Illegal Foreign Tour Guides Bypass Thai Law with Bribes

[cynic1]

4 hours ago, Emdog said:

"..dodging the rules and bribing officials." 

Isn't that standard operating procedure here?

Instead of blaming Foreign guides every time this type of incident occurs. How about focusing on the authorities who should arrest them rather than taking a bribe? As Peter Sellers -Inspector Clouseau once said,"case solved" In short it's not the foreigners. it's your corrupt immigration and police authorities that are causing the problem

[wensiensheng]

no mention of action against the officials accepting the bribes?

[dallen52]

A tradition dating back to Greek times.

Nothing new here...lol.

 

In Greek, "fakelaki" (φακελάκι) literally means "little envelope". However, it's also a term used in Greek popular culture to describe the practice of offering bribes, often in small envelopes of cash, to expedite services or secure favors.

[BusyB]

20 minutes ago, Andyfez said:

Perhaps this article should be more focused on the officers taking the bribes?

 

That is also a protected profession. Protected especially by the chain of command.

[madmitch]

It really is about time they changed the law on this. Allow work permits for foreign guides who speak certain languages with the condition they work with a Thai guide, for example. Thai gets paid for not doing much, your group gets a guide that they understand, and that understands them! 

 

 

 

 

[wensiensheng]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Well I guess it comes as no surprise to most of us that the officials can be bribed here, so where does the responsibility fall? On tour guides who simply take advantage of the system or on corrupt Thai officials who will do anything for money? 

 

The other thing that comes to mind is just how many Thais are fluent in Russian or Azerbaijani or Hungarian? 

Let’s face it, none of them are fluent in English. Most speak heavily accented passable English

[thongplay]

But foreign tourists want Guides who can speak their language. How many Thai Guides can speak Chinese, Russian or Korean, for example?

 

Most Thai Guides can't do this job.

 

This is protectionism gone mad.

[khunjeff]

Not mentioned in the article: 

 

- Cracking down on officials who accept bribes

 

- Arresting the Thais who take money to put their names on the papers of the nominee companies

 

- Developing foreign language skills in the tourism industry so that foreign guides would no longer be needed

 

No, instead the "solution" is...cut the visa exemption period to 30 days? Inconveniencing millions of tourists to punish a few dozen illegal guides?

[Easterneye]

Which makes the whole place an ongoing joke

[Andytheburiramman]

4 hours ago, connda said:

Ya don't say?  Have ya ever thought that the officials being bribed might get their bribers the necessary visas for a price? 

According to Thai authorities there's about 25,000 Indian and Russian student Muay Thai fighters in Pattaya, so hey ho with trying to clamp down on visa violations 😄

[norsurin]

Billions of baht lost.When will u give Putin a big house and a pool villa?

[NativeBob]

As I heard from a pimp in PTT there are a bunch of LB who speak decent Hungarian and even can dance "chardash" during "private dance" session. Also, quite many are able to speak RU due to amazing curiosity on tourists from over there.

 

My guess the prohibition on foreign guides lays in different place. It is about keeping cultural heritage of Thai history with Thai people, not some uneducated commission-greedy farangs telling anecdotes to dumb tourists 😉

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Illegal foreign tour guides are shaking up Thailand's tourism industry by dodging the rules and bribing officials.

Easy solution, sack the officials

[Captor]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

FILE photo for reference only. Courtesy of Thai Rath

 

Illegal foreign tour guides are shaking up Thailand's tourism industry by dodging the rules and bribing officials. The Professional Tourist Guides Association of Thailand has raised red flags about this persistent issue affecting top tourist spots.

 

With a focus on places like Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Phuket, these foreign guides, many from China, Russia, India, and Vietnam, are operating under the radar by paying off officers regularly to continue their businesses.

 

These illegal workers often exploit visa regulations, entering on 60-day visa exemptions or other visas like student or long-stay visas, to sell packages online and via social media.

 

More worrying is the revelation that about half of Thailand’s inbound tour companies are nominee businesses controlled by foreigners, who employ tour guides of their nationality to specifically cater to tourists from their homelands.

 

 

 

Despite crackdowns, many foreign guides remain active, using bribes as insurance against the law.

 

The Association suggests shortening the visa-free period from 60 to 30 days might mitigate the issue, by forcing frequent re-entries, which may cut down on illegal work.

 

Authorities are urged to bolster law enforcement to curb the unlawful operations that tarnish the sector.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Department's constant monitoring targets connections between foreign guides and nominee businesses.

 

Offending companies face blacklisting and potential deportation. Efforts are being made to clamp down on these illegal practices, aiming for a cleaner and fairer tourism landscape for Thailand.

