6 minutes ago, BestB said:

If they keep this up, it would be 3.3 million tourists not 33 and those 3.3 will need to bid for a room?

Where you saying 300 legit, licensed hotels in Pattaya or the whole country?

 

Total number of visitors to Thailand increased from 32.59 million in 2016 to 35.38 million in 2017.

11 minutes ago, BestB said:

If they keep this up, it would be 3.3 million tourists not 33 and those 3.3 will need to bid for a room?

Thought you stated 300 licensed in the nation?

5 minutes ago, JAZZDOG said:

You don't have a work permit do you? Are you making a profit, signing leases, documents. Are you involved with more than one rental? What type visa? 

What you gonna do when they come for you.

I don't sign leases and I don't sign contracts and my visa is none of your business.

4 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

I don't sign leases and I don't sign contracts and my visa is none of your business.

With that outfit you got on it sure looks like your working, LOL!

A number of people have mentioned they go around and see no closures, so I will post some results of my morning walk! (For any nosey officials poking around, just because I didn't mention doesn't mean they are open !!)

Rachadamnoen Soi 5 ; Kavil, Kristi and Rendezvous all closed.

Moonmuang Soi 9 ; Libra, Britannia, Rich, Supreme, Ban Chang Man, "the old Chang Man guesthouse" and one more with a pool next door (sign had been removed).

Soi 7 ; CM Residence (might have name wrong, on the corner), RCN Court, "the old Blue House", Lamchang House, Sri Pat , another one with CM in the name(big one), sorry starting to forget names by that stage !

+ all 3 Your House branches are closed.

14 minutes ago, cmsally said:

A number of people have mentioned they go around and see no closures, so I will post some results of my morning walk! (For any nosey officials poking around, just because I didn't mention doesn't mean they are open !!)

Rachadamnoen Soi 5 ; Kavil, Kristi and Rendezvous all closed.

Moonmuang Soi 9 ; Libra, Britannia, Rich, Supreme, Ban Chang Man, "the old Chang Man guesthouse" and one more with a pool next door (sign had been removed).

Soi 7 ; CM Residence (might have name wrong, on the corner), RCN Court, "the old Blue House", Lamchang House, Sri Pat , another one with CM in the name(big one), sorry starting to forget names by that stage !

+ all 3 Your House branches are closed.

Moonmuang Soi 2 has 9 guest houses closed from around a dozen places on that soi. The knock on effect is tremendous, mom and pop shops, laundry's, bars, hairdressers, suppliers etc.

 

There needs to be some  form of protests, similar to the ones when they tried to ban people travelling in back of pickups.

It goes without saying most of the restaurants and cafes were empty! As you say the knock on effect is huge.

I would also say the enforcement is much tougher within the moat. If I didn't know better, (here I go on one of my cynical hunches!!), I would say big money is trying to get control of accommodation business in the inner moat area. I see a number of new investments, which although would be considered small by hotel standards, are huge by the standards of guesthouses that have closed and  are still on track for building completion/ opening.

28 minutes ago, cmsally said:

A number of people have mentioned they go around and see no closures, so I will post some results of my morning walk! (For any nosey officials poking around, just because I didn't mention doesn't mean they are open !!)

Rachadamnoen Soi 5 ; Kavil, Kristi and Rendezvous all closed.

Moonmuang Soi 9 ; Libra, Britannia, Rich, Supreme, Ban Chang Man, "the old Chang Man guesthouse" and one more with a pool next door (sign had been removed).

Soi 7 ; CM Residence (might have name wrong, on the corner), RCN Court, "the old Blue House", Lamchang House, Sri Pat , another one with CM in the name(big one), sorry starting to forget names by that stage !

+ all 3 Your House branches are closed.

I trust what you are saying but what is strange, and you are welcome to try, you can pull all but a couple up on booking.com and most have taken multiple reservations in the last 24 hours, Kristi house booked 11.

That is quite possible and there are some places that I went past that I know have no license and are still obviously open. But any kind of sign up and appearance of closure definitely means no paperwork and therefore living in limbo.

Haha yes Kristi definitely up there on Booking, but the door is closed with a sign saying "closed for renovation". They only just did a massive renovation last year !

Of course most of these signs are in Thai so most tourists are blissfully unaware of the situation!

On 5/24/2018 at 6:01 AM, Thailand said:

The authorities are starting the long overdue crackdown on illegal homestay. This may be a consequence of that crackdown?

 

It hadn't occurred to me before regarding the "Thai homestay" that has been pushed in recent years to encourage tourists to visit and stay in Thai homes. I thought it was often associated with people running things like handicraft businesses?

 

Have I missed something as to why you're referring to it as "the long overdue crackdown on illegal homestay", or is that something else completely?

