Tour guide helps expand Thai tourism market in Taiwan

Tour guide helps expand Thai tourism market in Taiwan

2024-05-28

Born in Thailand, Lily Shiu came to Taiwan to study and eventually settle down. She has a passion for sharing cultures, and often visits communities to teach about Thailand. She is also a certified tour guide in Mandarin and Thai, making good use of her mother tongue to expand horizons for herself and the Thai-language market in Taiwan.

Tour guide Lily Shiu explains the history of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Thai. After over two decades in Taiwan, she has a special fondness for the job.

Lily Shiu
Tour guide
I love to travel myself, and I love Taiwan. Taiwan’s very small, but there are still a lot of places I haven’t seen. With the New Southbound Policy, the tour guide test has Southeast Asian languages including Thai, so I wanted to give it a shot.

To develop the burgeoning Southeast Asian market, the government’s New Southbound Policy supports tour guides proficient in target languages. Shiu passed thanks to her language skills, and is now highly in demand.

Lily Shiu
Tour guide
My travelers tell me that the next time they come to Taiwan that they’ll have me lead their tour. We’re all happy to know one another and add each other as friends. I feel so accomplished, especially when they say they had a great time and want to come back to Taiwan again.

Shiu is originally from the north of Thailand. In 1998, she came to Taiwan as an overseas Taiwanese student, then married into a family in Pingtung. In her free time, she likes to make art. Mangrove roots, coconut shells and other natural materials are her media of choice.

She brings her artwork to share with communities and elderly residents.

Lily Shiu
Tour guide
I like a challenge. If you hear of an opportunity, let me know, and I will give it a shot. I also want to try my hand at leading a tour group. I’m a tour guide now. I want to show Taiwan to Thai people, and also introduce Taiwanese to Thailand.

Trying new things and meeting all challenges before her, Shiu hopes to become an ambassador contributing to exchange between her two homes.

This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

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新南向政策培訓東南亞語導遊泰國導遊徐麗麗勇於挑戰

2024-05-28

泰國出生的徐麗麗，到臺灣求學，之後成為臺灣媳婦。喜歡從事文化推廣工作，常常走進社區分享泰國文化。另外她也考上了華語與泰語導遊證照，運用她的母語優勢，接待泰國的觀光客來認識臺灣的景點，為自己和在臺灣的泰語市場開拓另一片天空。

導遊徐麗麗，將中正紀念堂的歷史，以泰語介紹。來臺灣二十幾年，對於旅遊特別感興趣。

[[泰國新住民徐麗麗]]
“我也很喜歡到處旅遊，然後喜歡臺灣，因為臺灣其實很小，但很多地方我都還沒去過。就是有新南向政策，然後有東南亞語，然後又有泰語，我就想要去嘗試看看，想要去考看看。”

政府推動新南向政策，因應持續成長的東南亞旅客市場，培訓東南亞語導遊，徐麗麗因為優異的語言能力，獲得認證，是很搶手的泰語導遊。

[[泰國新住民徐麗麗]]
“就是說，下次喔，要來的話一定要指定我來帶團，這樣子很開心認識我，然後加朋友這樣子，就很有成就感。只要稱讚說，來玩這邊很快樂，待了很快樂，下次還要來臺灣玩。”

徐麗麗來自泰國北部，1998年以僑生身分來臺灣念書，嫁作屏東媳婦後，平常最喜歡從事藝術創作，銀葉板根、椰子殼，這些取之天然的材料，都是她的創作素材。

她也將這些作品帶進社區和長輩們分享。

[[泰國新住民徐麗麗]]
“我的個性很想挑戰，有機會，讓我有這個機會，有機緣有這些資訊讓我知道，然後我就去嘗試、挑戰。接下來也想挑戰領隊，我現在是導遊，是想讓泰國了解臺灣，也想要臺灣人去了解泰國、交流。”

努力嘗試新事物，努力迎向各種新的挑戰，徐麗麗期許自己，能成為國際交流大使，為臺灣與泰國間的文化交流盡一份心力。

以上內容由《我們一家人》節目提供內政部移民署監製

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