Dodgy tour guide abandons Mongolians in Phangnga

Dodgy tour guide abandons Mongolians in Phangnga

A group of Mongolian tourists were rescued and taken back to their hotels in Phuket early Wednesday after they were abandoned by the side of a road in neighbouring Phangnga province the previous night, police said.

An unlicensed Chinese tour guide told the 22 tourists to get off the bus they were travelling in on the way to a destination in Phangnga on Tuesday night after they refused to pay an extra fee for the tour guide service, said Pol Col Sathit Phrom-uthai, chief of Khok Kloi police station in Phangnga's Takua Thung district, citing a police investigation.

The unidentified tour guide who asked to collect about 5,500 baht from each of the 22 tourists told the bus driver to stop while travelling on Highway No.402, also known as Khok Kloi bypass, claiming the bus had broken down, Pol Col Sathit said.

The tour guide at first asked to collect 9,000 baht from each tourist saying the money would be required to cover the costs of optional tour services on Koh Phi Phi but she later lowered the requested fee to 5,500 baht when the tourists protested, he said.

According to police, the Chinese-speaking tour guide left the tourists with a Thai tour guide and the bus driver -- neither of whom spoke Chinese -- after failing to collect the extra fee.

The tourists then contacted the Chinese consular office in Phuket requesting help.

The consular office contacted Khok Kloi police asking them to help locate the abandoned tourists and rescue them, he said, adding the operation began about 4am Wednesday.

The rescue also involved several officials from Takua Thung district and the Phangnga Tourist Assistance Centre.

The tourists were later taken to their hotels in Phuket, he said.

Later in the day, the Phuket branch manager of the company operating the tour guide programme showed up and promised to take good care of the 22 tourists until they leave Thailand on Saturday, he said.

The affected tourists were offered a hotel room upgrade and free meals.

They were promised they wouldn't have to pay any more money for any more tour guide services while in Thailand, he said.

Police investigators were also trying to locate the Chinese tour guide who fled the scene and will summon the owner of the tour agency for questioning to find out if he was involved in using the services of the unlicensed Chinese guide.

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