Phuket tourism boss finally vows to deport illegal Chinese tour guides

[Traveling Sailor]

"Mr Santi said his office will now move to deport any persons working illegally as tour guides"

In terms of enforcing the Tourism Act 2008 I beileve the only move Santi can take is to gather information and make a complaint with the appropriate government department such as Minister of Commerce and Immigration. So essentially he's grandstanding.

Pretty much standard for a Thai official, isn't it?

[mango66]

Any Chinese i have encountered, do have a basic knowledge of english, more so than a ''Thai''

thats perfect !

Than we can use english speaking tour guides if Chinese can understand english ;

First they have to learn how to use an developed TOILETT !!

[hawksway]

They should, but will not deport these Guides, fearing some retaliation from the Dragon.

More likely, in the true Thai style, the Guides will be transferred to inactive positions, in another part of Thailand.

[Ulic]

For 35 years I coached regional ski teams in Canada that trained around the world. Australia,

New Zealand, South America, the USA and Europe. As long as I was hired and paid from

outside the country, and brought my own team to the country we were training in,

there was no problem. We spent a lot of money, on hotels, lift tickets, van rentals, restaurants,

etc, etc, I personally don't see a problem with the Chinese or Russian tour guides. The numbers

are miniscule in the tourism big picture. Personally I think the real complaint by the guides is not

the job loss and salary that comes with it per say, but the 20% - 30% kickbacks they get from the

sites they visit and merchandise tourists buy. From the tourist trinkets to the gem shops this is

where the big money is not the guides salary.

[useronthenet]

Double standards - Any Thais reading this? If so, please explain why Thais, when working in whatever job they feel like in foreign countries like mine where I know Thais working in Accounting, Engineering, Nanny, Restaurant and Land Owner (100% in their name), shops etc all very conveniently (And they like to keep quiet about this too I have noticed not comparing the same situation to foreigners in Thailand), that no-one really gives a rats about this and accepts all to do whatever they like which is the hallmark of civilized countries. Tell me why Thais are different when in country everyone else is treated like an alien and its a permanent promotion of "Give a Thai a job week" at all costs? At the same time, they have been lied to into believing "Keeping foreigners out is better" but majority live in abject poverty, living hand to mouth without any social welfare? Tell me how is this better say compared to civilized countries where everyone is given "A fair go" - I know the answer to this already, its because of the evil empire that runs your country who take all the icing on the cake for themselves and fooling the people (Especially the poor and uneducated) into believing "This way, is the only way, and the best way" - Tell me I'm wrong?

Thailand is just protecting it's citizens from being taken over by foreigners. Unlike the west, the restrictions keep Thailand firmly in control of Thai hands, and no other. If so-called civilised countries are stupid enough to let foreigners have the same rights as the locals, then they must bear this burden. Sounds like your a bit jealous of how Thailand is actively racist towards 'Aliens' (non-Thais). This has not been a secret, and it's firmly written in the legislation. Accept it, or move on.

[cookee68]

Fairly reasonable if you ask me. A tour guide should be a local who knows the local lingo and regulations, not some foreigner stealing jobs from the locals.

I highly doubt a Thai tour guide could find work in China, and the Chinese authorities wouldn't be happy if that were found out to be the case, so quite obviously Chinese shouldn't be able to get away with it in Thailand. Besides, Chinese tour guides can't speak Thai anyway (or if they can, very bad, highly accented Thai that is worse than most "farang" bar stool Thai) so they are of dubious value when interacting with locals anyway.

There are thousands of Thais studying Chinese in China. Many of them return home to Thailand to work as Chinese language tour guides. Their Chinese is reasonably good and they are entitled to have preference when it comes to this kind of work upon returning home.

should not be some foreigner stealing jobs from the locals, i guess you don't visit the UK or USA much, i wish that could be the same there

[alant]

