Thai Tour Guides Unite to Address Issue of Illegal Foreign Guides

[webfact]

 

By Tanakorn Panyadee

A group of Chinese-speaking tour guides convened on Saturday, March 18th, to discuss the trouble caused by illegal guides who are stealing their jobs. The group complained they are being overlooked by the government as their complaints, so far, have not been heard.

The complainers revealed at a meeting that some foreign guides are working illegally in Thailand and are stealing their jobs. These guides do not have a guide license which is required by Thai laws to operate as a guide. A guide is a protected occupation in Thailand that foreigners cannot work in.

 

They said they met on Saturday to petition the government to take action against the illegal guides, citing although their multiple complaints in the past about this issue have not been heard, they still want justice to be served.

 

Mr. Paisarn Suethanuwong, chairman of the Professional Guide Association of Thailand stated that after the government announced the re-opening of the country to foreign tourists on October 1, 2022, the number of tourists entering Thailand has increased significantly. However, the number of jobs available for Thai tour guides has not kept pace with this growth. A large portion of the jobs have gone to foreign entrepreneurs who have entered the country and acted as guides without proper licensing, he said.

 

Full story: https://thephuketexpress.com/2023/03/19/thai-tour-guides-unite-to-address-issue-of-illegal-foreign-guides/

 

-- © Copyright The Phuket Express 2023-03-20

 

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[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

A group of Chinese-speaking tour guides convened on Saturday, March 18th, to discuss the trouble caused by illegal guides who are stealing their jobs. The group complained they are being overlooked by the government as their complaints, so far, have not been heard.

Agreed, can't have any competition or foreigners doing Thai jobs.

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

citing although their multiple complaints in the past about this issue have not been heard, they still want justice to be served.

Pay more !

[SABloke]

If I bring my family over and show them around (13 people), am I techincally acting as a guide? So am I breaking the law? Maybe Thailand should reassess whether "Tour Guide" should be a protected job, as there seem to be too many grey areas surrounding the issue. 

[zzaa09]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Agreed, can't have any competition or foreigners doing Thai jobs.

No. Wouldn't want that.

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Agreed, can't have any competition or foreigners doing Thai jobs.

Especially when they are far better at it!

[JayBird]

2 hours ago, SABloke said:

If I bring my family over and show them around (13 people), am I techincally acting as a guide? So am I breaking the law? Maybe Thailand should reassess whether "Tour Guide" should be a protected job, as there seem to be too many grey areas surrounding the issue. 

Are you getting compensated?  Are you doing this on a frequent (daily basis all year)?

 

If not, you're not a guide.

 

The legit guides have to go through a process (and learn a language) to do their jobs.  The non legit guides get to bypass all that and earn a non traceable amount of money.

 

This issue should be addressed.

[Operator2002]

How can Thai guides be the guides for example for Russian groups if not speaking Russing language?Impossible. If only to serve as a "support" guide paired with Russian speaking guide. 

[mikebell]

There's just not enough Thais who have learned a foreign language in school because there are not enough foreign language teachers of any merit.

[zoltannyc]

On 3/20/2023 at 8:25 AM, JayBird said:

Are you getting compensated?  Are you doing this on a frequent (daily basis all year)?

 

If not, you're not a guide.

 

The legit guides have to go through a process (and learn a language) to do their jobs.  The non legit guides get to bypass all that and earn a non traceable amount of money.

 

This issue should be addressed.

Nono. The term “work” in Thai law is defined very broadly, covering both physical and mental activities, whether or not for wages or other form of compensation and encompass a variety of activities, such as driving a car, being a laborer or cutting hair or applying makeup. The interpretation of whether a particular activity qualifies as a "job or work" ultimately rests with the authorities. Cutting your own hair, preparing your own tax, changing a light bulb, renting and driving a car all could be interpreted as stealing local jobs. 

[BangkokReady]

On 3/20/2023 at 4:05 AM, hotchilli said:

Agreed, can't have any competition or foreigners doing Thai jobs.

Indeed.  If there's one thing we need to remember as Thailand moves towards being an open and progressive democracy, it's to keep them dirty, stinking foreigners where they belong, under the feet of the pure and good Thais.

[hotchilli]

Got it on the head of the nail right there.

Come to Thailand, set up your company, invest your millions, teach us everything, give us your technology, share your patents.

Then goodbye.

 

[madmitch]

Funny how all the same stories from pre-covid are cropping up again!

[Salerno]

Funny how all the bitching and whining on here never stopped 

[Menken]

This is a <deleted> deal for the Thais. Scores, legions of Thais are fluent in Mandarin and perhaps even a few dialects.

[Menken]

7 hours ago, mikebell said:

There's just not enough Thais who have learned a foreign language in school because there are not enough foreign language teachers of any merit.

Not true.

 

These jobs are for working class Thai Chinese. They probably use family, friends as much as possible. I'm speaking of the tour company not the Chinese company in China or any agragator

 

The ones that learn Chinese in good BKK public schools will be doing far more impressive things than tour guide for zero dollar tourists.

 

A student grad from top 5 HS into top 5 uni is looking at luxury hotels, restaurants and work abroad.

 

Every year I'd say a few of my students are HSK5, many hit 3-4 and every other year a 6. All those 4+ probably come from Thai-Chinese homes where the language gave them a head start early.

 

HSK3 pretty strong Chinese.

 

HSK6 = free ride at Bejing University

Edited March 21, 2023 by Menken

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, mikebell said:

There's just not enough Thais who have learned a foreign language in school because there are not enough foreign language teachers of any merit.

Well I have found it a rare thing to talk with fluent Thai English speakers (in my area... I expect BKK would be much better) so I might expect the ability in Chinese or Russian to be limited. Although they could  be good if originating from mixed marriage families. Met a GGG whose English was absolutely perfect once, Thai mother, English father who was committed to giving her language abilities. Being a GGG was obviously more attractive than being a tourist guide.