Laws For Tour Leaders In Thailand

[Dondi]

My field is Tourism Management, my dream is to live overseas, my desire at the moment is Thailand..

Some people are offering jobs as Tour Leaders in Thailand, Though a tour company with a large reputation has informed me the Thai laws do not allow for foreign leaders to conduct tours within the borders of Thailand.

Does anyone know this? I have a job offer with a Thai based foreign tour company but dont want to do anything illegal..

Thanks

[taxexile]

you might find that you will be a hotel based jobsworth , ensuring that mavis from room 224 makes it to the coach by 8.30am for her trip to the floating market and percy from room 445 gets those bathtowels that he phoned down about 2 hours ago.

as opposed to going where no man has boldly gone before and helping excited wobbly breasted young maidens as they trek through jungles in search of exotic hidden temples and opium farms.

[Dondi]

Its not so much the job itself, if its from making sure Ben Dover gets on the bus or walking the 'jungles' of the north doesnt make any difference to me. I know the aspects of the job and i know Thailand has been beaten to the shit house BUT it is a job and it is based in Thailand, rather then teach English to bunch of crazy Thai kids....

Just i cant find much on the laws of this certain job.

Thanks anyways

[simon43]

I think being a tour leader/guide is on the list of prohibited jobs... only for Thai nationals.

Simon

[taxexile]

i think if you are based in thailand , and working , then you will need to have a work permit. if a work permit comes with the job then i would imagine you would be fully legal.

best to check with the company offering you the job.

[Dondi]

hmmmm thanks guys.. ill cross it off my list of professions in Thailand i can do this in every country in the world except Thailand, the one country i want to spend some extented time in hehe its like someone is sending me a message to not live there and pick another country!!!!

Thanks again

[Farma]

My niece trained as a tour guide a couple of years ago. My understanding is she needs a licence to act as a tour guide.

Her training took a couple of months at a dedicated tour guide college near Bangkok and included a comprehensive exam for the licence at the end of the course. I believe the tour guide licences are divided into 4 geographic areas and she can only guide in the area her licence was issued for.

This is what she told me so I can only assume the information is correct.

As Taxexile said, check with the company offering you a job about the work permit. Some of the tour leaders I've sen around with Japanese groups don't look Thai to me.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Farma

[Dondi]

Well i i was just on the phone to the director of the company and they class it as a manager within the company though is more based on being an assistant to the Clients with English language, information on certian things and helping with admin ... obviously its nothing special with a pay packed of 28,000bt per money though the pressure is merely standard compared to other jobs. Work permit is not coming with the job thought assistants is available... thats something that would worry me..

I'll look more into it and thanks for the info, much appreciated indeed

[BrissyBoy]

Prohibited work in Thailand

Tour agency - Business activities falling in categories A & B are generally closed to foreigners.