Residents of luxury condo want action as foreigners allowed to stay on daily rent

[webfact]

Residents of luxury condo want action as foreigners allowed to stay on daily rent

 

Picture: Manager

 

The issue of foreign visitors staying in condos on daily rental agreements has been raised again in Bangkok. 

 

A group of tenants went to Manager to complain after they discovered that owners in their building near the Sam Yan intersection on Rama IV were contravening condominium rules.

 

A sting was set up and foreigners were seen using methods to get round fingerprint scanners to enter the luxury building. 

 

The juristic person had previously put out notices reminding owners that offering rooms on platforms like AirBnB on a daily basis was illegal.

 

They threatened that people contravening such rules would have their water cut and be fined 5,000 baht. 

 

Now a tenants' group is demanding that the Bang Rak police take action against the condo committee whose chief they say is a "man in khaki" who refuses to accept there is a problem. 

 

Their complaints have fallen on deaf ears. They claim that opening the condo up to daily rent is unsafe whether it is Thai or foreign tourists staying at in their building.

 

The building concerned was not named in the Manager story. 

 

Source: Manager

 

 

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[quandow]

Gotta admit, I hate those temp renters. While not exactly a "luxury" condo, I was staying in a place that was supposed to be long term only. The <deleted> owners of the room next to mine would rent out to loud one-week-or-so tenants. Obnoxious loud, even the noisy sex was uninspired and really annoying.

[rkidlad]

My condo used to have this problem but they really cracked down on it. Now when I do see foreigners around they're longer-term renters. 

 

I remember the days when foreigners would stay daily/weekly, etc. So many would just hang around the gym or pool all day taking up space. They weren't badly behaved, but they were treating the place like a resort. Whereas when us owners use the pool and gym, etc, we get in and we get out. Let other people use the facilities. 

 

Glad to see them gone. 

 

[likewise]

lol, it is called doing business.

[SpokaneAl]

My wife and I rented a condo in Jomtien for two weeks in January. We have rented another in Hua Hin for two weeks next January. Certainly have no interest in staying longer nor buying. Does that make us bad people?

[manarak]

1 minute ago, SpokaneAl said:

My wife and I rented a condo in Jomtien for two weeks in January. We have rented another in Hua Hin for two weeks next January. Certainly have no interest in staying longer nor buying. Does that make us bad people?

certainly not.

 

and prohibiting short term rent is an unacceptable cut into property rights.

[yokat]

I stayed long term at a "building near the Sam Yan intersection on Rama IV" (Ideo Q). I remember a sign saying daily and weekly rental were not allowed and owner were encouraged to report abuses.

Those building have so many units that it's impossible for the staff to differentiate between genuine residents moving in and weekly tourists.

[edgarfriendly]

is there a 7 day minimum or is this the ridiculous minimum 1 month nonsense?

[asiaexpat]

52 minutes ago, likewise said:

lol, it is called doing business.

So is extortion and false advertising, but all are illegal and cause harm. 

[asiaexpat]

5 minutes ago, edgarfriendly said:

is there a 7 day minimum or is this the ridiculous minimum 1 month nonsense?

Read your condo rules, most follow the Hotel Law that forbids condo rentals for less than 30 days. It is not nonsense but a security issue.

[asiaexpat]

23 minutes ago, manarak said:

certainly not.

 

and prohibiting short term rent is an unacceptable cut into property rights.

Those renting condos for less than 30 days are subject to eviction in most cases. As to property rights, how about other owners that live there and deserve security and use of common areas without crowds of short term partiers and holiday makers. The condo is their home, not a hotel.

[Maverell]

13 minutes ago, asiaexpat said:

Those renting condos for less than 30 days are subject to eviction in most cases. As to property rights, how about other owners that live there and deserve security and use of common areas without crowds of short term partiers and holiday makers. The condo is their home, not a hotel.

 

[wgdanson]

1 hour ago, quandow said:

even the noisy sex was uninspired and really annoying

Then you should have stopped doing it.   LOL

[ParadiseLost]

1 hour ago, likewise said:

lol, it is called doing business.

How would you and the rest of the narcissists here react if you owned a condo and the guy next door decided to raise chickens, or pigs, or introduce any other anti-social element that infringes on your peace of mind, and property value...

 

Do you even own property?

