A tour company employee was arrested on July 10 after officials found her selling overseas travel packages from a shopping centre on Srinakarin Road, Bangkok, despite the company’s tourism business licence having been revoked.
The Department of Tourism said today, July 12, that the inspection was carried out in cooperation with the Tourist Police after officials identified a tour counter suspected of offering a range of overseas travel programmes.
Officials said a female employee was seen promoting overseas tour packages to customers. A check of the Department of Tourism’s tour business registry found that the company, identified only as Riwi, had previously held a tourism business licence, but it had since been revoked.
To gather evidence, officials posed as customers and purchased a tour package before identifying themselves and detaining the employee who accepted the payment. When asked to produce a valid tourism business licence, she was unable to do so.
The employee was charged with operating a tourism business without a licence, an offence punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to 500,000 baht, or both. She was handed over to investigators at Prawet Police Station for legal proceedings.
The Department of Tourism urged travellers to check that tour operators hold valid licences before purchasing tour packages to help avoid fraud and ensure they receive services that meet legal standards.
Elsewhere, a British national was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport after allegedly running an unlicensed full-service nature tours through national parks across Thailand for over a decade.
The suspect reportedly led tourists through wildlife areas in protected parks, often on routes that typically require licensed guides or trained Thai personnel familiar with terrain and safety protocols.
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