Unregistered hotels and lodgings told to get their paperwork in order, or close down

By The Thaiger

 

 

At least 5,000 of the country’s estimated 23,000 unregistered small hotels are expected to get their paperwork in order. The rush to action follows the announcement by the current government to register and comply with the Hotel Act, or be closed down.

 

Most of Thailand’s busy tourist spots are rampant with small and illegal lodgings for tourists. Whilst the growth of registered hotels has rushed to keep pace with the rising tourist numbers, so too has been the rise of unlicensed properties in Thailand’s hot tourist spots.

 

The order was made through the controversial Article 44 powers which doesn’t provide for debate or parliamentary endorsement. When announced last week the Thai PM said the order was aimed at bringing illegal hotels and accommodation service providers under better control and boost safety and reliability for guests.

 

The order will require smaller, unregistered accommodations to comply with the same regulations as properly registered hotels – building regulations, room sizes, the amount of fire extinguishers required, fire escapes, standards of accommodation, accounting standards, etc. The government says there will be a period given – up to 90 days – for properties to operate whilst they get their compliance and standards up to date.

 

Authorities are also reportedly planning amendments of the Hotel Act to bring room-sharing platforms like Airbnb under a legislative framework. Currently the act allows accommodation offerings with less than four rooms to operate without a hotel licence.

 

A law-firm has, in English, gone through the steps needed for unregistered accommodation to comply with the Hotel Act….

 

How to obtain a hotel license in due course

 

A hotel is defined under the Hotel Act 2004 as any business providing paid accommodation for less than a month, irrespectively of the number or capacity of the rooms. Even the smallest villa and a one-bedroom condominium unit can qualify as a hotel under the law. However, the Hotel Act legitimises ministerial regulations to regulate this otherwise.

 

To successfully apply for a hotel business application, in general, these seven steps are required:

 

Step 1: Is the business exempted under the 4-20 privilege? An application is only needed if (i) the business qualifies as a hotel and (ii) such hotel is not license-free. Under the Ministerial Regulation 2008, a hotel license is not required if the business

 

• has not more than four rooms on all floors in all buildings,
• has a total service capacity of no more than twenty guests,
• qualifies as a small business which provides an additional source of income for the owner, and
• reports its daily rental business to the government (hotel registrar).

 

If the business is in-line with these requirements, it is unclear whether it does not qualify as a hotel (“no hotel”) or whether it is a license-free hotel business (“type-zero hotel”). The latest court decisions seem to favor the latter interpretation.

 

Type 0: hotels which are exempted from certain requirements including the need to obtain a hotel business license,

Type 1: hotels providing accommodation only, the number of rooms does not exceed fifty, the size of each room is not less than eight square meters,

Type 2: hotels providing accommodation and catering or restaurant services, the size of each room is not less than eight square meters,

Type 3: hotels giving accommodation, catering or restaurant services, the size of each room is not less than 14 square meters, and which has either conference rooms or entertainment venues which under the Place of Service Act could be a place for dancing, bars, and nightclubs or spa,

Type 4: hotels providing accommodation, catering or restaurant services, conference rooms, and entertainment venues, the size of each room is not less than 14 square meters.

For Type 3 and 4 hotels, no entertainment venues will be allowed unless these hotels have more than 80 rooms, are located in entertainment areas, or serve food, alcohol or entertainment only, and have opening hours after midnight.

 

You can read a full explanation about compliance with the Thai Hotel Act HERE.

 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/unregistered-hotels-and-lodgings-told-to-get-their-paperwork-in-order-or-close-down

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2019-06-22

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10 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Authorities are also reportedly planning amendments of the Hotel Act to bring room-sharing platforms like Airbnb under a legislative framework.

ok... so we wait ?

My wife has an airbnb , there is nothing clear about what to do. If we need to have an hotel license i heard it takes forever to get one and i guess it will be even more difficult if everyone rushes to do it.

 

Just tell us what we need to do clearly....

Quote

The order will require smaller, unregistered accommodations to comply with the same regulations as properly registered hotels – building regulations, room sizes, the amount of fire extinguishers required, fire escapes, standards of accommodation, accounting standards, etc.

The building license is simply impossible to get for many and this is the reason many did/could not comply. I don't see the point of this Article 44 as it is simply recycling previous information. The problem is that simply the building license is a newer requirement and came in after many places were already built for quite some years. All very well telling people to put their paperwork in order, but if your stairs are only 1m wide and need to be 1.5m wide, not much you can do about it.

in short pay up or close up... 

How exciting, I  love a good  read and it  looks  like it runs to possibly several volumes so as not to disappoint, yours  excited ( extreme sarcasm "on")

The message is loud and clear. Thailand does not want quality visitors. If you get an invitation to visit a person who lives in Thailand (whether they are a Thai or non-Thai citizen), you and they are breaking the law if your staying in their home is not reported immediately within 24 hours to the police or immigration.