Double standards - Any Thais reading this? If so, please explain why Thais, when working in whatever job they feel like in foreign countries like mine where I know Thais working in Accounting, Engineering, Nanny, Restaurant and Land Owner (100% in their name), shops etc all very conveniently (And they like to keep quiet about this too I have noticed not comparing the same situation to foreigners in Thailand), that no-one really gives a rats about this and accepts all to do whatever they like which is the hallmark of civilized countries. Tell me why Thais are different when in country everyone else is treated like an alien and its a permanent promotion of "Give a Thai a job week" at all costs? At the same time, they have been lied to into believing "Keeping foreigners out is better" but majority live in abject poverty, living hand to mouth without any social welfare? Tell me how is this better say compared to civilized countries where everyone is given "A fair go" - I know the answer to this already, its because of the evil empire that runs your country who take all the icing on the cake for themselves and fooling the people (Especially the poor and uneducated) into believing "This way, is the only way, and the best way" - Tell me I'm wrong?

You may be right, you may be wrong but as soon as I read "evil empire" I cracked up

[spidermike007]

Double standards - Any Thais reading this? If so, please explain why Thais, when working in whatever job they feel like in foreign countries like mine where I know Thais working in Accounting, Engineering, Nanny, Restaurant and Land Owner (100% in their name), shops etc all very conveniently (And they like to keep quiet about this too I have noticed not comparing the same situation to foreigners in Thailand), that no-one really gives a rats about this and accepts all to do whatever they like which is the hallmark of civilized countries. Tell me why Thais are different when in country everyone else is treated like an alien and its a permanent promotion of "Give a Thai a job week" at all costs? At the same time, they have been lied to into believing "Keeping foreigners out is better" but majority live in abject poverty, living hand to mouth without any social welfare? Tell me how is this better say compared to civilized countries where everyone is given "A fair go" - I know the answer to this already, its because of the evil empire that runs your country who take all the icing on the cake for themselves and fooling the people (Especially the poor and uneducated) into believing "This way, is the only way, and the best way" - Tell me I'm wrong?

Some of that, combined with an absolute abhorrence of merit. It is not about who speaks the best Mandarin, or Russian, or who knows the area best. It is about nationality. Pure and simple. Same with the appointment of ministers. Not about merit. Not about talent. Not about qualifications. It is about who they know, what their name is, who their family is, and if they helped with the campaign. A country that is not afraid of it's own shadow, and is secure in who they are, welcomes foreign employees, with open arms, if they bring the right qualifications to the table, as it makes that country better, and stronger, and more prosperous, to have the talent and make sure the jobs are done well. And very, very few jobs are being taken away from the locals, as few of the locals have the talent to do these specialized jobs, to begin with. Sometimes, a local leader has to be able to stand up to the few, in order to benefit the many.

This same thing is becoming a huge issue in the US. The people with the talent (legal immigrants) cannot get visas, due to an antiquated, and dysfunctional immigration policy, which sets tiny quotas for many job categories. So, the nuclear physicists, the neurosurgeons, the scientists, the engineers, and the rocket scientists are being turned away. How well does that bode for the future of a country, when the primary immigrants are landscapers, dishwashers, and migrant workers picking fruits and vegetables? There is a possibility within 20 or 30 years, the US will be a country of dishwashers, and Thailand will be the 80th largest economy in the world, having slipped from 28th currently.

[Bakseeda]

Any Chinese i have encountered, do have a basic knowledge of english, more so than a ''Thai''

Wrong RtB..... I have been to China many times and always have the same guide/translator waiting for me.... You can do nothing or go nowhere in China if you do not have one.. Almost no-one speaks English. From your first taxi, to the first time you eat... not a soul understands you. So I don,t know where you met your Chinese peoples except maybe in your local Chinese take-away... Stop posting for the sake of posting.. please wait until you have something of interest to share..!

[Tomtomtom69]

Double standards - Any Thais reading this? If so, please explain why Thais, when working in whatever job they feel like in foreign countries like mine where I know Thais working in Accounting, Engineering, Nanny, Restaurant and Land Owner (100% in their name), shops etc all very conveniently (And they like to keep quiet about this too I have noticed not comparing the same situation to foreigners in Thailand), that no-one really gives a rats about this and accepts all to do whatever they like which is the hallmark of civilized countries. Tell me why Thais are different when in country everyone else is treated like an alien and its a permanent promotion of "Give a Thai a job week" at all costs? At the same time, they have been lied to into believing "Keeping foreigners out is better" but majority live in abject poverty, living hand to mouth without any social welfare? Tell me how is this better say compared to civilized countries where everyone is given "A fair go" - I know the answer to this already, its because of the evil empire that runs your country who take all the icing on the cake for themselves and fooling the people (Especially the poor and uneducated) into believing "This way, is the only way, and the best way" - Tell me I'm wrong?

