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Phuket body slams foreign guides idea
Report from The Nation dated Wednesday 22 February 2006 :-
Phuket body slams foreign guides idea
Panomphol Thummachartniyom, president of the Phuket Professional Guide Association (PPGA), has blasted a proposal to legalise foreign tour guides, arguing that there are already enough qualified locals to do the work. He also slammed the authorities for not cracking down on foreigners working illegally as guides.
“Phuket already has problems with foreigners working as tour guides, especially Koreans and Russians. Thais who have been trained are being used only as ‘sitting guides’,” Panomphol said late last week. “This makes the Thais discouraged about their work, and many choose to stop working as guides.” Tour companies that use illegal foreign guides usually also employ “sitting” Thai guides whose job it is to act as a window dressing should a tour party encounter the police or other officials.
Panomphol’s comments came after Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura floated the idea of legalising foreign guides last Wednesday, saying that Tourism and Sports Minister Pracha Maleenont had asked him to sound out opinions. – Phuket Gazette.
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