Thai authorities urged to crack down illegal tour guides

BANGKOK, October 6 (TNA) - Thai authorities concerned, including those at the Immigration Bureau, have been urged to solve the problem of unlicensed tour guides who have caused damage to the domestic tourism. More than 30 members of the Mandarin Tour Guide Club of Thailand, led by Paisarn Suethanuwong, Secretary-General of the Professional Tourist Guide Association of Thailand, filed a complaint with the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok on Monday, demanding its probe and solution to the problem. The petitioners said that illegal Chinese tour guides have provided sub-standard services to international tourists, especially those from China, namely providing them with false information and leaving them unattended, which have tarnished Thailand’s tourism image and may lead to transnational crime. Paisarn claimed that there are at least 8,000 illegal tour guides in Thailand now. Paisarn revealed that some of the illegal tour guides are Russian, South Korean and Vietnamese nationals and his association will also lodge a similar complaint with the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports later. (TNA)