BRIT ARRESTED ON KOH PHA NGAN FOR RUNNING ILLEGAL TOURS

BRIT ARRESTED ON KOH PHA NGAN FOR RUNNING ILLEGAL TOURS

Another arrest of a foreigner working without a work permit and in a profession reserved for Thais only. This time on the Gulf island of Koh Pha Gnan.

A British man has been arrested on Koh Pha Ngan after he was found to be running illegal tours of Thailand.

Under Thai law, the profession of tour guide is an occupation reserved for Thais and is off-limits to foreigners. The Briton, named in a Khaosod English report as 25 year old Mr Jabran, was arrested for organising and guiding 18 day tours of the kingdom, at a charge of £1,499 per person (about 70,000 Thai baht).

According to the report, the tours would start in Bangkok and take in not just Koh Pha Ngan, but Khao Sok national park, Koh Phi Phi, Phuket and Chiang Mai.

Jabran was apprehended by tourist police officers working with Koh Pha Ngan district officials. He was detained at Sarana Bungalows in the sub-district of Ban Tai on Koh Pha Ngan yesterday, May 30.

His arrest followed a complaint made to tourist police that a foreigner was conducting tours and guiding foreign visitors around the island. It’s understood the Briton used 2 vans to take tourists to various locations on Koh Pha Ngan, including the Chinrat Boxing Stadium, as part of a tour that ran from 10am to midday.

A further search of Jabran’s phone confirmed he had been running 18-day tours around the kingdom, starting in Bangkok. The tour of Koh Pha Ngan would take place on days 5 – 8 of the tour and the cost for the entire 18 days with Jabran’s Thai Intro travel company was around 70,000 baht per person.

It’s understood the Briton has been take to Koh Pha Ngan police station where he has been charged with “being a foreign person working as a tour guide without permission” and “being a foreign person working without a work permit”.

Jabran has reportedly confessed to the charges.