Although I agree with you in principle, the reality is that Thais, like most foreigners (especially those from developing countries) are not going to easily find good work abroad. Most end up working in Thai restaurants or Thai massage parlours, the stereotypical Thai abroad occupations. The "farang" equivalent, especially for native English speakers is to work as an English teacher when in Thailand. Indeed you might find the odd Thai engineer in the west, but this is fairly rare due to the difficulties of recognizing education from Thailand and the usually less than good English skills of Thais. Conversely, there are of course also westerners working as engineers in Thailand.

Funnily enough I have met more Thais with better English living in Thailand than in western countries! That might seem a tad bizarre, but that's been my experience. I know a mechanical engineer, got his Master's in engineering management or something in Sydney, became an Aussie citizen but only ever found work as an airport car park attendant at Sydney airport until, in the last 2 years finally got a job working projects in the sugar industry, with frequent travel back to Thailand. This some 7-8 years after graduating from his Master's course. Then his Thai-Australian wife, who already had a good job working for Amazon in Sydney, got a job at Amazon headquarters in Seattle. So he followed her, despite the fact that he would have to give up the only job relevant to his education once there, lest he continue living in Australia/Thailand without her.

It's been like 2? years now and I highly doubt he has found any decent job locally in Seattle, based on what his sister, who works for a major Bangkok university has told me. His English is OK, but he's neither a green card holder nor US citizen, so it's hardly surprising he hasn't found a relevant job by now, especially that he's already like 36 with only 2 years of engineering experience.

Anyway, I digress.

But when it comes to Thai ownership of say Thai restaurants in our home countries - has anyone noticed that in Australia, you never see non-Thais working in Thai restaurants? Why not? What's wrong with having a white, black, other Asian, even Aboriginal waiter/waitress?

Yet in the USA, you can go to a Thai restaurant that may be owned by a Thai (or may be jointly owned/run by an American/Thai couple) where a hispanic/white/black person takes your order, even cooks your food. Besides, if Texas steak restaurants in Thailand can employ "fake Texans", i.e. Thais, then especially in a multi-cultural country like the USA, the employment of non-ethnic Thais in Thai restaurants makes sense and after having been to many Thai restaurants in various parts of the USA, I was glad to see diversity at work. Even in Thai town, Los Angeles, they still employ Mexicans as cleaners even if there's seemingly no shortage of Thai waitstaff.

Why not in Australia though? I mean, my dad's Iranian student tried to get a job at a local Thai restaurant in Sydney and they violated the anti-discrimination act by not giving her a job! They clearly said that she's not Thai! Something is not right about that; Thais getting away with racism and discrimination in the west, but of course, the student could have complained to the anti-discrimination tribunal but as she didn't, nobody knows about this case other than the people she's told, or have retold her story.

However, when it comes to tour guides, personally I think that is one type of profession locals should have exclusivity over, mainly because it involves showcasing their language and culture, and requiring interaction with locals who may not speak English or other languages.

[Tomtomtom69]

Fairly reasonable if you ask me. A tour guide should be a local who knows the local lingo and regulations, not some foreigner stealing jobs from the locals.

I highly doubt a Thai tour guide could find work in China, and the Chinese authorities wouldn't be happy if that were found out to be the case, so quite obviously Chinese shouldn't be able to get away with it in Thailand. Besides, Chinese tour guides can't speak Thai anyway (or if they can, very bad, highly accented Thai that is worse than most "farang" bar stool Thai) so they are of dubious value when interacting with locals anyway.

