Pattaya: Hundreds of tour guides nabbed to "raise standards in Pattaya"

[webfact]

Pattaya: Hundreds of tour guides nabbed to "raise standards in Pattaya"

 

Picture: Sophon Cable TV

 

Sophon Cable TV reported on Facebook that a crackdown since the start of the year by the tourist police in Pattaya had resulted in 475 tour guides being fined for falling foul of regulations related to tour company business. 

 

Local tourist police chief Lt-Col Piyapong Ensarn said that eighteen illegal tour guides faced a year in prison or fines of 100,000 baht. They were Thais, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese and people from Myanmar. 

 

Checkpoints had been set up at places where Chinese tour groups went such as Bali Hai port, bus stations, temples and other tourist sites to catch the illegal workers. 

 

Picture: Sophon Cable TV

 

He was following orders from the government and the head of the tourist police to raise standards in Pattaya, he said. 

 

The police are also working in conjunction with the Burapha Guides' Association to root out the illegals. 

 

Source: Sophon Cable TV

 

 

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[ezzra]

Not sure if it possible at all to "raise standards in Pattaya" whatever that means...

[RotMahKid]

Sure it's possible to raise the standard of Pattaya: replace the police with real policeman that know how to do their job   hahaha

[ratcatcher]

I am wondering how a tour group from India manages to enjoy their tour of Pattaya and other cultural centres of Thailand if the tour guide is Thai and cannot speak Hindi, or any of the dozens of languages and dialects. Are they allowed an Indian assistant who can speak Thai? Can Thais speak Burmese, Mandarin, Japanese? 

[otherstuff1957]

Well, nothing will encourage tourists to come for another visit like seeing their tour guide arrested as they head to the beach!

[yellowboat]

We all know Thai tour guides are fluent in Russian, English, Chinese, Japanese and all important languages.  Amazing Thailand for some.

[Emdog]

Imagine you are Chinese and on a tour. Boom! the cops arrest your guide (who probably speaks your language). You are left wandering about who knows where and no one can understand you. Expats may be used to that (haha) but poor tourists? That may be a factor in reduced number of Chinese visiting. Word gets around, dear leader.

[inactiveposter]

The first paragraph says that 475 guides have been fined. If the fine was ฿1,000, that’s ฿47,500,000! Enough to buy more hardware to control the rabble!

[Rimmer]

Some troll posts removed

[androokery]

43 minutes ago, inactiveposter said:

The first paragraph says that 475 guides have been fined. If the fine was ฿1,000, that’s ฿47,500,000! Enough to buy more hardware to control the rabble!

So not 475,000?

[Mick501]

57 minutes ago, androokery said:

So not 475,000?

That's what happens when you buy a calculator at the markets for 10b

[owenm]

2 hours ago, inactiveposter said:

The first paragraph says that 475 guides have been fined. If the fine was ฿1,000, that’s ฿47,500,000! Enough to buy more hardware to control the rabble!

I think he's been in Thailand too long, and doing arithmetic the same as the Thai officialdom does..

 

The more zeros the more impressive it looks to the reader.. 

5556..

[ratcatcher]

50 minutes ago, owenm said:

I think he's been in Thailand too long, and doing arithmetic the same as the Thai officialdom does..

The more zeros the more impressive it looks to the reader.. 

5556..

That's precisely why he's occupying an inactive post.

[Deli]

Trying desperately hiring a legal tour guide for less than 2000.- a day.

Mission impossible. All said.

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

a crackdown since the start of the year by the tourist police in Pattaya had resulted in 475 tour guides being fined for falling foul of regulations related to tour company business.

A little belated buy hey ho...

[mok199]

That should blow over by 7pm....another one day war..zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[faraday]

ickles

 

Solly na, mods.

[Leaver]

Another lowering of the standards here, under the disguise of raising the standards.

[BestB]

So just to clarify, it is not to stop non thai from working as guides but to increase the standards?

 

Now, how exactly arresting tour guides raises the standards?

[Brigand]

Lol ... yeah, arrest all the tour guides that are filling in for Thais that are too lazy or unable to do the job. You are all living in La La land. It is high time Thailand goes down the economic rabbit hole ... coming soon to an area around you. Morons and just desserts.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Brigand

[Inn Between]

 

5 hours ago, Deli said:

Trying desperately hiring a legal tour guide for less than 2000.- a day.

Mission impossible. All said.

Not like the good old days. When I came for my first trip back in the late 80's. The first girl I got for some evening companionship was a sweetheart and stayed with me all the next day, giving me a wonderful tour of Bangkok until I dropped back off at her place of work on Soi Cowboy. Whether one terms that a "legal" tour guide or not doesn't matter to me. It was a great tour and a load of fun.  

[champers]

9 hours ago, inactiveposter said:

The first paragraph says that 475 guides have been fined. If the fine was ฿1,000, that’s ฿47,500,000! Enough to buy more hardware to control the rabble!

Woz you no gud at sums in skool?

[JamJar]

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/thai-tour-guides-latest-complaint-over-russian-workers-falls-on-deaf-ears-40501

 

That group has been complaining for years, in order to get rid of the competition.

 

Especially now that there is less custom to go around.

 

 

[bendejo]

When all these people get arrested and are paraded before the press, that is going to involve a lot of pointing.  Will they be shuttling in BiB from other provinces to serve on pointing detail?

 

 

[balo]

Good. maybe it will encourage the Chinese to go home. 

Make Pattaya great again.

[Leaver]

8 hours ago, JamJar said:

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/thai-tour-guides-latest-complaint-over-russian-workers-falls-on-deaf-ears-40501

 

That group has been complaining for years, in order to get rid of the competition.

 

Especially now that there is less custom to go around.

 

 

18 illegal tour guides out of 475 is around 4% of the total being illegal workers.

 

Do you really think that 4% of illegals are taking food off the Thai tour guide's table?

[Leaver]

5 hours ago, balo said:

Good. maybe it will encourage the Chinese to go home. 

Make Pattaya great again.

The yuan will be devalued soon, as the trade war ramps up.  A weaker yuan, with a strong baht, will see many Chinese stay home, not return home.

 

If your think Pattaya is quiet now, take the Chinese out of tourism here, and it will be a ghost town. 

[sammieuk1]

Sure most tour guides in Pattaya are very knowledgeable in identifying there's the polluted brown cesspool known as the sea here's the nice sandy beach when its sunny far over there when its rainy and what's the going rate for hookers easy job no wonder so many are illegal ????

[jacko45k]

4 hours ago, Leaver said:

18 illegal tour guides out of 475 is around 4% of the total being illegal workers.

 

Do you really think that 4% of illegals are taking food off the Thai tour guide's table?

Well 18 Thai tour guides were going without.

[futsukayoi]

On 9/6/2019 at 11:14 AM, ratcatcher said:

I am wondering how a tour group from India manages to enjoy their tour of Pattaya and other cultural centres of Thailand if the tour guide is Thai and cannot speak Hindi, or any of the dozens of languages and dialects. Are they allowed an Indian assistant who can speak Thai? Can Thais speak Burmese, Mandarin, Japanese? 

No idea about Hindi but I frequently go to the airport in Samui to pick up neighbors or visiting friends and relatives and while waiting chat to some of the people waiting to pick up guests.  Admittedly they are mostly working for 5 star hotels but my Japanese is pretty good after years spent there and I have been quite impressed with the language ability of some of the people waiting for Japanese guests.  My wife is from Hong Kong but speaks excellent Mandarin and has said the same about some of the Thais ability in that language.  I suspect that these demand a much higher salary than operators targeting the mass market would pay but there are definitely some Thais with skills in most major languages.