 

If you decide to arrive in Thailand and then cross over to Laos for a visit, then back to Thailand and criss over to Myanmar and back, you will have used up the two visa exemptions. As a quality tourist, you will have to go to a Thai consulate to obtain a visa, taking two days and costing 2,000 baht. It will probably take longer because, as a tourist, you will not know that you have to book the consulate visit in advance online, bring photos, bring other paperwork etc.

 

Once a few quality tourists find this out, they will tell everyone, "don't come to Thailand - they don't want you."

Ya, like getting 10 year old vans off the roads and all the other government and regulatory compliance announcements, just wait a few weeks and the noise and scrutiny on the topic at hand quietly goes away ...................... surpassed by the next do nothing compliance or regulatory announcement........... unless it Immigration related of course involving those pesky Farangs living in thailand, then it full steam ahead!

 

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Authorities are also reportedly planning amendments of the Hotel Act to bring room-sharing platforms like Airbnb under a legislative framework. Currently the act allows accommodation offerings with less than four rooms to operate without a hotel licence.

 

so smaller properties have 90 days to comply with regulations that haven't even been amended yet?

 

????

 

I thought that any new Article 44 powers were abolished after the new so-called democratically elected government was formed..

Sounds like everything is still same same as before, where the faux par elected PM is still making his own firm rules without any outside consultation.. 

You gotta love this article 44, so basically article 44 means article 1 to 43 can be scrapped, haha

Like this. Former governments did nothing but look the other way ..Brown envelope no longer rules in this domain

Will be interesting to watch if all this happens before or after all the illegal buildings in the Walking Street are removed... For newcomers - a story that came again and again during the last decades. In all my time here I have seen many announcements. Let's watch this one. 

Edited June 22, 20197 yr by Beggar

It is the bureaucracy which kills all this - and it is done on purpose. Unregistered hotels, restaurants etc. can be creamed for the little brown envelopes.

I had a fully licensed restaurant with alcohol, tobacco and food selling license, a license to play music in public, a license to have light boxes installed on my property, another license for setting up road markers off my property. The social security insurance registration and updating was next, the department of public health came to "inspect", the fire brigade and the electricity works .......

Godforsaken endless bureaucracy, everybody said something else, no standards and everybody said "can do easy". I outsourced all this to my accountant who managed to keep all those licenses valid and it took all those crooked offices a year or more to realize that in my restaurant was everything above board and no baksish could be collected.

I sold my restaurant - the lord be praised for that - never again any business in Thailand.

With a hotel or guest house it must be much worse - a suicidal parcours through contradictory rules, instructions, forms and clowns who have not the slightest clue of what happens next door.

All this is really really bad for small family run guesthouses.....They could end up with a business in ruins......

 

Folks the requirements that need to be met to get the licence are breathtaking long.....The ones listed on this post are just a few of them...

 

New 5 star hotels are about the only hotels that can meet all the requirements....

CM has a couple of newish condos that are basically a cover for Airbnb. How do you know? By all the Chinese and the few Caucasian’s coming and going. How they will be able to deal with this is another subject. If I was to skate around the issue, I would write everyone up for 30 day contracts regardless if they stay for 1-2-3. They can all cancel that and then leave at will, so technically you have abided by the law. 

1 hour ago, owenm said:

I thought that any new Article 44 powers were abolished after the new so-called democratically elected government was formed..

Sounds like everything is still same same as before, where the faux par elected PM is still making his own firm rules without any outside consultation.. 

Nothing has changed the army is still in control and the elections were just a big circus Looks good having a full parliament but they will be just seat warming The little P control the country and he can do whatever he likes

Goodbye Farangs Hello Chinese

500 baht fine and back to business as usual.

There is another order from Prayut, which says if hotels report to amphur with that they were or are doing illegal it will be forgiven and amphurs will advise on what needs to be done to get legal, 3 months amnesty.

 

But interesting to note, in this article is states there are 20 000 hotels but 3000 are illegal, the other week it said around 20 000 are illegal.

2 hours ago, owenm said:

I thought that any new Article 44 powers were abolished after the new so-called democratically elected government was formed..

Sounds like everything is still same same as before, where the faux par elected PM is still making his own firm rules without any outside consultation.. 

It is a bit of a farce. The PM has been elected and even received royal appointment. On the other hand the cabinet and ministers have not been named nor have they received royal endorsement. As a result the junta folk are claiming that the new government is not yet in power, so they are parading around like there was not election, this is why Prawit is making pronouncements and the PM is using Article 44 decrees. The new government should take power when they sort out who holds which position and then if they will or will not resign from parliament. The PM is in no hurry to sort it out as he realising that politics is lot harder than it looked.

I have been visiting Thailand for over thirty years and have been living here many years now but with all these B$ visa rules and reporting every time you [email protected] would-be bottom of my list to visit and would not even make the list for living

3 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

It is the bureaucracy which kills all this - and it is done on purpose. Unregistered hotels, restaurants etc. can be creamed for the little brown envelopes.

