Surat Thani –
An illegal Austrian tour guide was arrested on the Pha Ngan district in Surat Thani after two years of working.
The Koh Pha Ngan Police told the Phuket Express that on Thursday (September 5th) they arrested Mr. Guenter, 44, an Austrian national, at a restaurant in the Koh Pha Ngan sub-district. He was arrested while he was with two foreign customers.
The customers told police that they were recommended a tour guide from their German friend via the Facebook account ‘Guenter’. They contacted him for a tour guide service on the Pha Ngan Island. They paid 2,000 Baht per trip per person which did not include meals.
Mr. Guenter admitted to police that he had been a tour guide on the island for two years. He was taken to the Koh Pha Ngan Police Station to face the charge of being an illegal tour guide as well as being a foreigner doing a protected job (tour guide).
The Phuket Express notes that tour guides are a protected occupation in Thailand and that work permits and visas are unavailable to foreigners for this job.
