| James Kon |

A LOCAL woman’s recent holiday trip to the seaside resort of Hua Hin in Thailand turned nightmarish when she was accused of working as an illegal tour guide by the Thai Tourist Police.

She shared the details of her bizarre and frightening ordeal on Facebook, saying, “We had organised a family tour to Hua Hin, to celebrate our uncle’s 62nd birthday.

“There were 12 of us – eight of whom were over 60 years old – on the trip that was supposed to have been from April 30 to May 3.

“We also hired a van and a driver for that trip which I had planned, based on info from Google and TripAdvisor.”

On the second day, she said, “After shopping at the Bluport Hua Hin Resort Mall, I was approached by a Thai tourist police officer, who asked me to follow him to the police station.

“When I asked him why, he replied it was because I am a tour guide. I said I wasn’t and that we were there as a family group, but he didn’t believe me and ordered our driver to follow his car to the Tourist Police station.

“While in the van, I quickly called my Thai friend and told him of my situation, as the officer didn’t seem to understand much English.

“On arriving at the station at 4.30pm, the officer instructed everyone to stay in the van, except myself. When I got down, he told the driver to drive everybody back to the hotel, and that I was to stay behind.

“All of my uncles and aunts were upset by the officer’s behaviour, and refused to go back to the hotel. My mom was shaking with fear! I was very angry when the Thai Tourist Police refused to listen to my explanation.

“They refused to believe I wasn’t a guide, because the officer who had obtained my itinerary from our driver said that it was too detailed and resembled the work of a tour guide.

“The officer had been following us from our first day in Hua Hin, and he showed all the pictures that he had taken of me looking after my family members, whom he referred to as my ‘customers’. After a lengthy debate and an explanation from my Thai friend through the phone, they took a look at my passport and my family members’ passports, as well as the receipts of our hotel and plane tickets which were all under my name, instead of a tour agency. I was finally released at around 5.30pm.

“Our dream trip was ruined. When we realised that someone had been tailing and taking pictures of us from our first day in Hua Hin, everyone felt very uncomfortable. In the end, we decided to check out of our hotel and head back to Bangkok the next day.

“In the end, I had to pay more, as the hotel reservations were not refundable and our driver had been working overtime. We love Thailand. Everyone was ever so friendly, but we never got to see much of Hua Hin. I doubt if any of us would ever go there again.”

Concluding her story with the hope that no one else would have to endure their traumatic experience, the woman had some advice for those going on overseas tours: “Be very careful, even while travelling in a group.”