KOH PHANGAN — Tourist Police arrested an illegal Austrian tour guide who charged foreign customers 2,000 baht per head, caught while taking customers on a tour of Koh Phangan.
On September 6, the Koh Phangan Tourist Police once again arrested a foreigner engaged in an occupation reserved for Thai nationals. The latest case involves an Austrian man who was guiding European tourists for a fee of 2,000 baht.
The arrest was carried out by Police Lieutenant Colonel Winit Boonchit of the Tourist Police Division 5, Section 2, along with Noppadol Khao Mali, the District Chief of Koh Phangan, and the District Security Officer, investigators from Koh Phangan Police Station, and Koh Phangan Immigration Police.
Mr. Gunter, an Austrian national, was arrested in front of a restaurant in Moo 8, Koh Phangan Subdistrict, Koh Phangan District, Surat Thani Province. A Toyota Hilux Revo pickup truck with Surat Thani license plates was seized as evidence of his work as a tour guide.
During questioning, Mr. Gunter confessed to having been a tour guide for customers for two years. He had agreed to charge 2,000 baht per person for this particular tour. He picked up the customers from their hotel and took them to various specified locations.
Officials charged him with “operating a tour business without permission, being a foreigner working as a tour guide without permission, and being a foreigner working without a work permit.” He was then handed over to the investigating officers at Koh Phangan Police Station for legal proceedings.
Previously, the Tourist Police had arrested several foreigners who were working in occupations reserved for Thai nationals, illegally operating various services such as car rentals, beauty salons, entertainment venues, and tour guiding.
Most of these individuals were residing in Koh Phangan District, Koh Samui District of Surat Thani Province, Krabi Province, Phang Nga Province, and Phuket Province, which are areas with beautiful natural tourist attractions and large numbers of foreign tourists.
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