Billion baht luxury villa on Samui doesn't have a hotel license

[webfact]

Billion baht luxury villa on Samui doesn't have a hotel license

 

Picture: Naew Na

 

Thai authorities descended on a luxury villa yesterday after complaints that it was operating as a hotel without a license and not paying tax. 

 

The property is a set of 23 individual villas on 70 rai of land on Cherng Mon hill in Bo Phut. The five star facility is worth a billion baht, reported Naew Na and was built in 2011. 

 

Picture: Naew Na

 

Rentals go for 30,000 to 130,000 a night. 

 

Each villa is separately owned and the whole property is run by a company like a hotel with a percentage of the profits going to the owners. 

 

The manager of the company running the business will be further interviewed today after a raid by military, protection agencies and customs yesterday. 

 

Complaints had been received by the hoteliers' association on the holiday island that the facility was unfairly impacting their members and the economy by not having a license and not paying the required amount of tax for a hotel. 

 

Source: Naew Na

 

 

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[nev]

Some serious tax is being avoided if the daily rental prices are true.

One big brown envelope is needed to get out of this.

[ezzra]

I remember the same article appearing like last year the same vila and the same topic, is someone rehashing news now?...

[GeorgeCross]

looks like hotel assoc. trying to shut down villa rentals on the island. begs the question though do any hotels there provide luxury 4+ bedroom villas to rent? because totally different demographic and unlikely to drive their customers to them and in fact could be construed as detrimental to samui?

 

i mean hard to market yourself as a luxury boutique island if dont have luxury boutique accomodation! (and no, a hotel room doesnt cut it at this level lol)

[Denim]

So all the other hotels combined on the Island are losing 23 nightly rentals between them ? Pretty small ' impacting '.

 

Still....wrong is wrong. Get  a license and pay taxes. 

[ThomasThBKK]

18 minutes ago, Denim said:

So all the other hotels combined on the Island are losing 23 nightly rentals between them ? Pretty small ' impacting '.

 

Still....wrong is wrong. Get  a license and pay taxes. 

Not possible to get a hotel license for this. 

[wendyfromoz]

why is the military still policing the country after a post coup election.

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, wendyfromoz said:

why is the military still policing the country after a post coup election.

 

Unless your question is rhetorical, Google RTP and you'll have an answer!

[brain150]

What has a villa in common with a hotel ?

... just because it is rented out doesn't make it a hotel.

[Chang_paarp]

6 hours ago, nev said:

Some serious tax is being avoided if the daily rental prices are true.

One big brown envelope is needed to get out of this.

Not sure envelopes are going to cut on this case, even A2 envelopes will not meet the need, think cake boxes, wedding cake boxes.

[Tropicalevo]

6 hours ago, Denim said:

So all the other hotels combined on the Island are losing 23 nightly rentals between them ? Pretty small ' impacting '.

 

Still....wrong is wrong. Get  a license and pay taxes. 

Try looking at the larger picture.

 

If you knew anything at all about Samui, you would know that there are thousands of villas offering accommodation, with hundreds more under construction.

 

They have a very large impact on the hotel business on the island. Hotels are empty and villas are not.

 

Your last line is 100% correct though. Well said.

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Unless your question is rhetorical, Google RTP and you'll have an answer!

To expand a bit:

• Officials and police may at any time descend on the hotel premises to check its license status. If the hotel manager can’t provide evidence showing that the hotel has permission to operate, he is questioned at the local police station, charged with illegally running a hotel and warned that if the hotel continued with its services an arrest would be made.
• Illegal hoteliers are subject to a jail sentence for up to one year and a fine of up to THB 20,000. They can also be fined THB 10,000 daily if they continue to run their business illegally.

https://pugnatorius.com/hotel-license/

[justin case]

soon AIRBNB will be outlawed

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, brain150 said:

What has a villa in common with a hotel ?

... just because it is rented out doesn't make it a hotel.

Information on this is not consistent and is confusing.

 

There are a number of different types of licence that one can apply for. I wonder if it is lazy reporting and the headline should read

"Billion baht luxury villa on Samui doesn't have a villa/pool license"

[sammieuk1]

Billion Baht where can one find these gullible owners????

[ThomasThBKK]

2 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Information on this is not consistent and is confusing.

 

There are a number of different types of licence that one can apply for. I wonder if it is lazy reporting and the headline should read

"Billion baht luxury villa on Samui doesn't have a villa/pool license"

No such thing.

