Seems to be a crackdown on Airbnb in BkK

[Fairynuff]

36 minutes ago, mike787 said:

Another NEGATIVE drawback to visiting Thailand or investing here in condos to rent out.

The law doesn’t prevent you from renting. There are far better ways to invest.

[Ron jeremy]

19 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Does anyone want to know how the Chinese owners get around the 30 day minimum rental problem?

 

If I told you, at least three heads contributing here would explode at the sheer simplicity of it.

There is nothing they can do about it, they can't prove they are renters, just family members and friends. Read the previous post.

put the shoe on the other foot, what if your friend came to visit? Or family member, they can't stay in your condo? 

You made the mistake buying a condo there, live with it.

or leave, simple.

[Ron jeremy]

19 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Does anyone want to know how the Chinese owners get around the 30 day minimum rental problem?

 

If I told you, at least three heads contributing here would explode at the sheer simplicity of it.

There is nothing they can do about it, they can't prove they are renters, just family members and friends. Read the previous post.

put the shoe on the other foot, what if your friend came to visit? Or family member, they can't stay in your condo? 

You made the mistake buying a condo there, live with it.

or leave, simple.

[Fairynuff]

10 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

That's why I visit and was never STUPID enough to to buy anything

Yeah you’re right I should never have bought the numerous condos that all made a decent profit when I sold them. I’m really STUPID for not just renting????

[Fairynuff]

3 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

You made the mistake buying a condo there, live with it.

or leave, simple.

Wrong assumption, none of my condos were mistakes. I AM living with it..... loving it....and NOT leaving, simple

[Capt Rob]

On 12/28/2019 at 4:24 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

Another negative on TH? Really? Then just stay away from TH.

Because most people who live here in condominiums don't like short time rentals in their residential building. That's what hotels are for.

I hope they crack down hard and find the illegal occupants and the people who illegally rent out the apartments. 

A somewhat insensitive response to an understandable dilema facing a holiday booker. Do they know they are flouting the law ? - AirBnB is around the world, they amongst many others also book hotels as well as private folk trying to make a dollar, if you need to vent your spleen that is perhaps a direction to take ? AirBnB will impose a penalty on some cancellations by the 'hosts' such as not allowing a re-booking on that date, but once again the ' guests ' have no way of knowing they are transgressing.

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, Ron jeremy said:

There is nothing they can do about it, they can't prove they are renters, just family members and friends. Read the previous post.

put the shoe on the other foot, what if your friend came to visit? Or family member, they can't stay in your condo? 

You made the mistake buying a condo there, live with it.

or leave, simple.

I think the burden of proof might just be on the owner........

 

You may have followed the, albeit brief (arf arf) , debate on TM30.

 

A simple. 'what is his mothers name?' asked to both parties in separate rooms may blow the friends thing out of the water.

[ChipButty]

11 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

I'm actually hoping they also start fining the renters as well as the owners..

They do if they have not registered a TM 30

[OneMoreFarang]

8 hours ago, Capt Rob said:

A somewhat insensitive response to an understandable dilema facing a holiday booker. Do they know they are flouting the law ? - AirBnB is around the world, they amongst many others also book hotels as well as private folk trying to make a dollar, if you need to vent your spleen that is perhaps a direction to take ? AirBnB will impose a penalty on some cancellations by the 'hosts' such as not allowing a re-booking on that date, but once again the ' guests ' have no way of knowing they are transgressing.

Airbnb booking for anything less than a month in condominiums is illegal in Bangkok (I guess also in the rest of Thailand).

Anybody who wants to visit Thailand could easily find out if they can stay legally. If they don't care if it's legal or not or if they can't be bothered to check then they should not be surprised if things happen which they don't like.

Happy New Year.

 

P.S.: Look at the number of Likes my original comment received. It seems there are many many people here who don't like when short time tourists occupy the condominiums.

