What is your experience with Airbnb in Thailand (and elsewhere)?

[soistalker]

The main problem is that in my condo in Thailand, there is one condo that rents out on a daily basis. You get creepy foreigners and rude Thais slamming the door and talking loudly in the hallway. I asked one old english creep not to slam the door and he said something about it not being night time so what's the problem. I almost jumped him.

[Kenscot]

15 minutes ago, soistalker said:

The main problem is that in my condo in Thailand, there is one condo that rents out on a daily basis. You get creepy foreigners and rude Thais slamming the door and talking loudly in the hallway. I asked one old english creep not to slam the door and he said something about it not being night time so what's the problem. I almost jumped him.

I agree some behaviour is unacceptable , I feel for you. My condo is full of short term renters, I have many stories that I can tell, many studios are overfilled (some may appear after the actual short term renter  secretly pays cash under the table in the lobbies). 4 adult are common places, on an occasion 4 males were running about naked in the corridors moving form floor to floor using the fire exits to meet up will more Airbnb revellers in other floors. When I approached I was given abusive threatening behaviour. I do not feel safe worrying who will arrive the next day. They would say they were only having fun on holiday, Airbnb is making communities fearful in their own properties. Not to mention the damages that will end up on the owners maintenance fees.  

[Wake Up]

5 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Mate most condos here are 80% empty most days of the year so how can a few airbnb units harm that?

Party all night and puke all morning and don’t know or care about anyone else that lives there permanently.  In Bkk the war against Airbnb is on in condo buildings.  I would never use Airbnb in Bangkok as you are not wanted and it is illegal. Does that answer your question mate?

[Destiny1990]

23 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

Party all night and puke all morning and don’t know or care about anyone else that lives there permanently.  In Bkk the war against Airbnb is on in condo buildings.  I would never use Airbnb in Bangkok as you are not wanted and it is illegal. Does that answer your question mate?

Aha u mean that u don’t puke?

ok i got it..

[grkt]

3 hours ago, Kenscot said:

Read the hotels and condominiums act of Thailand. Short term rentals of private residential condominiums is  illegal. End of!. In Chonburi a Airbnb host are being convicted with penalties of  1000 baht per day per rental. The same has happened in the south with Phuket being more the first are enforce this law. This has been driven by ingrate neighbours the hotels industry, immigration and no doubt the inland revenue as no tax is paid. Not everything that is popular is good. A cheap holiday for one can be at the detriment of a communities. There are many empty hotels use them 

 

 

AirBnB is like weed, illegal, but who cares ?!

Millions people do illegal things everyday and few of them are caught, so I wish that more do it so the rats have less and less chance to catch some.

 

 

 

[MyFriend You]

I am sure there are thousands and thousands of good reviews for Air BnB - I have only used them once in Waikiki, and it was dismal  -  could have gotten a good hotel room for the same price - the apartment was nothing like the pictures, ratty carpeting, bamboo furniture that looks like Pattaya Beer bar customers have been sitting in them for years, no cable TV, only Hulu, if you didn't have a Hulu account, you were screwed, kitchen was fine, had what you needed........haven't used them since.  Wrote a scathing review, with pictures - it was posted for a short while, then removed by Owner (how is that possible??) of course Air BnB had nothing to say about that.  I would try again, but not in Hawaii.

[Canuckabroad]

I use Airbnb all the time.  Most of my experiences have been good, a few have not.  It’s about the same ratio as my experiences with hotels, except Airbnb customer service give me refunds and credits when I complain.

 

Airbnb is cheaper than hotels and more expensive than leasing an apartment.  When I visit a country I like being able to stay in a residential area, in an apartment building or townhouse, for a few weeks before trying a new neighbourhood.  I read the reviews carefully and usually don’t have any surprises.  If there are bugs, bad facilities, or it otherwise isn’t as advertised, I call up Airbnb and they will refund me and pay for a hotel for the night.

 

I never rent shared accommodations, only entire apartments, so I never have trouble bringing a date home.  (I skip listings that day “no guests”.)  But overall I’m a quiet a respectful guest and the reviews I get on Airbnb reflect that (reviews work both ways).

 

Not every Airbnb host is honest and not every guest is quiet.  The cheaper the place is, the more likely you are to have problems.  Reading other posts on here I can understand why you wouldn’t want the condo next to yours being rented out on Airbnb.

[Rimmer]

A flame and reply has been removed

[sandyf]

On 6/27/2018 at 9:33 AM, dotpoom said:

Strange...I would have thought that accomodation like hotels, condos, rooms, etc., are so cheap here that Airbnb wouldn't be necessary?

