A fight between three mainlanders from a tour group and a Macau guide saw more than 100 of his colleagues take to the street to lay siege to the tourists' coach.
As the row worsened, police made a protective cordon around the bus which had just picked up the tour group from an erotic show at Jai Alai casino late on Monday night.
Officers ended up taking the three alleged attackers to a police station. All three were later released but yesterday a Macau tour guide trade union launched legal proceedings against them.
Wu Wai-fong, president of the Macau Tour Guides Association, said it was the only way to protect tour guides in Macau from being harassed in the future.
'We have to send a strong signal to the tourists that they cannot attack us,' Wu said.
He blamed trouble between mainland tourists and their guides in Hong Kong for fuelling the problem.
'Tourists are rude and cases in Hong Kong worsen the situation,' he said. 'The tourists think they can receive compensation if they can make us angry and hit back. If we are not taking action now, our tour guides will receive no protection in the future.'