Edited January 1, 2020 by OneMoreFarang

[mokwit]

12 hours ago, CygnusX1 said:

A hotel of the same standard as a given condo block will also generally be a lot more expensive.

This is a major issue - I pay to live in a condo in a certain block/location in the hope that with higher prices comes higher standards of conduct and manners. That dynamic is completely short circuited by AirBnB. You are now NOT getting what you paid for thanks to the people who have a right to break the law because it is nice - you get a fridge and whatnot cheaper than if you paid up for a serviced apartment.

 

AirBnB is another of these supposed tech companies that are really just buying market share/taking advantage of the slowness of regulators - it used to be called 'dumping', now it is called 'disruption'.

Edited January 1, 2020 by mokwit

[ChipButty]

It doesn't seem like stopping anytime soon 300+ places to stay on airbnb alone in BKK 

[mokwit]

25 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

It doesn't seem like stopping anytime soon 300+ places to stay on airbnb alone in BKK 

Plus Indian and Chinese sites which seem to be even bigger.

[Elkski]

15 hours ago, Jane Dough said:

Expect worse to come, especially increased prices. Thailand will be introducing land and property taxes that will be particularly onerous on people doing short term lets. The change in the law is one way to penalize the people making a fortune with AirBnB though it has not been billed as that. The increase in taxes will be passed onto the consumer. Soon those praising ABnB will be wishing that hotels would make a resurgence. Just like the Grab and Uber crew will be reminiscing about the glory days of taxis. 

 

Mark my sage words. 

 

Rooster

I think rooster  is correct.  I thought the new tax proposal was specifically to target  hotel competition.    

 

[from the home of CC]

7 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Airbnb booking for anything less than a month in condominiums is illegal in Bangkok (I guess also in the rest of Thailand).

Anybody who wants to visit Thailand could easily find out if they can stay legally. If they don't care if it's legal or not or if they can't be bothered to check then they should not be surprised if things happen which they don't like.

Happy New Year.

 

P.S.: Look at the number of Likes my original comment received. It seems there are many many people here who don't like when short time tourists occupy the condominiums.

What I did when I called 1111 and reported the vampires is that I made screen shots of the airbnb adverts for the rooms and forwarded them on, I would suggest to anyone else having a problem to do the same which will aid the authorities in pinpointing the problem owners..

Edited January 1, 2020 by from the home of CC

[from the home of CC]

17 hours ago, Jane Dough said:

Expect worse to come, especially increased prices. Thailand will be introducing land and property taxes that will be particularly onerous on people doing short term lets. The change in the law is one way to penalize the people making a fortune with AirBnB though it has not been billed as that. The increase in taxes will be passed onto the consumer. Soon those praising ABnB will be wishing that hotels would make a resurgence. Just like the Grab and Uber crew will be reminiscing about the glory days of taxis. 

 

Mark my sage words. 

 

Rooster

now, that would be karma.. 

[gamesgplayemail]

Nobody cares this law. just make a 30 days contract even if customer stays 2 nights.

All condo have a sign that daily rental is forbidden but all condos are full of tourists staying few days, this is just a way for the condo management to pretend that daily rental is not allowed.

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by gamesgplayemail

[OneMoreFarang]

33 minutes ago, from the home of CC said:

What I did when I called 1111 and reported the vampires is that I made screen shots of the airbnb adverts for the rooms and forwarded them on, I would suggest to anyone else having a problem to do the same which will aid the authorities in pinpointing the problem owners..

It seems one problem is that the condominium (majority) owner has to be active to solve this problem.

In my building there are a few people who rent out their apartments regularly. A neighbor collected evidence but it seems he couldn't legally do anything because the majority owner of the condominium didn't care.

 

If you have information what to do to make sure the law is enforced please share your information.

[mokwit]

29 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

If you have information what to do to make sure the law is enforced please share your information.

The way Thais grass people is to write a letter (in good Thai) to the appropriate authorities and sign it 'Concerned Thai Patriot' or somesuch. TM30 non filing seems an obvious one bearing in mind TM30 enforcement is about "National security".