 

26 minutes ago, JAZZDOG said:

I trust what you are saying but what is strange, and you are welcome to try, you can pull all but a couple up on booking.com and most have taken multiple reservations in the last 24 hours, Kristi house booked 11.

you know that booking.com write that the place has been booked to invite you to book?

14 minutes ago, cmsally said:

Haha yes Kristi definitely up there on Booking, but the door is closed with a sign saying "closed for renovation". They only just did a massive renovation last year !

Of course most of these signs are in Thai so most tourists are blissfully unaware of the situation!

Left a message with several of them, will let you know. It is so strange though as with booking.com there is rarely contact and guests just arrive. It takes one minute to close dates on the calendar and avoid having guest show up if your not open?. Eleven bookings in 24 hours is good for a small place

2 minutes ago, MekkOne said:

you know that booking.com write that the place has been booked to invite you to book?

No it doesn't

I'm sure a lot of places that say closed are in fact open, there is no doubt about that. But it is a good indicator as to how many places have been left in legal limbo.

Apparently another meeting at Wat Lamchang tomorrow, but don't have details yet.

I might be wrong but from what I heard, no meeting/interview with Thai PBS materialised the other day. Does anyone have any more info?

1 hour ago, BestB said:

Not for smaller operators .

Hence the new regs in 2016, about the time P Prayut started to run the country?

Nonsense, there were there already in 2010

7 minutes ago, cmsally said:

I'm sure a lot of places that say closed are in fact open, there is no doubt about that. But it is a good indicator as to how many places have been left in legal limbo.

Apparently another meeting at Wat Lamchang tomorrow, but don't have details yet.

I might be wrong but from what I heard, no meeting/interview with Thai PBS materialised the other day. Does anyone have any more info?

The panel discussion was recorded yesterday and will be aired this coming Tuesday don't know the exact time. Sorry for the late reaction but have been ill today. From what I understand is that there was one legal expert stating that as mentioned before that the law doesn't go into affect until this Aug and that if you can show that you are in the process of obtaining the required documents the police shouldn't be able to close down any business. But the police refused to react to any question on the subject 

6 hours ago, JAZZDOG said:

If this government thinks it is a good idea to subject foreign investors in this manner it is time to cut losses and head for the exits. This makes as much sense as closing the 49% condo ownership deal and then you have to pretend your just renting the condo you thought you owned. They intent to turn 90% of ST housing into LT housing and leave tourist without a place to stay, just brilliant! 

Tourists have plenty of expensive hotels to stay in, so that's not correct. The fact that backpackers will not use them and will not visit has apparently not occurred to them, or they want to get rid of backpackers so big hotels can be built where all the guesthouses used to be.

I can't believe the authorities don't understand the effect this is going to have, so IMO it's part of a plan that they have not told anyone about.

Perhaps they think LOS can be like Singapore. Fat chance with that, if it's so.

 

Does anyone know if Khao San guesthouses have been closed?

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Tourists have plenty of expensive hotels to stay in, so that's not correct. The fact that backpackers will not use them and will not visit has apparently not occurred to them, or they want to get rid of backpackers so big hotels can be built where all the guesthouses used to be.

I can't believe the authorities don't understand the effect this is going to have, so IMO it's part of a plan that they have not told anyone about.

Perhaps they think LOS can be like Singapore. Fat chance with that, if it's so.

 

Does anyone know if Khao San guesthouses have been closed?

pull it up on one of the hosting sites and see if they're taking bookings

3 hours ago, BestB said:

if I was the only one, I would put my tail between my legs and walk but I am not. It’s into thousands already and keeps adding on weekly basis and all are in the same boat.

If that's correct, and I don't have any facts about it, there is probably only one outcome and that is thousands ( ? hundreds of thousands ) of people left destitute and going to Bkk to do one of those long protests they used to do years ago. It can only end in tears.

When the government has elections, throwing thousands of citizens into poverty isn't going to help their popularity.

If it does lead to large scale strife, the western tourist demographic will decline, regardless of hotels open or not. No tourist willingly visits a country in chaos. Probably won't affect Chinese package tourism though. They seem to mainly stay in the big hotels in Chiang Mai, which I doubt are going to be closing over this.

I could add lots, but it would all be supposition.

Whatever, this is either a cunning plan to bring about a radically different tourism market, or it's a total breakdown of government that has no idea of the consequences of its actions.

However, given long experience of LOS, it could be nothing more than the usual reason gone wrong, and eventually everything will reset to situation normal.

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If that's correct, and I don't have any facts about it, there is probably only one outcome and that is thousands ( ? hundreds of thousands ) of people left destitute and going to Bkk to do one of those long protests they used to do years ago. It can only end in tears.

When the government has elections, throwing thousands of citizens into poverty isn't going to help their popularity.

If it does lead to large scale strife, the western tourist demographic will decline, regardless of hotels open or not. No tourist willingly visits a country in chaos. Probably won't affect Chinese package tourism though. They seem to mainly stay in the big hotels in Chiang Mai, which I doubt are going to be closing over this.