There are thousands of Thais studying Chinese in China. Many of them return home to Thailand to work as Chinese language tour guides. Their Chinese is reasonably good and they are entitled to have preference when it comes to this kind of work upon returning home.

should not be some foreigner stealing jobs from the locals, i guess you don't visit the UK or USA much, i wish that could be the same there

I used to live in the USA. Haven't been to the UK though, but am very familiar with mainland Europe (France, Germany, Switzerland).

[Tomtomtom69]

Double standards - Any Thais reading this? If so, please explain why Thais, when working in whatever job they feel like in foreign countries like mine where I know Thais working in Accounting, Engineering, Nanny, Restaurant and Land Owner (100% in their name), shops etc all very conveniently (And they like to keep quiet about this too I have noticed not comparing the same situation to foreigners in Thailand), that no-one really gives a rats about this and accepts all to do whatever they like which is the hallmark of civilized countries. Tell me why Thais are different when in country everyone else is treated like an alien and its a permanent promotion of "Give a Thai a job week" at all costs? At the same time, they have been lied to into believing "Keeping foreigners out is better" but majority live in abject poverty, living hand to mouth without any social welfare? Tell me how is this better say compared to civilized countries where everyone is given "A fair go" - I know the answer to this already, its because of the evil empire that runs your country who take all the icing on the cake for themselves and fooling the people (Especially the poor and uneducated) into believing "This way, is the only way, and the best way" - Tell me I'm wrong?

Thailand is just protecting it's citizens from being taken over by foreigners. Unlike the west, the restrictions keep Thailand firmly in control of Thai hands, and no other. If so-called civilised countries are stupid enough to let foreigners have the same rights as the locals, then they must bear this burden. Sounds like your a bit jealous of how Thailand is actively racist towards 'Aliens' (non-Thais). This has not been a secret, and it's firmly written in the legislation. Accept it, or move on.

You've got a point except that Thais do not easily find work in areas other than working in Thai restaurants, Thai massage parlours or other low-skilled work when in the west. However, as I think you are implying, it seems that holding a western passport does not give you that many advantages when in said western country anymore. A foreigner can come in, won't be subject to any dual pricing, can get any job (except where it is necessary to possess the local nationality), they have few or no restrictions on buying property including land, I mean, what can I do with my Australian passport in Australia that a Thai can't do as a temporary visitor? Apart from being eligible for any job, holding parlimentary office, working in defence or government and unrestricted rights to live in Australia permanently, I can't see too many other advantages! Thais can, unfortunately, as far as I know buy property and land and only have to pay a few thousand dollars more than I do for the privilege, but only because of the passage of a new law by the Abbott government that plans to charge $5000 I think it is for foreigners to purchase property. i think there are also a couple of other minor restrictions for foreigners, including being obliged to purchase only new properties or something like that.

But compare that to Aussies living in Thailand - limited work rights, the need to hold a work permit for all work (although there are now certain exceptions for some types of short-term work including attending meetings), no land ownership rights even if a permanent residency visa is being held (have I got this right?) except if an investment of 40 million Baht is made but then only 1 rai or 1600m2 can be owned. Restrictions on setting up businesses, 4-1 Thai-foreigner employment ratio, restrictions on even having access to internet banking unless you hold a work permit (how bizarre!!) even though a tourist can, in most cases open a bank account.

Obviously the Aussie government isn't very smart about allowing all this. I have noticed a small movement amongst Aussies, especially those that know the shenanigans and double standards that Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia and some other countries apply, to ask the Aussie government to prevent foreign land ownership, except under some very specific circumstances.

I'd like to see a tit-for-tat though. The government should apply exactly what a foreign government applies to our citizens, to their citizens. So that means since the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Europe are open for business including for foreigners, no changes need to be made for investments, including land/property purchases citizens of those countries make in Australia. But Thais, Filipinos, Indonesians (apparently), Cambodians etc. should be restricted. Chinese are OK because they can't even own land in their own country and besides, they have a lot of money and a lot of people, we don't want to alienate them. Of course we wouldn't miss the Thais if they stopped investing in our country anyway, their numbers are a drop in the ocean compared to the Chinese, the Americans or even the Japanese.

End of rant.

[Tomtomtom69]

I never by China made its all ways shit...

