ALOR STAR: The Malaysian Tourist Guides Council (MTGC) has lauded the government decision to allow Thai-registered tour buses to ferry passengers into this country.
Its president, Jimmy Leong Wie Kong said the move is a shot in the arm in boosting tourist arrival into Malaysia.
"The decision should be viewed as a positive strategy undertaken by the Malaysian government to boost the tourist arrival numbers which will indirectly contribute to the foreign revenue flow into our country.
"In any industry, be it in tourism, challenges are always there as trends of travellers change at a very fast space especially in the new world after the pandemic era.
"Permitting the Thai coaches to enter Malaysia creates connectivity in bringing in a mass volume of Thais into our country, thus supporting the needed ecosystem of the industry," he said in a statement.
However, MTGC urged the Transport Ministry to ensure that the Thai-registered tour buses only carry foreigners that patronising licensed accommodation facilities and engage licensed Malaysian tourist guides upon entering the Malaysian border.
He stressed that it is a regulation in most countries that all tour vehicles must engage a licensed tourist guide on board because information about a country be it local policies, systems, sites or heritage and so on can only be interpreted by a locally trained guide.
"All guides who are trained are licensed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia. The guide can also assist in time of needs and emergencies as he or she is local.
"Leong added that apart from the pool of Thai-speaking tourist guides who are mainly stationed in the northern states, the MTGC will also embark on an initiative to upskill and train more tourist guides to be proficient in the Thai language," he said.
Leong added that the government should also ensure that Malaysia should not be used as a transitroute to Singapore, such as using Malaysia as a passing route to another country outside Malaysia.
"If such a scheme proves to be benefitting to the industry, there should be no reason as to why Thai coaches should not be allowed into Malaysia," he said.
MTGC is responding to the Transport Ministry's decision to grant entry for Thai-registered buses into Malaysia.
However, Transport minister Anthony Loke was reported as saying that Thai-registered tour bus operators must apply for temporary permits from the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) before entering Malaysia.
Conversely, Loke had said Thai van operators are prohibited from entering Malaysia to prevent potential disruptions to the local express bus industry.
(hyperlink: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/1049935/govt-allows-thai-buse...
From: Adie