Belgian man arrested for working as tour guide

[luk AJ]

But, then again, you're not Belgian, mr. NativeSon 30, so how could you possibly have an opinion on this? It's meant as a joke and fits beatifully in long love and friendly banter that goes on between the people of our great nations.

But maybe it's just me, a Belgian loving Dutchman (like the majority of the Dutch)

And your Bullie "argumentative" point is.....? Huh? duh!

just to come to the rescue for Bullie. I am Belgian and he indeed refers to jokes between Belgians and Dutch which are sometimes very funny even more so when the Durch is the target in the joke . So no offence.

[andersonat]

I wonder if I'm the only person here who knows LOTS of Dutch people who cannot understand English, and who would not want to have an English-speaking Tour-Guide.

[Foexie]

Uhm that's a real Belgian name he have

[MilesofSmiles]

The Thais, they're not that daft or silly. They're not going to let a load of foreigners enter their country and take-over.

Because compared to any competition, they're deficient.

[duanebigsby]

In Amsterdam, my home town we often see busloads of tourists. ALL asian tourists (yes, including Thais) bring their own tourguide, usually waving a little flag to keep the herd together. Even though there are Thai Dutchman that could easily do the job. So, if the Thai can "steal" jobs from us Farang, should not we be allowed to do the same especially because it makes sense to be adressed by someone in your own langage, rather than a Thai tourguide without proper english qualifications who has unintelligible english at the best of times.

(Rant out)

As they say: you can not have the cake (tourists) and eat it (Thailand exclusively for the Thai). Time to wake up, here

Google work permit for Holland. Thais need one!

[StasD]

i hope 10 years in a jail would be enough for him

[Alwyn]

Another 'innocent' person arrested?

You asked about it twice, I'll answer you once.

Yes, in my eyes he is innocent.

I don't give a damn about work permits and requirements.

He was offering a service that the Thais could not offer as none of them could probably speak Dutch.

Many of you will condemn me for what I said but this is my opinion.

He didn't commit a crime he just wanted to make a living.

He who is without sin can cast the first stone now....................

It's nice to meet the real Costas! Totally agree with you.

[96tehtarp]

He should have know better than to do what he did, with a megaphone.

[gandalf12]

In this case it seems ridiculous but the law is the law no matter how ridiculous we think it is

[MobileContent]

We offer excursions and package tours to Chiang Rai in English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese and Italian.

We do not offer any Dutch guide because we might only get a few hundred clients a month but prefer German, French etc which guarantees as at least 3000-5000 excursions or package tours a month.

All those rubbish that the tour operators are unable to provide tour guides in Dutch language is rubbish. I know several tour operators in Thailand that have Dutch speaking Thai guides.

[96tehtarp]

In this case it seems ridiculous but the law is the law no matter how ridiculous we think it is

It is ridiculous, however there is an easy workaround. Hire a Thai tour guide, then lead the group yourself and bring along the token tour guide. Thai tour guides can be found quite cheaply.

[wabothai]

Nothing wrong with translating. he apparently is not a tourguide.

He DID NOT break the law. A simple case of farang bashing.

Fine the man 500 baht and go on catch your own corrupt bunch and fine traffic violaters.

You holier than the pope policemen make me sick!

[Traveller45]

Some more elements would be needed to form an opinion. Apparently, "Tourist Guide" is a protected profession and you need to have a license and a permit. Fine. Now imagine this, a group of friends arriving from country XYZ and amongst them there is one guy who has travelled Thailand extensively and knows a lot. Or maybe that guy is already here and they know him from before. He starts explaining things and leads the group. Is he a "Tourist Guide"? Under normal circumstances, viz in countries with a functioning rule of law, he would start being a professional tourist guide (and thus need to have a license) only if he does this guide business regularly, with all sorts of people, as a steady source of income. This would need to be established first before they could arrest him.

[Pithaya]

Being a Tour leader or Tour guide is something totally different. Tour leader is a occupation which is protected by international law. You can take a tourist group for example to Thailand, you accommodate them to hotels, you travel with them to places included in the program, you keep eye on them to nothing happen seriously and that is it.

Tour leader can't guiding. This is part which takes tour guide. Of course the law says if there is nobody who speaks in the language of your group Tour leader can guide but in some places include Thailand this is forbidden. That is why when i come with people to Thailand i always get my little Thai guide from any agency. He or she walks with me and my group. Sometimes they speak sometimes not. They are just my protection if something happens like that story with this Dutch guy. At the end of the day they are happy you give them some bhat directly to hand

[wabothai]

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There tens of thousands of fluent dutch and french speaking Thais and he is stealing their job.

