Six foreign scuba diving instructors have been arrested on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand, during an operation by Thai authorities targeting illegal employment within the tourism industry.
Five Spanish nationals were arrested on 18 August after officers from Surat Thani Immigration Police inspected Pura Vida Koh Tao Diving, and allegedly discovered the five to be working as dive instructors without valid work permits.
Thai media subsequently reported that a British national was arrested on similar charges during a separate inspection. The dive centre he was allegedly working for has not been identified.
The six instructors are reported to have been holding Destination Thailand Visas, or DTVs, which were introduced in 2024 for digital nomads, remote workers, freelancers and visitors participating in certain approved activities.
While the DTV allows foreign nationals to work in Thailand, it does not allow them to be employed by Thai businesses, which requires an appropriate employment visa or immigration status and a valid Thai work permit sponsored by the employer.
The six arrests were made as part of a broader enforcement campaign involving Surat Thani Immigration Police, Koh Tao Police, the Department of Business Development, Koh Phangan district officials and local health authorities.
According to Thai newspaper Khaosod, officers inspected four premises during the operation, including two diving businesses, a pharmacy and a beauty salon, following information obtained from social media and complaints from tourists.
Workers at the pharmacy and beauty salon were also arrested, and authorities said that company directors connected with the businesses would be investigated over the alleged employment of foreign nationals without work permits.
The dive-centre inspections took place against the background of a separate government investigation into foreign ownership and nominee arrangements among tourism companies on Koh Tao.
On 17 August, Thailand’s Department of Business Development, working with immigration and tourist police and officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, inspected 12 licensed tourism companies on the island which had foreign shareholders.
Two businesses were found to be in breach of regulations, including a dive operator which had one Thai and one foreign director, violating Thailand’s Tour Business and Tour Guide Act, which requires a majority of company directors to be Thai nationals.
Officials said they would also investigate whether nominee Thai shareholders had been used to disguise foreign control of businesses, which Thailand’s Department of Business Devlopement has been actively campaigning against.
Overall, however, the authorities say they did not find widespread non-compliance among the other dive businesses examined.
Of the remaining ten operators checked, immigration authorities reported that the foreign directors and employees at those nine businesses held valid work permits and complied with regulations.
Koh Tao is one of Thailand’s busiest scuba-diving destinations, with a large concentration of dive schools serving international visitors and employing instructors from overseas.
The six instructors have been reported to police for further legal proceedings. If convicted of working without permission, the instructors could face fines of 5,000-50,000 baht, deportation and a two-year ban on obtaining a Thai work permit.
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