Some 200 Thai tour guides rally in Phuket

[webfact]

Some 200 Thai tour guides rally in Phuket
The Nation

Phuket - Some 200 Thai tour guides rallied in front of the Phuket provincial hall Monday to demand stricter law enforcement against illegal foreign tour guides.

The group of Thai tour guides was led by Krit Thepbamrung, designated president of the Andaman Tour Guide Association. The 200 guides are those who use Chinese, Russian, Japanese, German and English to take care of tourists.

Krit said his group submitted a letter t the tourism and sports minister via Phuket Governor Nisit Chansomwong to demand the government to enforce the law strictly against illegal foreign tour guides.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Some-200-Thai-tour-guides-rally-in-Phuket-30269231.html


-- The Nation 2015-09-21

[Valentine]

I wonder how much the tour guides & bus drivers get in commissions for the exorbitant prices the tourists are being charged on their shopping tours. Not saying this is why they are protesting as the law is the law but loss of serious income can be a good motivator.

[LivinginKata]

I wonder how much the tour guides & bus drivers get in commissions for the exorbitant prices the tourists are being charged on their shopping tours. Not saying this is why they are protesting as the law is the law but loss of serious income can be a good motivator.

My wife knew a lady private taxi driver. She got very high comission on any purchases at the big gem shop on the bypass. In the 20-25% range. You have to wonder how much mark up there is.

[Chang_paarp]

Let's hope they spend their down time learning the speak the languages they claim to.

[eisfeld]

They can protest all day and night. Law enforcement is absent and to change that you'd have to revamp the whole police from top to bottom which wont happen.

The Thais will get exploited the same as they exploited everything from nature to tourists. Now they complain how unfair all this is. Karma is a bitch, buddhists should know that

[NamKangMan]

Yet another "Association" on Phuket trying to eliminate their competition, so they can charge more for their inferior service / product.

[chercheur888]

Anybody knows when the Bar Girls association is having their rally?

[robertthebruce]

Anybody knows when the Bar Girls association is having their rally?

Or the Bar Boys......

[robertthebruce]

Blind leading the Blind...

[CiaranO]

Yet another "Association" on Phuket trying to eliminate their competition, so they can charge more for their inferior service / product.

You hit the nail on the head.

Maybe they should try learning some languages and improving their service. Oh no wait that's to difficult.

[maidee]

"The 200 guides are those who use Chinese, Russian, Japanese, German and English to take care of tourists."

ok, organise an examination to see how many of them thai tourguides actually speak any of the above languages ...

[gandalf12]

The Thais are very intolerant of errors made by foreigners when we attempt their language. Maybe we should give them a blank look wen they make a little mistake and see just how calm they remain.

[12DrinkMore]

The Thais are very intolerant of errors made by foreigners when we attempt their language. Maybe we should give them a blank look wen they make a little mistake and see just how calm they remain.

My favourite sentence when some Thai starts gibbering at me is,

"I am sorry I do not understand, could you say that in English?"

I have honed the Thai pronunciation to perfection.

[spidermike007]

I wonder how much the tour guides & bus drivers get in commissions for the exorbitant prices the tourists are being charged on their shopping tours. Not saying this is why they are protesting as the law is the law but loss of serious income can be a good motivator.

My wife knew a lady private taxi driver. She got very high comission on any purchases at the big gem shop on the bypass. In the 20-25% range. You have to wonder how much mark up there is.

A friend of mine, who is very knowledgeable about gemstones, tells me you can get some good values at the large gem mart in Silom, in Bangkok. But, your level of expertise has to be very high, so that you know what you are purchasing. For a novice to walk into one of these places and spend real money, and expect to get any value, is naive at best. Yes, the markups are stunningly high. It would be a bit like walking into a Cartier shop looking for value.

[madmitch]

I think you can tell the sort of profit these gem stores make just by looking at their premises. The newly revamped, not yet open on Chaofa West and the mosque-like building on the Honda Road spring to mind. Huge places.

[FritsSikkink]

The Thais are very intolerant of errors made by foreigners when we attempt their language. Maybe we should give them a blank look wen they make a little mistake and see just how calm they remain.

no, they are not

[FritsSikkink]

The Thais are very intolerant of errors made by foreigners when we attempt their language. Maybe we should give them a blank look wen they make a little mistake and see just how calm they remain.

I have honed the Thai pronunciation to perfection.

says who?

[NamKangMan]

I think you can tell the sort of profit these gem stores make just by looking at their premises. The newly revamped, not yet open on Chaofa West and the mosque-like building on the Honda Road spring to mind. Huge places.

They will be making more money when they are dealing cards inside them in the future, rather than selling gems.

Not all Chinese tourists will be coming to Phuket for the beaches.

Edited September 23, 2015 by NamKangMan