The problem of illegal tour guides has worsened, attributed to longer visa-free stays and weak law enforcement, enabling foreigners to illegally operate both tour company and guide services in most major tourism cities, says the Professional Tourist Guides Association of Thailand.
New concerns cropped up on social media this week as an illegal Russian tour guide was caught leading a tour group in the Similan Islands, using a Thai guide as a sitting nominee, while being unable to compel customers to follow national park rules.
Tourists were seen jumping from rocks into the shallow sea, risking injury from underwater stones.
Paisarn Suethanuwong, a committee member of the association, said some foreigners are wrongfully reaping the benefits of Thailand's booming tourism industry.
He said the government's visa-free policy of up to 60 days for tourists from 93 countries has been exploited by foreigners who work illegally in Thailand.
Foreign tourists stay roughly 15 days or less on average, according to arrival and departure data.
Mr Paisarn said there are many recent cases of Chinese working illegally at Bangkok construction sites.
He said in the past, foreign guides might illegally take jobs from licensed operators, but now they take part in the entire business cycle by themselves in major cities such as Bangkok and Phuket, explicitly opening tour services targeting not only Chinese tourists, but also Russian, Indian and South Korean travellers.
"Thailand has lost tens to hundreds of billions of baht from these illegal operations, with tourism revenue flowing out of the country," said Mr Paisarn, adding the authorities failed to strictly enforce the law to prevent these problems.
Tour guide is a restricted occupation for Thai nationals.
The number of licensed tour guides is estimated at 50,000 to 60,000, including 20,000 English-speaking and 10,000 Mandarin-speaking guides, he said.
Mr Paisarn said the number of tour guides may be unable to meet demand, particularly for high-demand languages such as Russian and Polish, but this is not an excuse for operators to illegally hire foreign tour guides.
Allowing Thai tour guides to work with the support of foreign tour leaders is the solution, he said.
If foreigners solely manage a tour business, as is happening now, this is an illegal business, said Mr Paisarn.
"The government and related authorities should work harder to connect tour guides with tour companies to offer them jobs, which could help them gain field experience quicker," he said.
"Otherwise, the next generation can never compete with foreign tour guides."
Despite the rising number of independent tourists and decline in large tour groups after the pandemic, this trend has not significantly affected tour guides because many independent tourists still travel as small private group tours, which depend on tour escorts, said Mr Paisarn.
The main issue remains foreigners seeking opportunities to target customers on their own, he said.