I also never understand why the Thai brass promote China they are useless and unwanteds

Have a look where do you see these people... Let me tell you Asians with money never travel to Asia... Its just the way it is.. They come here to dig in and see what they can make here..

Wake up and stop talking shit about quality Chinese visitors.. They are NOT

And the Phuket Chief must be a real goose. How is your probe same size as police I suppose

Durrrr.......................

Well, except for Singapore and Japan, two of the few developed countries in Asia. But you're right, why would Asian foreigners with a lot of money come to Thailand when they can afford to go to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Europe etc.?

[thhMan]

It could just be that Tourists, from any country, just dont trust Thai's

I know I dont

After 10 years living here, I dont even think twice about my missus going into a shop before me to enquire about prices and have them confirmed before I walk in

My landlady insisted on taking my car to the panel beaters to get the work done and she took my missus with her and made sure I stayed home, as she plainly said, "Dont trust Thai with westerner"

My missus was buying flowers (same ones from the same shop at 50 THB each)... This time I drove her and while waiting in the car, I decided to wind the window down to ask the missus to get 2 more flowers.
The owner stared at me and then promptly told the missus... 150 THB each.... My missus unloaded the car full of plants (as we hadnt paid yet).... and we went elsewhere

Im sure there must be some commenting back in the home country, travel agents etc, that maight say.. Dont trust Thai people.... I know I tell all my friends who visit,,, and of course they say.. "Yeah, we know"

Thai people have been biting the hand that feeds it as far as tourism goes, for a long time... It starts at the airport, and doesnt finish until the wheels of the plane have left the tarmac as you fly back home...

Edited August 9, 2015 by thhMan

[AlQaholic]

Well that should take care of the unwanted Chinese tourists too....two flies with one smackadoodle!

Edited August 10, 2015 by AlQaholic

[AlQaholic]

It could just be that Tourists, from any country, just dont trust Thai's

I know I dont

After 10 years living here, I dont even think twice about my missus going into a shop before me to enquire about prices and have them confirmed before I walk in

My landlady insisted on taking my car to the panel beaters to get the work done and she took my missus with her and made sure I stayed home, as she plainly said, "Dont trust Thai with westerner"

My missus was buying flowers (same ones from the same shop at 50 THB each)... This time I drove her and while waiting in the car, I decided to wind the window down to ask the missus to get 2 more flowers.

The owner stared at me and then promptly told the missus... 150 THB each.... My missus unloaded the car full of plants (as we hadnt paid yet).... and we went elsewhere

Im sure there must be some commenting back in the home country, travel agents etc, that maight say.. Dont trust Thai people.... I know I tell all my friends who visit,,, and of course they say.. "Yeah, we know"

Thai people have been biting the hand that feeds it as far as tourism goes, for a long time... It starts at the airport, and doesnt finish until the wheels of the plane have left the tarmac as you fly back home...

When my family goes shopping, I have to stay a bit apart from the wife and daughter and pretend not knowing them.......I am banned from making any contact with them or the prices will be double or more so my wife tells me....

Then when I see something I like I secretly signals to my wife and we go elsewhere and hide so I can explain to her what I want, then she will go and buy it while I remain in hiding.

We can never stop and buy anything at the road side, because they will see me in the drivers seat, of course I am thinking of getting window films that are completely black....

If I go shopping myself I will never even consider asking for a price in any shop, I only buy stuff that has a price tag on it.

In a restaurant I always let the missus order, and the waiters who mostly cannot read give us two menus, one in English and one in Thai, not realizing or knowing that the prices in the English menu are about double that of the Thai menu for the same dishes.

And on and on I can go......

Edited August 10, 2015 by AlQaholic

[madmitch]

There's a simple solution: remove tour guide from the restricted occupation list. Allow the guides to get a work permit, provided they have attended a training course.

[sammygood]

thai people abroad should be subjected with the same insanity farangs are threated here, would't that be fair ?

[NamKangMan]

There's a simple solution: remove tour guide from the restricted occupation list. Allow the guides to get a work permit, provided they have attended a training course.

But then they would be legal, and woudn't have to pay "tea money." What were you thinking????