Thailand tourism in trouble because of illegal Chinese tour guides

A group of Thai tour guides who specialize in taking Chinese tourists attended a meeting on March 18 to discuss the trouble caused by illegal tour guides. The group complained that they were being ignored by the government because so far many complaints have not been heard, and asked for justice to be served soon.

The situation of Chinese tour guides not having a license under Thai law but still brazenly practicing their profession has existed for many years in the Land of Golden Pagodas. Meanwhile, tour guides are a protected profession in Thailand and foreigners are not allowed to work.

Chinese tourists have returned to Thailand in droves, causing immediate outrage.

Paisal Suethanuwong, president of the association, said at the meeting that complaints from members about the increasing number of Chinese tour guides working illegally in Thailand had fallen on deaf ears.

Chinese tourists have returned to Thailand in large numbers since January 2023, but most of the tour guides who benefit from this are foreigners working illegally.

According to Mr Paisal, tour operators - mostly Chinese-owned - argue that they need to hire foreigners due to a shortage of Chinese-speaking guides in Thailand, but the association's licensed Chinese-speaking members are still looking for work.

He confirmed that he had sent complaints to several state agencies requesting action to prevent illegal tour guides from "stealing" jobs from Thai people, but unfortunately, no action was taken.

The association members agreed at the meeting to send a complaint to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports , and the Ministry of Labour. The complaint asks the authorities to cooperate to prevent "illegal" tour guides from working in Thailand.

"Gray China businesses" (referring to Chinese travel companies disguised as Thai companies - PV) started sending unlicensed tour guides last October, after Thailand fully reopened to foreign tourists.

About 100 Chinese-speaking Thai tour guides protested in Phuket before the pandemic.

According to the Thai Ministry of Tourism, as of January 2023, there were about 59,000 licensed tour guides, of which about 5,000 spoke Mandarin. Recently, the country's Labor Minister said that foreign tour guides were harming jobs in the tourism industry and called on the public to report the use of illegal foreign tour guides through the government's hotline.

China is Thailand's largest source of foreign visitors, welcoming 11 million in 2019, a quarter of the country's total international arrivals, and this year, just after returning from the pandemic, the number is expected to reach 7-8 million out of a projected 30 million.

Chinese demonstration tour guide

More than 100 Chinese-speaking Thai tour guides protested and filed formal complaints with travel agencies in November 2018, demanding an end to their cooperation with illegal tour guides in Phuket province.

The petition reads: "Companies have brought many Chinese tourists to Phuket, bringing in a lot of income. However, illegal tour guides have taken away our jobs. Now we are in trouble because tour guides are a profession reserved for Thais only. Any tour operator who breaks the law will be fined up to 500,000 baht..."

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