[utalkin2me]

Thailand can do what they like, but I do not see how you cannot escort person(s) to your own property!

 

If you are overseas and not there to personally take someone into your property, I can see that. 

 

I fail to see how it is enforceable though when an owner escorts renters to a property, airbnb or not. 

[JTXR]

My condo, which I rent by the year, has a big poster in the lobby of each of the two buildings saying short-term rentals are illegal.  Nevertheless, the number of short-term "visitors" is continually increasing.  I can find two listed on AirBnB, and God only knows how many are listed on the equivalent Chinese sites.  The inability (or unwillingness) of police and condo management to enforce the law is at the top of the list of reasons I would never buy a condo in Thailand.

[Maverell]

9 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

Thailand can do what they like, but I do not see how you cannot escort person(s) to your own property!

 

If you are overseas and not there to personally take someone into your property, I can see that. 

 

I fail to see how it is enforceable though when an owner escorts renters to a property, airbnb or not. 

I used to live in a condo in On Nut where they  actually enforced the rule. See the image I posted above.  The juristic staff and security staff were applauded. We were fed up with groups of young westerners coming for a week at a time, partying all night, no respect for others, making a terrible mess in and around the pool etc. It stopped after one owner was dealt with (I have no idea how but can guess) and the message to other owners was clear.

[moe666]

1 hour ago, SpokaneAl said:

My wife and I rented a condo in Jomtien for two weeks in January. We have rented another in Hua Hin for two weeks next January. Certainly have no interest in staying longer nor buying. Does that make us bad people?

Get a hotel room, you are probably not saving anything on one of these. Stayed here in CM for a few days when a friend came to visit. They charged me 500b for cleaning when no cleaning is done until you leave, the cleaning should be part of there business. Never again very much the rip off, also no interaction with front desk as they had nothing to do with the rental. The funny thing about the condo I rented was that they had apartments all over the world listed on there brochure, this was a big business fronting as a one off owner.

[Psimbo]

Absolutely right- I hate the ten day 'but we are on holiday' bogans (insert other country of choice as req'd) who treat a place with contempt and have total disregard for the rights and quality of life for legal, long term, residents. 

[ricklev]

3 minutes ago, moe666 said:

Get a hotel room, you are probably not saving anything on one of these. Stayed here in CM for a few days when a friend came to visit. They charged me 500b for cleaning when no cleaning is done until you leave, the cleaning should be part of there business. Never again very much the rip off, also no interaction with front desk as they had nothing to do with the rental. The funny thing about the condo I rented was that they had apartments all over the world listed on there brochure, this was a big business fronting as a one off owner.

There is a bit of learning curve on how to use Airbnb.  The cleaning charges are upfront before you pay and you can avoid the excessive ones. Some play games with a low rent and high cleaning charge and I avoid them.  Reviews and checking other properties listed by the same member are also useful.  I use it all the time in Chiang Mai with great results and much better experiences than hotels.  

[welovesundaysatspace]

“luxury condo” lol. There are no luxury condos in Bangkok. Wireless 98 maybe, but all the rest is shoeboxes stuffed with IKEA furniture. They just think they can charge you luxury prices for it because it’s new and looks nice on the surface. 

 

At least I now understand why my condo installed a fingerprint reader (which fails to work 50% of the time, of course, and is driving everyone crazy). On top of my elevator keycard and my separate door keycard, that’s the third security measure now. Completely insane, especially after that door to the lifts was wide open for a year before they installed the fingerprint reader. And I’ll definitely not give them my fingerprints. 

[mok199]

 

50 minutes ago, ParadiseLost said:

How would you and the rest of the narcissists here react if you owned a condo and the guy next door decided to raise chickens, or pigs, or introduce any other anti-social element that infringes on your peace of mind, and property value...

 

Do you even own property?

Chcikens and pigs is a stretch sir...but , how would you feel if the owners who rented their units weekly, stopped paying their maintainance fees and the burden of upkeep was left on you and a few others who lived in the building...The perfect long term tenant is hard to find,mabey weekly rentals with a strong committee and funds is better than a once beautyfull swimming pool ,now a birdbath......I hear where you are coming from and in my building we are at this moment discussing this issue....I own and live in my unit with my family ...have a good day sir.

