Chinese Tour Guide Arrested in Thailand for Threatening Tourists Over Shopping

A Chinese tour guide has been arrested in Thailand after a video showed him threatening tourists who refused to shop during a trip, Sanxiang Metropolis Daily reported.

The incident came to light on Monday, when the guide, Li Hai, was caught on camera shouting at tourists in Chinese, saying they would "not be allowed to return to China" if they refused to shop at the duty-free store.

The video also shows him pointing at the person filming the incident and demanding that the footage be deleted.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand said it would take strict action against the guide and the travel agency involved.

Li was arrested and admitted to threatening tourists because they did not shop enough to earn him kickbacks. Two officials from the travel agency were also detained for illegally operating as tour guides and face up to two years in prison and fines of 500,000 baht (US$15,240).

Li, a Chinese national, had been long working illegally in Thailand without a valid guide license, authorities said. He allegedly used cheap tour packages to lure tourists, then arranged frequent shopping stops to collect commissions, threatening and intimidating those who didn't comply.

He had previously been arrested in 2018 for verbally abusing tourists.