Thailand's Tourist Police Bureau is to crack down on 'price-dumping tours' and ‘free tours’ following incidents where tourists have been threatened, locked into shops and assaulted.
There have been many incidents where unlicensed ‘travel agencies’, selling low-cost tour packages, guide tourists on ‘free’ tours to retail stores and then threaten and coerce them into buying overpriced goods at the shops.
According to thaiexaminer.com, not only do these tour operators threaten tourists, but they have also been known to lock tour groups inside stores and physically assault people until they buy goods.
Some tourism industry insiders say the problem is the worst it has been for years, reports travelmole.com.
“This tarnishes Thailand’s image, making the country appear cheap and unsafe,” said the Thai Tourism Minister, Sermsak Pongpanich.
Although this has predominantly been an issue among Chinese tourists, many international tourists have reported facing similar scams.
