mean Chinese girls will be cheaper than Thai girls... wishful thinking

quite logical in the sequence of events...up to you to approve or not.

3 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

quite logical in the sequence of events...up to you to approve or not.

let's wait and see... who am I to approve or not only time will tell

25 minutes ago, ChasingTheSun said:

Usually it is the same cameramen and 3 assistants in each group each day. So we are talking about 40 Chinese working in jobs that are likely reserved for Thais only.

How do you know they are Chinese ?

There are thousands of Thai from Chinese ascendance. 

8 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

How do you know they are Chinese ?

There are thousands of Thai from Chinese ascendance. 

I spoke Thai to a few of them as i walked by, asking them for the time, but none of them understood.

 

i also heard them speaking mandarin constantly.

Problem is that they prolly want to have actual good wedding photos, so they can't hire random thais that can't even speak their language....

Normal good resorts should do that job, i know that they have a good photographer in some phuket resorts like Trisara...But that's prolly not available everywhere. 

 

But yeah if i would hire a german photographer todo that we would prolly end up in jail on the wedding evening...

2 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Problem is that they prolly want to have actual good wedding photos, so they can't hire random thais that can't even speak their language....

Normal good resorts should do that job, i know that they have a good photographer in some phuket resorts like Trisara...But that's prolly not available everywhere. 

 

But yeah if i would hire a german photographer todo that we would prolly end up in jail on the wedding evening...

Agreed.

 

im sure quite a few thais would probably love to work as a photographer or as a photographers assistant. 

 

In addition, this type of large-scale organized illegal operation is obstructing the beach and is a big eyesore.

 

hopefully they shut it down (again) soon. 

2 hours ago, ChasingTheSun said:

Agreed.

 

im sure quite a few thais would probably love to work as a photographer or as a photographers assistant. 

 

In addition, this type of large-scale organized illegal operation is obstructing the beach and is a big eyesore.

 

hopefully they shut it down (again) soon. 

large-scale organized illegal operation is obstructing the beach?

 

    There are no other rip of guys around, no jet ski scammers, no nothing. God, what must happen that people become so obsessed? 

1 hour ago, Isaanbiker said:

large-scale organized illegal operation is obstructing the beach?

 

    There are no other rip of guys around, no jet ski scammers, no nothing. God, what must happen that people become so obsessed? 

Haha.

 

Now you can add large numbers of illegal foreign chinese businesses operating openly on the beach to your aforementioned obsession list. 

 

 

12 hours ago, ChasingTheSun said:

I spoke Thai to a few of them as i walked by, asking them for the time, but none of them understood.

 

i also heard them speaking mandarin constantly.

This is all we need, undercover grasses working for BIB.....what difference does it make to you, enjoy the sunsets and forget about them

You could always take the 300 metre walk to the cop shop and inform them.

2 hours ago, baansgr said:

This is all we need, undercover grasses working for BIB.....what difference does it make to you, enjoy the sunsets and forget about them

Please re-read the posts above and come back with some thoughtful perpesctive before replying anymore.

2 hours ago, steelepulse said:

You could always take the 300 metre walk to the cop shop and inform them.

Considering doing just that.

 

wondering if anyone knows if this is also happening on other beaches in Phuket as well?

The authorities in Kamala are well aware of the situation, and have been for years.

They're in Karon most days around sunset as well, generally in a quieter part of the beach without the Russian hordes. I don't have a problem, but one had a problem with me when my dog cocked his leg on his tripod!

43 minutes ago, ChasingTheSun said:

Please re-read the posts above and come back with some thoughtful perpesctive before replying anymore.

If you are so worried about the law and want to help report crime, go wait outside some karaokes at 4am and report the Thais for drug abuse, weapon conceelment and drunk driving,... Really puts a few Chinese  happy snappers on the beach into perspective.

16 hours ago, ChasingTheSun said:

This would be a great photo op for the Big Joke or his replacement if the coppers pulled up in paddy wagons and raided the beach.

As would raiding all the language school that have farangs working illegally without a work permit.

 

 

It is part of the package that brings in these tourists and their money. Advantageous to the area. It's let slide. 

Several off topic, trollish, bickering posts & relies to them have been removed.

 

Please post on topic & respectfully.

 

3 hours ago, steelepulse said:

You could always take the 300 metre walk to the cop shop and inform them.

One feels that he'd like to walk there and apply for a job.

 

Foreigners can work as photographers in Thailand with a WP. Of course these guys don't! A local restaurant owner told me they called the police and army on separate occasions. They inspected the beach but nothing came of that visit....Looks like there's higher players taking care of business.

 

I was at the Baanzan Markets a few weeks back and there are Chinese touts working the seafood restaurants.

Sometimes a very fine line between a professional photographer and a very keen hobbyist.. Is the photographer a paid pro from China or wherever, or a close friend of bride and groom who is a serious amateur photographer?? 

 

Same occurs in Australia and many other destinations I'm sure where someone in the entourage is taking what appear to be a Pro photo shoot without any working visa, but can be construed as a keen amateur photographer with skill.. 

If the bridal couple insist that their photographer and assistants are not paid professionals, but keen amateurs and friends of the couple, who could legally prove that they are Pro non Thai photographers working in Thailand without a working permit?? 

 

Guilty until proven innocent, or innocent until proven guilty? The Thai assessment is always by their rule of law, the former.. 

 

Is a professional photographer assumed to be a Pro because they have invested $1000s in equipment and are meticulous in their posing setups? What if the same posed photos were taken with a phone camera photographer? Where is the line, pro vs serious amateur.. 

 

I personally was a pro wedding photographer in Oz, 600+ weddings shot over 20 odd years.. Very grey line.. 

1 hour ago, owenm said:

but keen amateurs and friends of the couple, who could legally prove that they are Pro non Thai photographers working in Thailand without a working permit?? 

I would imagine fairly easy to check passport for visa type/length of stay..........not rocket science.

56 minutes ago, topt said:

I would imagine fairly easy to check passport for visa type/length of stay..........not rocket science.

Non paid friends of the couple..

To prove otherwise that they are working paid pro photographers.. Not easy to prove!! If not professional, no working visa required, because they weren't working.. Friends of the couple capturing their wedding for no capital gain. 

Love it when the foreigner gets on his high horse about what he perceives as somehow any of his business, in a land in which the intricacies and convolutions of corruption and backhanders he has little conception.

Go ahead, report what you see to the police, take it higher up, as high up the food chain as you can, make a nuisance of yourself, but don't expect necessarily to sleep easy in your bed in Thailand ever again.

21 hours ago, batata said:

they were thrown out some time ago, the police was on top of them because they were working without permit and take precious jobs from Thais... are you saying they are back now, guess Thailand became the 52nd Chinese province

LOL:

they were gone for a few days this pat year and thats it,

you can see them all over Kamala from 9 am - 7pm and later.