Furious tour guides rally at Phuket cop shop after fight over jobs

[MMarlow]

Wasn't Thailand colonised by the Chinese?

No.

[MMarlow]

Wasn't Thailand colonised by the Chinese?

That's exactly the kind of Thai History that the local guides don't want anybody to know about.

That's because it didn't happen.

[MMarlow]

Wasn't Thailand colonised by the Chinese?

It still is but they gave them Thai citizenship.

There's a difference between colonisation and immigration.

[david555]

i wonder what they go do when asean is starting...... and the good English speaking neigbours comes in.....

[bander]

Wasn't Thailand colonised by the Chinese?

Invaded by Chinese immigrants and refugees is more likely

[Roel]

It is obvious that the Chinese Thais are running the show here. Owning most of the wealth, running the successful businesses and holding high key positions everywhere. Semantically speaking maybe Thailand was never 'colonized' but the Thais also lost control over their own country.

[jacko45k]

Shoddy reporting. There's no such thing as "Chinese-speaking". There's "Mandarin-speaking", "Cantonese-speaking", "Hokkien-speaking" &c., &c.. Most Thai-Chinese originated in Teochew so are "Teochew-speaking". What languages does the illegal guide speak? Is it just possible he was covering a language that the local guides don't?

Does it matter what language he speaks?

[kinmaew]

What a xenophobic petty attitude. How many millions of Thais abroad are owning property 100% and working "Taking jobs", they make it up as they go, primitive narrow minded society.

[Blindside]

I think both sides of the colonization "debate" have a valid point.

If you define colonization as a deliberate action calculated to make a country a de facto part of the colonizer nation then Thailand has not been colonized as such. Northern Ireland, America, Nepal, much of South America and so forth are good case studies for this.

One of the strategies for colonization is integration and control of the economy in a rather calculated way. Again this is not really the case from what I can see.

Having said that, it is very clear that the Chinese community and descendants, now integrated, either naturalized or born Thais clearly have the upper hand in politics and the economy. I think this is where many on this forum feel that this "colonization" has occurred.

[webfact]

Chinese hires rile Phuket tour guides
Salinee Prab
The Nation, Phuket

Scuffle erupts as chinesespeaking thais protest hiring of unlicensed foreigners

PHUKET: -- SOME 100 CHINESE-SPEAKING Thai tour guides rallied in downtown Phuket yesterday demanding a crackdown on unlicensed Chinese guides who are reportedly stealing their jobs.

The group rallied in front of a tour company at the Phun Phol Night Plaza at 10am and carried placards with messages including "Thais have no job because foreign tour guides took away their jobs" and "Thai children would starve to death when foreigners run the city".

The group, led by Nonphuree Pattarakhunakorn, protested against some tour companies hiring the unlicensed Chinese guides and against Chinese tourists who took on jobs as unlicensed guides. The group also claimed many unlicensed guides acted like thugs and had fistfights with Thai guides. About 10 police were present to keep peace and order.

Nonphuree said they wanted the company to stop hiring illegal guides and submit them to legal action, as the problem had caused many licensed Chinese-speaking Thai tour guides to be unemployed.

A company executive came to receive the group's complaint, which also included concern over the foreign guides feeding misinformation about culture to tourists and about the company's recruiting policy.

Earlier on Monday, the issue caused scuffles to break out in front of Wichit police station, between Chinese-speaking Thai tour guides and Chinese nationals whom they accused of taking their jobs, the Phuket Gazette reported.

Some 100 Thai guides gathered at the station in support of Suraphol Saelub, 24; Somchai Saetung, 39; and Ja Saema, also 39, who face charges of attacking Chinese national Ta Leng, 34, who reportedly worked for the tour company. The fight allegedly took place in a restaurant near Wat Nakaram on Sunday. Wichit Police Superintendent Chawalit Phetsipear told the Phuket Gazette that Leng filed a complaint that he was attacked by six Thai tour guides.

Police invited Leng and three men he accused to the station on Monday for questioning. Tempers boiled over as Leng and his colleagues left after the meeting - the angry guides accusing Leng of working as an illegal guide and questioned the ethics of his employer.

"Illegal guides are a serious problem affecting us. Working as a guide is a job reserved [by law] for Thais, but many tour companies hire Chinese nationals as guides," Chaifu Saelee, a 43-year-old Chinese-speaking tour guide, told the Phuket Gazette.