[from the home of CC]

1 hour ago, SpokaneAl said:

My wife and I rented a condo in Jomtien for two weeks in January. We have rented another in Hua Hin for two weeks next January. Certainly have no interest in staying longer nor buying. Does that make us bad people?

Already two condos in Hua Hin have been through the legal system and owners fined. Any rental period less than 1 month is illegal. So, it makes you a law breaker and you are disrupting the life of residents that actually live there and  you're lowering the property value of their homes by turning their building into a short time hotel. Get a real hotel room, nobody wants you moving in and out and disturbing them. You're probably not being registered at immigration (for owners do not want to pay taxes on their illegal/unreported income) which is also violating the law. You may not be bad people but you're basically telling Thailand that their laws don't apply to you, and the issue is that they do.  

[PingRoundTheWorld]

What's hilarious to me is that all these owners demanding a stop to Airbnb don't realize that Airbnb is (was) inflating rental prices - and property values with them. By putting a stop to it they are literally lowering their property value, resale prospects, ability to rent, and rental prices. Simple supply and demand - reduce demand, prices follow.

 

As a renter I'm actually looking forward to moving into a nicer place at the same or lower price in the future. Thank you anti-Airbnb folks! Hate the fingerprint scanners with a passion though - what an utterly stupid and annoying device.

[BobBKK]

It's against the law of Thailand unless the condo is registered as a hotel (condotel). Easy to fix.

See the JP and tell them you will be going to LO and report them if they do not take action. The JP is the only one legally responsible for the condo.

[from the home of CC]

25 minutes ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

What's hilarious to me is that all these owners demanding a stop to Airbnb don't realize that Airbnb is (was) inflating rental prices - and property values with them. By putting a stop to it they are literally lowering their property value, resale prospects, ability to rent, and rental prices. Simple supply and demand - reduce demand, prices follow.

 

As a renter I'm actually looking forward to moving into a nicer place at the same or lower price in the future. Thank you anti-Airbnb folks! Hate the fingerprint scanners with a passion though - what an utterly stupid and annoying device.

Pure BS, the extra traffic and the lack of care from people who have no vested interest in the building LOWERS property values for the people that actually live there.

[ricklev]

Here is my understanding of the law regarding Airbnb::

 

1.  There is no law against renting a condo for less than a month.  The renter is doing nothing illegal.

 

2.  A lower court ruling defining the hotel act and applying it to Airbnb doesn't create a law against Airbnb in condos.  

 

3.  Airbnb violations by condo owners is a civil law issue about violating condo regulations.

[from the home of CC]

6 minutes ago, ricklev said:

Here is my understanding of the law regarding Airbnb::

 

1.  There is no law against renting a condo for less than a month.  The renter is doing nothing illegal.

 

2.  A lower court ruling defining the hotel act and applying it to Airbnb doesn't create a law against Airbnb in condos.  

 

3.  Airbnb violations by condo owners is a civil law issue about violating condo regulations.

I believe you need to do some research..

 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/06/24/thai-law-case-closed-on-airbnb-heres-why-it-wont-matter/

[ricklev]

12 minutes ago, from the home of CC said:

I believe you need to do some research..

 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/06/24/thai-law-case-closed-on-airbnb-heres-why-it-wont-matter/

I do know the law.  And I know Thai property law professors who disagree with the statement made in that article.  Mainly about how precedent works in Thailand.

 

 

  "Even though the rulings were rendered by a court of the first instance, not by the Supreme Court, they will carry a heavy weight of court precedent to be followed by other courts in similar daily rental cases, the reason being that it’s an open and shut case based on a very clear provision of the Hotels Act."  

 

In any case, the idea that you can go to the police and cite a lower court case as establishing a law they should enforce is not how it works.......

 

Which is not to say that the law functions the same here as in more advanced legal systems. 

 

This not to say if or if not it should be illegal.  

[phetphet]

Guy above me rents out on AirBnB. Constant stream of noisy Chinese. Multiple complaints have not had any affect. one family moves out, and another in. Sounds like they are playing football, shouting and heavy footfall.

 

No more complaints from me. Buying some massive speakers, and gonna put them below their bedrooms, put on some very loud techo in the early hours, and go out somewhere for a beer.

 

Once he starts getting bad reviews, he might start doing something about it.