 

 

A few pictures on the internet of AirBnBers sitting there in their underpants with uniformed IO's pointing at them should discourage those who think breaking the law by renting ST in a condo because it suits them.

Edited January 1, 2020 by mokwit

[from the home of CC]

17 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems one problem is that the condominium (majority) owner has to be active to solve this problem.

In my building there are a few people who rent out their apartments regularly. A neighbor collected evidence but it seems he couldn't legally do anything because the majority owner of the condominium didn't care.

 

If you have information what to do to make sure the law is enforced please share your information.

First, it needs to be reported (1111). Between the tax law changes and the complaints of the legitimate hotel industry I believe they're getting the impetus to go after the law breakers, but if no record of a complaint how can they act? The majority owner in my building had a hotel set up on the bottom floor, which I had thought great, if visitors come they can just stay at the hotel instead of disturbing all the residents. Turned out when a guest died and the investigation ensued, the hotel owner had no license. They shutdown his hotel and now all the rooms are for sale as condos lol...  

[meand]

Anyway, this is an interesting discussion, and I appreciate all views.

 

But, first, I just feel it is highly exaggerated that "overnighters come and ruin the facilities". I would stipulate they probably care less, but what are they gonna do?! Seriously. Crack their heads on the bottom of the pool? I would think noise would be more of a concern than damage. 

 

On that same point, I see nobody mentions how NICE it could be that overnighters are in your building. Think: Brazilian girlfriends spending their holiday in Thailand. In other words, you are going to get some interesting turnover in your otherwise very dull residence. 

 

The only way you can enforce an owner to not have guests is to register everyone who enters the building. I am sure if you did that the same people complaining about the overnighters would be up in arms for having to register their overnight friends. You can't have things both ways. 

 

Anyway, depending on where exactly you live, i would estimate most guests would be extremely well behaved, and then there is the airbnb guest ratings mentioned earlier. And, if you do happen to live in an area that get sexpats next to you very often. Isn't that something you would have to blame on yourself as far as building choice?!

 

Again, you can't have these arguments both ways, which is what many of you are trying to do on so many occasions. 

[RobbyXNorway]

This is as expected. As hotels and resorts see their clientele shrink, and AirBnB grow, the owners of said hotels and resorts will put pressure on the government to crack down on AirBnB. As AirBnB for shorter periods than 1 month is illegal in Thailand anyhow its just a matter of enforcement. Make some juicy fines for the tenants also and the police will be more than happy to make the rounds.

 

Would not be surprised if this becomes a "thing" in 2020 where the Thai government starts a heavy handed crackdown on the short term rentals.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, meand said:

Anyway, this is an interesting discussion, and I appreciate all views.

 

But, first, I just feel it is highly exaggerated that "overnighters come and ruin the facilities". I would stipulate they probably care less, but what are they gonna do?! Seriously. Crack their heads on the bottom of the pool? I would think noise would be more of a concern than damage. 

 

On that same point, I see nobody mentions how NICE it could be that overnighters are in your building. Think: Brazilian girlfriends spending their holiday in Thailand. In other words, you are going to get some interesting turnover in your otherwise very dull residence. 

 

The only way you can enforce an owner to not have guests is to register everyone who enters the building. I am sure if you did that the same people complaining about the overnighters would be up in arms for having to register their overnight friends. You can't have things both ways. 

 

Anyway, depending on where exactly you live, i would estimate most guests would be extremely well behaved, and then there is the airbnb guest ratings mentioned earlier. And, if you do happen to live in an area that get sexpats next to you very often. Isn't that something you would have to blame on yourself as far as building choice?!

 

Again, you can't have these arguments both ways, which is what many of you are trying to do on so many occasions. 

I am still waiting for the sexy Brazilian girls. Apart from that:

Tourists are strangers, I am sure many are nice and behave, but some not. People who live in a building constantly will more likely behave like not a lot of noise all night, no spilled beer in the lift, etc.