Tens of thousands? Go take a hike !

[TechnikaIII]

"He said he was paying Bt1,000 to B1,300 a day." he paid them to lead them ???

No one can properly write these articles. Your guess is as good as anyone's.

Something I frequently did in Norway was offer final proof reading for blocks of text in tourist brochures. I did it for the pleasure of it, and it also help me with my Scandinavian language studies. If one were to do the same in Thailand, ....

[Jim walker]

The law is the law regardless what our opinions are and we will never change it because this is Thailand for the Thais only sorry the rest can all go home we don't need you.

[wabothai]

Moreover do they have prove of him receiving moneys? I am sure not.

[joesanunu]

Sounds to me he paid to be on the tour and the guide asked him to translate. No?

[FredNL]

Since when can you get a "90-day tourist visa stamp"?

[Bernard Flint]

The law is the law regardless what our opinions are and we will never change it because this is Thailand for the Thais only sorry the rest can all go home we don't need you.

SIR

I wish other countries would learn from thais, thais come first for business,land etc, of course they do, and so they should..

[MobileContent]

Another 'innocent' person arrested?

You asked about it twice, I'll answer you once.

Yes, in my eyes he is innocent.

I don't give a damn about work permits and requirements.

He was offering a service that the Thais could not offer as none of them could probably speak Dutch.

Many of you will condemn me for what I said but this is my opinion.

He didn't commit a crime he just wanted to make a living.

He who is without sin can cast the first stone now....................

Costas - At times you really surprise me.

I am seeing you daily rimming the back of the dear General but now you actually support illegal farang workers in Thailand. For Buddha's sake he was on a tourist visa and got court red handed.

You keep talking about this law breaking red shirts but with the farangs you actually support illegal activities.

[jdinasia]

Nothing wrong with translating. he apparently is not a tourguide.

He DID NOT break the law. A simple case of farang bashing.

Fine the man 500 baht and go on catch your own corrupt bunch and fine traffic violaters.

You holier than the pope policemen make me sick!

Incorrect. Working without a work permit is a clear violation of the law. Assuming you have a visa it will clearly state you cannot work.

[MobileContent]

Sounds to me he paid to be on the tour and the guide asked him to translate. No?

That.s the official version.

I know a French guy who runs tours in Thailand illegally as a guide and he is actually part of the tour but translates.

I keep telling him it is illegal but he says no problem.

[chrisinth]

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Sounds to me he paid to be on the tour and the guide asked him to translate. No?

If i was the guy in question, that would indeed be the line of my explanation to the police.

Certainly not telling them i was being paid for it let alone how much.

If none of the tour group could speak English and truly needed a translator/guide, then let the police question them using the Thai guides knowledge of the Dutch/Flemish language to verify the story...........

[LukiLab]

Oh another European caught working illegal in Thailand. So, next time when I will be seating in Frankfurt Lufthansa Senator lounge i will call immigration police for those all Thai's working in the lounge and whole airport illegally.

[jaapfries]

"He said he was paying Bt1,000 to B1,300 a day." he paid them to lead them ???

No one can properly write these articles. Your guess is as good as anyone's.

Well; it clearly stated that he was a Belgian chap: the Belgians are "the-Irish-of-the-Continent" - didn't you know ? ? ?

[samuibruno]

clearly working without a work permit

as cant be a tour guide anyway

if he was a translator it would have said thats his occupation on his work permit

send him home

[gandalf12]

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In this case it seems ridiculous but the law is the law no matter how ridiculous we think it is

It is ridiculous, however there is an easy workaround. Hire a Thai tour guide, then lead the group yourself and bring along the token tour guide. Thai tour guides can be found quite cheaply.

The fact that you would be leading it could be construed that you are working without a permit.

One situation that puzzles me is what do you do if you are visiting Thailand for your company to say interview candidates. Is this subject to a WP?

[VIPinthailand]

problem in most countries employers want you to work illegally. working is moral, everybody has the right to work.

who is guilty? the company. they should have applied for a work permit for him.

I bet the company will say they don't know him...

problem people need to make some money to buy food and survive. for Pete sake, is it to hard to understand? people need money.... not everybody is 65 and wait for a fat cheque from their nanny government.