It is not about the cost, more to do with residential accommodation as opposed to hotel type accommodation.

 

I have used them 3 times in the last 6 months, 1 in Thailand and 2 in UK( Sheffield and the north of Scotland), all very satisfactory.

The one in Scotland was particularly good, a well furnished apartment at about half the price of a B&B.

[sandyf]

19 hours ago, Kenscot said:

I agree some behaviour is unacceptable , I feel for you. My condo is full of short term renters, I have many stories that I can tell, many studios are overfilled (some may appear after the actual short term renter  secretly pays cash under the table in the lobbies). 4 adult are common places, on an occasion 4 males were running about naked in the corridors moving form floor to floor using the fire exits to meet up will more Airbnb revellers in other floors. When I approached I was given abusive threatening behaviour. I do not feel safe worrying who will arrive the next day. They would say they were only having fun on holiday, Airbnb is making communities fearful in their own properties. Not to mention the damages that will end up on the owners maintenance fees.  

That is the way of the world, it is not new and not unique to Thailand or Airbnb.

I have had a timeshare since 1985 and have been to many developments around Europe and here in Thailand. It is common practice for new developments to let out unsold units to holiday companies, friction between owners and holidaymakers is an age old problem.

Don't get me wrong, what you are experiencing is totally unacceptable and a resolution needs to be found, with holiday companies it was fairly easy to take the matter direct to the company concerned but with the Airbnb type setup it is a little bit more difficult. The company themselves are tied up in privacy laws that protect the owner and customer so the only hope would be that they recognise the problem and introduce some form of external complaints procedure which could result in memberships being terminated. As far as condos are concerned I would have thought that the condo management could take some form of action against the owners.

I do not really see the licencing law as an effective weapon, you may just end up with the same scenario for 30 days at a time, again it is in the hands of the owner to police the bookings.

 

[Kenscot]

6 hours ago, sandyf said:

That is the way of the world, it is not new and not unique to Thailand or Airbnb.

I have had a timeshare since 1985 and have been to many developments around Europe and here in Thailand. It is common practice for new developments to let out unsold units to holiday companies, friction between owners and holidaymakers is an age old problem.

Don't get me wrong, what you are experiencing is totally unacceptable and a resolution needs to be found, with holiday companies it was fairly easy to take the matter direct to the company concerned but with the Airbnb type setup it is a little bit more difficult. The company themselves are tied up in privacy laws that protect the owner and customer so the only hope would be that they recognise the problem and introduce some form of external complaints procedure which could result in memberships being terminated. As far as condos are concerned I would have thought that the condo management could take some form of action against the owners.

I do not really see the licencing law as an effective weapon, you may just end up with the same scenario for 30 days at a time, again it is in the hands of the owner to police the bookings.

 

 

[Kenscot]

Thank you for your reply I read with interest. I am not sure if there are any unsold units being rented out, but I will try to finds out. As the developer actually lives in the penthouse I would say no, but who knows. Although, I have always wondered what influence he still has over juristic.

 

Believe me I have tried my hardest to complain to Airbnb and all the other booking website. Without a booking reference they really are not interested, Airbnb neighbours website is a total waste of time. I did get through to Booking.com headquarters in Holland, again they did not want to hear. I guess they already know what is happening and realise illegal condo rentals is revenue, even although it has a detriment effect on legitimate hotel which are also there customers.

 

People must complain to the appropriate authorities, it is only government that has the power to effect these companies that hide behind the internet, although it has been reported that a letter has been sent by the Thai government to Airbnb but no reply has yet been received (Fab.tv).

On a brighter note the UK government CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) 28/6 launches enforcement action against a number of hotel booking site that it believes may be breaking consumer protection law. This include pricing policies, discount claims and miss information. The selling of rooms in defiance of  countries laws must surely be against the consumer!! There is a online case page on their web page which I will certainly be adding my comments - www.gov.uk/goverment/news/cma-launches-enforcement-action-against-hotels-booking-sites. 

Again the police and immigration in Thailand are now taking action after a lot of lobbying by the hotels association. This is a big problem to tackle in Thailand but there are great financial reward.

 

rgds 

[Lancashirelad]

In the very early days of Airbnb I tried to book a homestay in semi rural Thailand owned by a farang & his Thai wife. A nice looking modern home, offers to be shown around locally, etc. I sent a politely worded enquiry, they never responded. I followed up, still no response. Gave Airbnb up as a bad job.