When I order some food I often wait in the lobby for a few minutes so that the food deliver guy does not have to wait. I don't like it when the lobby is full of sometimes loud strangers with lots of bags, etc.

Feeling home means knowing the people around you, at least to a certain extend. Many strangers in the building make it make feel less like home and more like a place with temporary occupants like a hotel.

Last but not least in many cities Airbnb ruins the prices for people who live there. And at the same time hotels are not occupied. That is bad for the locals living there and bad for local business. That does not make the place better for the locals and I think first the locals should be comfortable.

All in all sometimes a few behaving guests are no problem. The masses make it a problem.

[CygnusX1]

3 hours ago, meand said:

Brazilian girlfriends spending their holiday in Thailand. In other words, you are going to get some interesting turnover in your otherwise very dull residence.

Indeed, a few of the younger Russian ladies have added some colour to my condo’s swimming pool area, a welcome change from almost exclusively elderly folk such as myself. Have also yet to see anyone washing his smalls in the pool, despite apocryphal accounts here. There are actually lots of Thai people as well, no doubt for the new year holidays.

Everyone’s been courteous and well behaved, unlike the occasional individual in my Australian block of flats, which will never have any airbnb tenants, as there’s nothing in the area for tourists to see.

[sandyf]

On 12/28/2019 at 3:06 PM, FritsSikkink said:

AIRbnb is forbidden for short rentals like in more countries.

Absolute garbage. Hosts have been making false statements to Airbnb and bringing the service into disrepute.

[Elkski]

Well I'm staying in a 2200/ night hotel room in the asoke area for sentimental reasons and not enjoying the confines.  Maybe  25 m.  It does not feel like home.  This is my 8th or 9th trip in 3.7 years,  my average stay has been 3 weeks plus.  2 times  close to 60 day limit.  One month stay I learned about the overstay penalty.  I seem to like to travel around so renting for 30 days isn't an option.   This is far to long to stay in  a small  hotel.  Some of my favorite stays have been the 500/nt homestays often used by Thais.  

So what bout when you guys bring lady friends home.  Do your  neighbors like this? 

[moontang]

8 minutes ago, Elkski said:

Well I'm staying in a 2200/ night hotel room in the asoke area for sentimental reasons and not enjoying the confines.  Maybe  25 m.  It does not feel like home.  This is my 8th or 9th trip in 3.7 years,  my average stay has been 3 weeks plus.  2 times  close to 60 day limit.  One month stay I learned about the overstay penalty.  I seem to like to travel around so renting for 30 days isn't an option.   This is far to long to stay in  a small  hotel.  Some of my favorite stays have been the 500/nt homestays often used by Thais.  

So what bout when you guys bring lady friends home.  Do your  neighbors like this? 

It is not their business, and no one cares, however, there would be people like security and jp taking note, with a few snickers likely related more to jeolousy than anything else.  They are known to be busybodies and gossipers, but that is their problem.  They do kind of keep tabs on visitors for some good reasons, too.  

Edited January 2, 2020 by moontang

[Nordude]

My condo building has installed face scanners. You can't get in without first registering your face with juristic office. Keeps the riff raff out. Before that there were some incidents with obvious sex tourists in the pool area.

[Nyezhov]

23 hours ago, CygnusX1 said:

Indeed, a few of the younger Russian ladies have added some colour to my condo’s swimming pool area, a welcome change from almost exclusively elderly folk such as myself.

Hey PM me your address ????

[Nyezhov]

7 hours ago, Elkski said:

So what bout when you guys bring lady friends home.  Do your  neighbors like this? 

It depends how much noise we make. I can howl like a slavering wolf, unless I am bound and gagged and trussed up like a chicken. So then its quiet.

[GeorgeCross]

On 12/31/2019 at 4:06 PM, from the home of CC said:

every condo doing this in Hua Hin is presently under investigation...

 

not having much effect, authorities are toothless, currently 300+ condos available