 

Based on a story by Bangkok Post

 

-- 2025-04-17

 

 

And what is done against the Thai officials that accepts the bribes?

[Watawattana]

No problem with the OP of course, but surely someone NOT taking a bribe would be more newsworthy? 😜

[rough diamond]

10 minutes ago, Captor said:

And what is done against the Thai officials that accepts the bribes?

Nothing because they pay a bribe to the Thai officials that are investigating them!

[Captor]

6 minutes ago, rough diamond said:

Nothing because they pay a bribe to the Thai officials that are investigating them!

Right!

[portisaacozzy]

5 hours ago, connda said:

Ya don't say?  Have ya ever thought that the officials being bribed might get their bribers the necessary visas for a price? 

wow! great for tourist ???????

[OldmanJ]

My question is "If this guide service is illegal why doesn't the government do anything about it or is it  no one wants to"

[Artisi]

3 hours ago, damo1967 said:

what a useless reply.. by a useless m0r0n!

Well it showed more intelligence than your response - which in truth didn't require too much effort by the poster. 

[digger70]

Illegal Foreign Tour Guides Bypass Thai Law with Bribes.

 

They know what's going on and people know that one can buy just about anything here in Los.

It's the same as everything else. 

Get the Law  of their fat @rses and go arrest the illegal ones  they know where/who  they are .

No good complaining about it  Do your jobs.

 

[Alexjkr]

Official tour guides have a guide id. I assume part if the bribe is to give the illegal guide an id. The guide then get free entry  to tourist sites. How about the tourists sites looking at the tourist guide id and the Thai id card. Or are the tourist sites in on this as well. Seems to be Thailand is doing what Thailand does best and is protecting the officials taking the bribes.

 

 

[ikke1959]

Unfortunately the Thai people are unable to guide as many guides only speak Thai and sometimes some English understandable or not.... Other languages are not possible to guide, so how on earth can you attrack tourist from foreign countries without proper guides. Guiding is a protected profession by Thai law only for Thais, and foreign guides only are allowed to do administration work... No wonder that bribes are given as tourists want professional guides in their language that can explain things and they ask questions to. But the conservative and outdated laws of Thailand prevent every step forward  and on the other hand TAT is wondering why less and less tourist are coming... Maybe start with updating laws and welcoming people who want to work here ... labour protection is not needed anymore. Who wants to work can work and if the netizens are too lazy to study or do a job they just miss their chance... 

[Ironmike]

Maybe what is really needed is certified translators with work permits, then the thais working in this industry can make money and the companies can pay extra for the translation services of people willing to do the right and legal thing. So want if the tour prices have to go up, this is Thailand and if you don't speak their language well look out the window. 

[Bundooman]

9 hours ago, blaze master said:

Bribes in Thailand....Jing lor.

'Jing lor'? = Really? 

Doesn't it?

Otherwise, it would be useful to teach us Transliteration correctly.

Yes?

[Phil1964]

Oh there's a surprise. Thai officialdom taking bribes instead of coming up with proper processes and diligence in vetting companies. 

[Phil1964]

Oh there's a surprise. Thai officialdom taking bribes instead of coming up with proper processes and diligence in vetting companies. 

[MangoKorat]

I'm not referring to the ones selling 'packages' whilst they are in Thailand  but the law on tour guides is stupid.

 

People from other countries feel much more comfortable with someone who speaks their language as a native. Don't they realise that foreign companies actually bring tourists to Thailand - if having a foreign guide encourages that, what's the problem? Tourists actually create jobs!

 

I'd also like to hear what the Professional Tourist Guide Association has to say about the thousands of unlicenced Thai tour guides and companies. Guides are required to undertake formal training and sit an exam in order to obtain a licence which needs renewing after 5 years. Tour companies also need to be licenced and lodge a security deposit with the TAT.

 

I wonder how many Thai guides and companies comply with these requirements - I know of several that don't.

[ujayujay]

Isn´t it not more the problem of corruptible Thai Officials?.....Being corruptible is obviously reserved for Thais

[ujayujay]

7 hours ago, jaywalker said:

If I were caught over staying I'd be on the next plane back to the USA, afetr a week or 3 in a Thai jail.

Greetings from Florida. Ron Desantis will KICK your illegal tail off to ...someplace "else".

 

Married to a Thai lady 24 years ago. 19 year old daughter with two passports.

 

If Thai Immigration cops catch me on an expired visa? Guess what happens? I go to jail and get deported.

 

Rocket science....Oh wait...Katy Perry (whoever that thin lipped gal is?) and Botox Betty Lauren Sanchez just told us all about rockets.

 

Immigration laws are LAWS.

 

Do you drink your beer conventionally or do you inject it directly into the vein