I had a fully licensed restaurant with alcohol, tobacco and food selling license, a license to play music in public, a license to have light boxes installed on my property, another license for setting up road markers off my property. The social security insurance registration and updating was next, the department of public health came to "inspect", the fire brigade and the electricity works .......

Godforsaken endless bureaucracy, everybody said something else, no standards and everybody said "can do easy". I outsourced all this to my accountant who managed to keep all those licenses valid and it took all those crooked offices a year or more to realize that in my restaurant was everything above board and no baksish could be collected.

I sold my restaurant - the lord be praised for that - never again any business in Thailand.

With a hotel or guest house it must be much worse - a suicidal parcours through contradictory rules, instructions, forms and clowns who have not the slightest clue of what happens next door.

Sounds the same as in the states for all of the licenses including the monthly health inspection.

1 hour ago, BestB said:

There is another order from Prayut, which says if hotels report to amphur with that they were or are doing illegal it will be forgiven and amphurs will advise on what needs to be done to get legal, 3 months amnesty.

 

But interesting to note, in this article is states there are 20 000 hotels but 3000 are illegal, the other week it said around 20 000 are illegal.

Such a mess. Is a guesthouse allowed to be a guest house any more or must it be a hotel. Many now say they are a hostel.

Can a guest know they have done everything to make Immigration happy if they have registered with an 'illegal' place?

3 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

CM has a couple of newish condos that are basically a cover for Airbnb. How do you know? By all the Chinese and the few Caucasian’s coming and going. How they will be able to deal with this is another subject. If I was to skate around the issue, I would write everyone up for 30 day contracts regardless if they stay for 1-2-3. They can all cancel that and then leave at will, so technically you have abided by the law. 

If you are expecting sympathy for condos expressly built to bypass hotel laws and regulations, you will be sadly disappointed. As will anyone trying to use your contract defense.

1 hour ago, greeneking said:

Such a mess. Is a guesthouse allowed to be a guest house any more or must it be a hotel. Many now say they are a hostel.

Can a guest know they have done everything to make Immigration happy if they have registered with an 'illegal' place?

There is no difference if its a hotel or a guesthouse or a hostel. All require hotel license, but now they have split it into 4 category, so a guesthouse would be category one, but still require hotel license for daily rental, but does not require one for monthly rental and no safety is checked or needed for monthly rentals

 

Illegal is a very lose term. hotels only deemed illegal because it does not have hotel license, it does not mean hotel does not report to immigration.

 

If you are a 30 day tourist, it is highly unlikely anyone will be chasing you down to make sure TM30 was done, different for long term residents who need to extend extend their visa or 90 day reporting

2 hours ago, Ozman52 said:

If you are expecting sympathy for condos expressly built to bypass hotel laws and regulations, you will be sadly disappointed. As will anyone trying to use your contract defense.

No sympathy. If I bought and wanted to live in my condo, I would be quite upset at the Airbnb practice of revolving doors having tourists. I own a house. But the rules state 30 days or more for rental is ok for Airbnb style rentals. So you tell me why I or anyone using it would be disappointed as it is the rule. 

Whats next?

Massage shops reporting falangs getting something more than a massage?

So where’s the oversight and discussion on the Hotel Act in the so called now “democracy”? Section 44 still in effect ? Fake as ever Thailand


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19 hours ago, SlyouThai said:

ok... so we wait ?

My wife has an airbnb , there is nothing clear about what to do. If we need to have an hotel license i heard it takes forever to get one and i guess it will be even more difficult if everyone rushes to do it.

 

Just tell us what we need to do clearly....

What category does your wifes airbnb fall into... send the appropriate application.

If you get a tug by the BiB say the paperwork is at the office... 

16 hours ago, Proboscis said:

The message is loud and clear. Thailand does not want quality visitors. If you get an invitation to visit a person who lives in Thailand (whether they are a Thai or non-Thai citizen), you and they are breaking the law if your staying in their home is not reported immediately within 24 hours to the police or immigration.

 

If you decide to arrive in Thailand and then cross over to Laos for a visit, then back to Thailand and criss over to Myanmar and back, you will have used up the two visa exemptions. As a quality tourist, you will have to go to a Thai consulate to obtain a visa, taking two days and costing 2,000 baht. It will probably take longer because, as a tourist, you will not know that you have to book the consulate visit in advance online, bring photos, bring other paperwork etc.

 

Once a few quality tourists find this out, they will tell everyone, "don't come to Thailand - they don't want you."

Thailand want quality visitors but faces the problem of having too many non quality visitors. The law of reporting foreign visitors isn't a new law, isn't it? It has not been strict enforced in the past. Because of finding many illegal foreigners, the law moved in focus of immigration and got updated with higher fines. A similar story is the visa run, it became such a big problem that Thailand had to change the law.  
The difficulty is to separate the quality visitors, tourists, pensioners and immigrants from the crap.