Illegal foreign tour guides in Phuket to be blacklisted

PHUKET, THAILAND, August 7 (TNA) - A club of Chinese-language tour guides in Phuket in the Thai South has asked a local tourism authority to blacklist illegal foreign tour guides to protect the local and national tourism image. Nonphuree Phatharakhunakornsakul, Secretary of the Club, on Friday led about 30 club members, to file the request with Santi Pawai, Phuket's Tourism and Sports Director, complaining that rampant illegal foreign tour guides in the southern Thai Andaman resort province lack knowledge about Thai cultures and traditions and their services have affected local registered tour guides. Nonphuree urged the Thai government to hurriedly solve the problem because the illegal foreign tour guides now form about 75 per cent of all tour guides in Phuket and nearby provinces. In response, Director Santi promised to expel illegal foreign tour guides and blacklist them to prevent them from re-entering Thailand. Santi cited the Thai Tourism and Tourist Guide Business Act of B.E. 2551 as stating that the tour guide profession has been reserved for only Thai citizens and local authorities must strictly enforce the law. (TNA)