 

You could try to get an exemption certificate but only for smaller villas 4rooms max.

[NCC1701A]

"OK Lady. Everybody you see here gets their own villa. That leaves you with 16."

 

[ThomasThBKK]

From the photos it seems to be https://www.samujana.com/ ?

[PoorSucker]

21 minutes ago, justin case said:

soon AIRBNB will be outlawed

It is already for rentals under one month. 

[GeorgeCross]

this place IS the poster child for villa rental operations here. if they remain taking bookings after today it will say a LOT about law enforcement on Samui.

 

watch this space.

 

and if they do shut down operations there is gonna be a lot of puckered <deleted> on this island.

 

 

 

 

[PoorSucker]

29 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

To expand a bit:

• Officials and police may at any time descend on the hotel premises to check its license status. If the hotel manager can’t provide evidence showing that the hotel has permission to operate, he is questioned at the local police station, charged with illegally running a hotel and warned that if the hotel continued with its services an arrest would be made.
• Illegal hoteliers are subject to a jail sentence for up to one year and a fine of up to THB 20,000. They can also be fined THB 10,000 daily if they continue to run their business illegally.

https://pugnatorius.com/hotel-license/

I think Baerboxer meant that the military is there because the RTP on Samui does not do anything, they are just collecting bribes. 

[Tropicalevo]

31 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

No such thing.

 

You could try to get an exemption certificate but only for smaller villas 4rooms max.

How strange. I am continually amazed at the knowledge of TV experts.

 

Here is a copy of a villa/pool licence that I am told 'no such thing' Most of my customers have these for their villas

 

As I said " Information on this is not consistent and is confusing. "

[Tropicalevo]

25 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

From the photos it seems to be https://www.samujana.com/ ?

It is - as fully reported in the Bkk post

[PoorSucker]

7 hours ago, Denim said:

So all the other hotels combined on the Island are losing 23 nightly rentals between them ? Pretty small ' impacting '.

 

Still....wrong is wrong. Get  a license and pay taxes. 

A simple search, one site offers 1400 private rentals on Samui 

Not saying they all are illegal, but... 

[GeorgeCross]

5 minutes ago, PoorSucker said:

A simple search, one site offers 1400 private rentals on Samui 

 

and only 2 people following this thread 

 

hahaha the blissfully unaware..

 

 

[churchill]

A private villa rental is not the same as a company running 23 villas on a managed estate and for  the cost of these villas and prices charged I think a hotel license should be obtained .

[ukrules]

7 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Not possible to get a hotel license for this. 

For good reason, it's not a hotel.

[Tropicalevo]

5 minutes ago, churchill said:

A private villa rental is not the same as a company running 23 villas on a managed estate and for  the cost of these villas and prices charged I think a hotel license should be obtained .

You are probably correct but trying to understand the rules........ it boggles ones mind.

 

The managed estate makes it tricky, but each villa having a different owner is also tricky. I know of other 'estates' similar to this one and some of them are expecting a call from 'someone in authority' soon. Let us see what happens.

 

Regardless of Samujana, life on the island is moving towards proper regulation of rentals and tax payments for holiday lets. I believe that if you rent out anything - you need a licence. Rent out one room, one villa, part time/full time, etc etc you need a licence of some sort. Two if you have a pool. The exception is long term rentals. Then you need a lease!

 

In my quest to 'do the right thing' I have come across the following

 

Hotel License

Guest house License

Villa License

Environmental License

Non-hotel License

Pool License

[Burma Bill]

1 hour ago, justin case said:

soon AIRBNB will be outlawed

Yes indeed if the Thai authorities (and others worldwide) really get their act together to stop blatant avoidance of tax, health and safety issues and hotel/immigration registration among others. The Chinese buying condos in Thailand are a good example.

[churchill]

10 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

The managed estate makes it tricky, but each villa having a different owner is also tricky. I know of other 'estates' similar to this one and some of them are expecting a call from 'someone in authority' soon. Let us see what happens.

 

There are many 'estates' where some owners rent villas and other villas are occupied by their owners or not rented  .... In that case it would be up to each villa owner to obtain the correct license ..

 

But where a whole estate is being managed as a business for owners who bought as an investment then I think it correct that a full hotel licence is obtained .

 

I expect there are some investment projects that have gone through the correct process and obtained a Hotel Licence if needed ... 

 

A hotel license is in place to protect the environment and guests .. so not a bad thing .

 

It should be a level playing field