Chinese tourists can be victims too

Chinese tourists can be victims too, facing problems ranging from aggressive taxi drivers to scheming tour guides. In the latest incident, 33 tourists were abandoned by their guide in Pattaya.

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There has been much criticism of the behaviour of Chinese tourists here in Thailand, but there have also been incidents where the tourists deserve sympathy. Last August, for example, a young Chinese woman (middle) was punched by a taxi driver who then stole her handbag containing money and other valuables. PONGPAT WONGYALA

Guide abandons 33 Chinese tourists

Post Reporters

Thirty-three Chinese tourists say they were abandoned in Pattaya by a Chinese tour guide who demanded extra money from them.

Pattaya tourist police went to Jomtien Beach Road in Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri province after being told of the incident about 11.30pm on Thursday.

They found 33 Chinese tourists, 31 adults and two children, gathered forlornly by the roadside. They said they had checked out of their hotel and were waiting for their tour guide and transport, but she did not show up.

A 48-year-old Chinese tourist told police through an interpreter that her group had travelled to Thailand on Monday after buying tour packages in China for 2,399 yuan, or 12,484 baht, each. They had been taken to Pattaya on Wednesday and stayed at a hotel on Jomtien Beach.

During their stay, the 20-year-old Chinese guide had demanded extra payment of 1,388 yuan from each of them. She and her friends refused because they had already paid for the tour packages, police said.

But about 20 members of the tour party decided to pay the guide to avoid problems. Instead, the guide disappeared with their money, a total of about 27,600 yuan, leaving them all stranded, police said.

Paisarn Suethanuwong, 40, secretary-general of the Chinese Tour Guides Club and interpreter for the group, said harsh action should be taken against the guide. Such bad conduct harms the tour industry's reputation, he said.

Arfang Sae Lu, a representative of New Gen Co, a tour company in Chiang Mai responsible for picking up the tour group, met police yesterday and took responsibility for what befell the group.

She said the company was not involved in the guide’s actions, but it was willing to refund the tourists the additional money they paid her. The firm had tried unsuccessfully to contact the guide, said Ms Arfang.

Pattaya tourist police chief Sukthat Pumpunmuang said police would look into whether the guide was licensed or not and would take action against her if she was unregistered.

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