"They are taking our jobs and we are left with no work, so we would like officials to help find a solution to this problem," he said. To bring the issue to the attention of Phuket's top-ranking official once again, tour guides will march from the Clock Tower Circle to the City Hall on Friday to hand a formal complaint to Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut, Chaifu said.


-- The Nation 2014-01-08

[KarenBravo]

Let's face it; if these Thai tour guides were any good at their jobs, the tour companies wouldn't hire other nationals with all the jumping through hoops that that involves.

Seems the Thai guides have something in common with the taxi and tuk-tuk drivers. That the world owes them a living.

[stevenl]

Let's face it; if these Thai tour guides were any good at their jobs, the tour companies wouldn't hire other nationals with all the jumping through hoops that that involves.

Seems the Thai guides have something in common with the taxi and tuk-tuk drivers. That the world owes them a living.

No jumping though hoops at all. Companies prefer to hire their own landsmen for several reasons: the guests prefer it over a Thai, the company will make them dependent since they are working illegally, they are cheaper than any Thai since they are working illegally, quite often they are sleeping on the premises so always available, will work 24/7 if necessary, any commissions earned will go to the company in stead of the guide, etc.

[harrry]

Let's face it; if these Thai tour guides were any good at their jobs, the tour companies wouldn't hire other nationals with all the jumping through hoops that that involves.

Seems the Thai guides have something in common with the taxi and tuk-tuk drivers. That the world owes them a living.

No jumping though hoops at all. Companies prefer to hire their own landsmen for several reasons: the guests prefer it over a Thai, the company will make them dependent since they are working illegally, they are cheaper than any Thai since they are working illegally, quite often they are sleeping on the premises so always available, will work 24/7 if necessary, any commissions earned will go to the company in stead of the guide, etc.

Note the first reason you give. Surely this is why.

[seajae]

These 800 licensed Chinese speaking guides, how good would their Mandarin be?

Probably very - I have 2 staff that are fluent, they are on minimum salary & can barely speak English. One can even 'get by' in Hokkien

hokkien, I thought that was a kind of noodle

[stevenl]

Let's face it; if these Thai tour guides were any good at their jobs, the tour companies wouldn't hire other nationals with all the jumping through hoops that that involves.

Seems the Thai guides have something in common with the taxi and tuk-tuk drivers. That the world owes them a living.

No jumping though hoops at all. Companies prefer to hire their own landsmen for several reasons: the guests prefer it over a Thai, the company will make them dependent since they are working illegally, they are cheaper than any Thai since they are working illegally, quite often they are sleeping on the premises so always available, will work 24/7 if necessary, any commissions earned will go to the company in stead of the guide, etc.

Note the first reason you give. Surely this is why.

That is just one of the reasons, which is why I mentioned it together with the other reasons. The main difference is that the companies can meet that reason legally, the others they can't. Which is why all these guides are working illegally.

So obviously the other reasons are important to the employers.

[stevenl]

These 800 licensed Chinese speaking guides, how good would their Mandarin be?

Probably very - I have 2 staff that are fluent, they are on minimum salary & can barely speak English. One can even 'get by' in Hokkien

hokkien, I thought that was a kind of noodle

It is, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien_mee

[KarenBravo]

That is just one of the reasons, which is why I mentioned it together with the other reasons. The main difference is that the companies can meet that reason legally, the others they can't. Which is why all these guides are working illegally.

So obviously the other reasons are important to the employers.

If you read the article, all the Chinese nationals had work permits as translators. They were not illegal.

If they were, they would already be in IDC.

[AyG]

That is just one of the reasons, which is why I mentioned it together with the other reasons. The main difference is that the companies can meet that reason legally, the others they can't. Which is why all these guides are working illegally.

So obviously the other reasons are important to the employers.

If you read the article, all the Chinese nationals had work permits as translators. They were not illegal.

If they were, they would already be in IDC.

They weren't working as translators - they were working as tour guides, which is illegal.

And they're not in IDC because Immigration police weren't involved in the matter.

[stevenl]

That is just one of the reasons, which is why I mentioned it together with the other reasons. The main difference is that the companies can meet that reason legally, the others they can't. Which is why all these guides are working illegally.

So obviously the other reasons are important to the employers.

If you read the article, all the Chinese nationals had work permits as translators. They were not illegal.

If they were, they would already be in IDC.

For sure they have many more hired illegally, and some for good measure legally in order to make things look good.

I see exactly what is happening with these companies every day, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, they are all doing the same.

[dukebowling]

They tuuk our jobs!!!!