I could add lots, but it would all be supposition.

Whatever, this is either a cunning plan to bring about a radically different tourism market, or it's a total breakdown of government that has no idea of the consequences of its actions.

However, given long experience of LOS, it could be nothing more than the usual reason gone wrong, and eventually everything will reset to situation normal.

Well thought out!  Having said that and having been here less than two years issues like this don't bode well for us staying here. The government seems to have it's head up it's ass in many ways. They cant  even install cameras that would get a handle on traffic law enforcement or realize the cash cow it would be in such a lawless nation. There is rampant corruption that literally effects every person in the country regularly. The fact that farang are almost always looked to be at fault and the outward racism toward certain demographics. I am putting it all together and it's not a pretty site. LOS puts on a good face to attract 35M tourists per year and maybe that is the problem. Thinking about packing it in very soon.

I don't think there's a centralised thought and control authority to do anything in Thailand. Prayut wakes up sometimes and vocalizes an idea. That becomes 'policy'.

I think that what is happening now is one person/authority misunderstanding an ambiguous government policy or order.

The people who feel Thais are out to get us are seriously underestimating Thai incompetence.

Sent from my CPH1701 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

4 hours ago, JAZZDOG said:

Thought you stated 300 licensed in the nation?

Yes

3 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Nonsense, there were there already in 2010

Nonsense there were not

13 minutes ago, BestB said:

Nonsense there were not

Here an article from Jan 2013:

 

https://www.siam-legal.com/thailand-law/hotel-business-in-thailand/

 

So 2016 and Prayut did it, is completely false information.

30 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Here an article from Jan 2013:

 

https://www.siam-legal.com/thailand-law/hotel-business-in-thailand/

 

So 2016 and Prayut did it, is completely false information.

Hotel Act 2004-amend. followed by Hotel Act 2016-amend. 8/2016.

But it doesn't really matter because those writing and enforcing this amendment don't have common sense enough to know that they are condemning ALL but 300 out of over 20,000 businesses. That is insanity on a grand scale considering that to save face the genus behind this clusterf*%k will continue for quite awhile in this madness until they are reeled in.

39 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Here an article from Jan 2013:

 

https://www.siam-legal.com/thailand-law/hotel-business-in-thailand/

 

So 2016 and Prayut did it, is completely false information.

This is not a quote from the act but a reference from a law firm, very big difference. Prior to 2016 hotel license was not needed for under 50 rooms.

 

So Prayut did it is completely accurate information 

 

 

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If that's correct, and I don't have any facts about it, there is probably only one outcome and that is thousands ( ? hundreds of thousands ) of people left destitute and going to Bkk to do one of those long protests they used to do years ago. It can only end in tears.

When the government has elections, throwing thousands of citizens into poverty isn't going to help their popularity.

If it does lead to large scale strife, the western tourist demographic will decline, regardless of hotels open or not. No tourist willingly visits a country in chaos. Probably won't affect Chinese package tourism though. They seem to mainly stay in the big hotels in Chiang Mai, which I doubt are going to be closing over this.

I could add lots, but it would all be supposition.

Whatever, this is either a cunning plan to bring about a radically different tourism market, or it's a total breakdown of government that has no idea of the consequences of its actions.

However, given long experience of LOS, it could be nothing more than the usual reason gone wrong, and eventually everything will reset to situation normal.

The domino effect if happens could be like a nuke .

 

no tourists , no jobs for staff, no jobs for staff, restaurants can not sell food, shops can not sell things, factory does not produce as no buyers. People defaulting on their loans , bike / car repayments. And keeps on going.

 

If reset pushed not soon enough, it might be too late and I doubt anyone who got burned in this raids would invest again in hope it will be ok this time around.

 

many will not have funds even if they wanted too.

 

5 minutes ago, BestB said:

The domino effect if happens could be like a nuke .

 

no tourists , no jobs for staff, no jobs for staff, restaurants can not sell food, shops can not sell things, factory does not produce as no buyers. People defaulting on their loans , bike / car repayments. And keeps on going.

 

If reset pushed not soon enough, it might be too late and I doubt anyone who got burned in this raids would invest again in hope it will be ok this time around.

 

many will not have funds even if they wanted too.

 

Not to mention many if not most owners lease, don't own  the properties. So now the owners have properties producing no income, no taxes, without any demand. Basically these properties become worthless. These are some of the wealthiest people in the country not so happy. Political suicide at it's best. And I thought Trump was a moron, LOL.

22 minutes ago, BestB said:

This is not a quote from the act but a reference from a law firm, very big difference. Prior to 2016 hotel license was not needed for under 50 rooms.

 

So Prayut did it is completely accurate information 

 

 

What are you blabbering about, the article from 2013, referenced to the rule, so it was there already. You can't reference to something which comes 3 years later.