The cabinet has approved measures to stop illegal foreign tour guides competing with local guides and presenting incorrect information about tourist attractions to visitors.
The measures, drafted by the Tourism and Sports Ministry, follow a complaint made with the Royal Thai Police Office to crack down on the illegal guides, mainly Chinese students, who have taken the jobs of Thais.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had earlier asked authorities to register all tourist guides by Dec 15 as an immediate response, before his cabinet approved the measures yesterday to tackle the problem, deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.
Under the measure, officials will check whether sight-seeing tours are being run legally. Companies are required to issue "assignment documents" to their guides every time they lead a tour group or deal with tourists, Maj Gen Sansern said.
Officials will ask the guides to show the documents at airports across the country when they pick up customers.
Thai tour guides were earlier told to register themselves with authorities from Nov 25 to Dec 9.
However, Maj Gen Sansern said many tour guides were unable to report to the authorities, because this is the peak tourism season.
The government has decided to extend the registration period and has not yet set a new deadline, he said.
Officials also plan to improve tourism courses to equip local guides with better foreign language skills as a service to visitors.
In the long run, Maj Gen Sansern added, the government plans to amend the 2008 Tourism Business and Tour Guides Act to bring it up to date.