The hospitality industry in Phuket wants the government to stop foreign mafia groups getting more involved in business on the resort island.

Industry executives are concerned that foreigners are exploiting laws to run their own businesses while also taking up jobs meant for local people.

Speaking during a recent meeting about tourism issues in the three Andaman provinces, Kata Group Resorts founder Pramookpisitt Achariyachai said some foreigners were breaching rules on jobs reserved for Thais.

Businesses currently run by groups of foreigners include taxi services and accommodation, with some foreigners renting villas and condo units abandoned during the Covid-19 pandemic and then renting them out again to their countrymen, said Mr Pramookpisitt. They were mostly Russians, he added.

In addition, local people in Phuket have objected to a foreign big bike riders’ group.

Mr Pramookpisitt is concerned that foreign mafia groups may take control of the island, similar to what happened in Pattaya a couple of decades ago.

He urged Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn to deal with these concerns.

Mr Phiphat also acknowledged other issues in the three Andaman provinces — Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga. Local residents and tourists complain of insufficient public transport, poor quality roads and traffic congestion, especially in Phuket.