Is airbnb ban enforced at all?

[Kalorymetr]

Hey guys,

I am currently looking for long term condo in Bangkok and from what I can see all the new condo buildings I visted have poster saying airbnb is illegal.

This is great, but only one uses fingerprint access, the rest uses good old keycard which leaves open door to the rentals.

Now I had a look at couple of buildings on airbnb and there is almost no airbnb free building!

So two questions.

1. Is it enforced? Probably not.

2. Where to find airbnb free condo in on nut or bang chak area?

[smutcakes]

I would presume the more upmarket the Condo the less likely they will have Airbnb. Like anything here, enforcement is selective.

I think you will struggle to find airbnb free condos in those areas as most condo developments were large with large number of units, many of which were bought by investors.

Possibly better to target smaller apartment buildings where owners of the buildings might prefer low management long term tenants over airbnb style.

[Andyfez]

It does not say what you quoted.

It says 'daily and weekly rentals are illegal'.

Monthly are usually not a problem. Depending on the property.

 

However my Condo frowns on any rentals they learn about under 6 months.

Even threaten law suits, although under what law I don't know.

 

and yes - it is enforced in our condo.

 

 

[USNret]

Airbnb is not illegal. You need a rental term of 28 days to comply with Thai law. 

 

Some condo associations have higher limits; that is up to them. I am currently in a one-month rental in Bangkok and it’s perfectly legit.

[Guderian]

It's the same even in villages, the house opposite me is for rent on AirBnB at 2560 Baht/night. Hardly anybody stays for more than a week, though, and most people only come for a few days, or even just one night. The owners who live in Phuket are only interested in the money and don't bother explaining to their short-stay tenants about the village rules on things like parking, rubbish collection and dogs, so it ends up a case of people doing whatever they feel like until it annoys me or somebody else enough to explain that they're breaking the rules.

 

The village rules clearly state that no commercial premises are allowed inside the village, if you want to run a laundry or restaurant there are shophouses for sale and rent at the front of the village, and this is one of the few rules that the management do enforce strictly. So why they're allowing nightly house rentals with all the inconvenience that entails for other residents I don't know. And, I suppose, they don't care.

[justin case]

since when do thais follow rules, lol

 

farang can be scared with police, for thais, you buy their co-operation

[ToddinChonburi]

The problem with this is it's an illegal business and no taxes are being paid on the income. Most of the workers in the building are in on it and everyone gets paid . We have an early morning VIP Van's service that leaves the building for swampy daily.

[Kalorymetr]

I know its not illegal for more monthly rental and I do not think monthly rentals are really a problem, those people are usually 'normal' and behave in a civilized way. I am afraid of living next to a condo that is going to be rented to someone else every couple of days. 

[sandyf]

18 hours ago, Guderian said:

It's the same even in villages, the house opposite me is for rent on AirBnB at 2560 Baht/night. Hardly anybody stays for more than a week, though, and most people only come for a few days, or even just one night. The owners who live in Phuket are only interested in the money and don't bother explaining to their short-stay tenants about the village rules on things like parking, rubbish collection and dogs, so it ends up a case of people doing whatever they feel like until it annoys me or somebody else enough to explain that they're breaking the rules.

 

The village rules clearly state that no commercial premises are allowed inside the village, if you want to run a laundry or restaurant there are shophouses for sale and rent at the front of the village, and this is one of the few rules that the management do enforce strictly. So why they're allowing nightly house rentals with all the inconvenience that entails for other residents I don't know. And, I suppose, they don't care.

Nothing to do with Airbnb. The owner has lied to Airbnb and the village authorities should take action against the owner.

Houses are not subject to hotel licence issue so length of stay is irrelevant but breaching local rules is different and the guest is probably totally unaware.

The way the Airbnb system is constructed it is very difficult for even a guest, far less anyone else to make a complaint against an owner. Been there and got the T shirt on that one.

I would suggest the village elders draft a letter outlining the complaints and give a copy to the guests and ask politely if they would submit it to Airbnb. If one actually gets to Airbnb there is every chance the listing will be removed.

[5633572526]

Air bnb is everywhere in bkk. There are condo buildings that do not allow it but that is generally enforced by the juristic office not the police.

the units I have stayed in and my friends stay in when they visit (always less than 28 days) are brand new buildings and with the condo market here being saturated airbnb is being used as a selling tool for possible investors. In talking to the manager of the last building I stayed in of the 457 rooms in the building 167 were being used for airbnb and 200 were unsold. He told me if not for airbnb investors the building would be bankrupt.

[NCC1701A]

police/government will not enforce the 28 days law because the developers desperately need to sell the condos now to the Chinese.

they buy many units and then convert your condo building onto a hotel. 

look a the AirBNB listings. So many in only Chinese language and stating in English they only want Chinese clients.

[lkn]

On 3/9/2020 at 10:07 AM, NCC1701A said:

police/government will not enforce the 28 days law because the developers desperately need to sell the condos

A common misunderstanding is that the police is tasked with enforcing every single law in existence, but that is not the case.

 

For the Hotel Act of Thailand, it’s just too complex for the police to enforce this, and anyone who has evidence of Hotel Act violations will have to go to the courts to get a ruling about whether the specific case is a violation and what the fine/punishment should be. This has been done in the past, and fines have been given.

 

The government could setup a task force to look into Hotel Act violations, and prosecute those found by such operation, but so far this has not been a priority, though I sincerely doubt that it is linked to pressure from real estate developers, more likely, it’s just very hard to enforce without cooperation from the management of the various buildings, and if these buildings cooperate, they could just enforce the act themselves — my building does!

 

[wordchild]

As stated above, much of this is down to the condo management and the owners committee , and their attitude. Different condos will have different standards.

in my condo, Ploenchit area, this is taken very seriously by the condo management, in particular because,at the last AGM, the owners instructed the management to adopt a zero tolerance attitude to this practice. We want no Airbnb in our building was the clear message the management team got.

We had one owner who was found to be doing short term rentals. At the AGM a resolution was passed to prohibit the practice and to fine the owners involved on an escalating scale if they continue to do it, and also, instructing the management to inform the relevant authorities.

 The owner concerned has since stopped this practice and has switched back to renting only to long term tenants.

[jackdd]

On 3/15/2020 at 5:40 PM, lkn said:

A common misunderstanding is that the police is tasked with enforcing every single law in existence, but that is not the case.

 

For the Hotel Act of Thailand, it’s just too complex for the police to enforce this, and anyone who has evidence of Hotel Act violations will have to go to the courts to get a ruling about whether the specific case is a violation and what the fine/punishment should be. This has been done in the past, and fines have been given.

 

The government could setup a task force to look into Hotel Act violations, and prosecute those found by such operation, but so far this has not been a priority, though I sincerely doubt that it is linked to pressure from real estate developers, more likely, it’s just very hard to enforce without cooperation from the management of the various buildings, and if these buildings cooperate, they could just enforce the act themselves — my building does!

Getting them for violating the hotel act might indeed be difficult. But most landlords who run an Airbnb business won't report their guests with a TM30. So if somebody gets annoyed of it just call immigration police and report suspicious foreigners at this place, they will probably look into it and see that no TM30 was done.

[Kalorymetr]

Even if some enforced the ban before, I think after the corona virus they will all let it slip.

[wordchild]

On 3/26/2020 at 4:42 PM, Kalorymetr said:

Even if some enforced the ban before, I think after the corona virus they will all let it slip.

Not true in our condo and at least one other condo that i know, its the exact opposite. It depends on the owners attitudes,  as discussed above, but in our condo , the virus has hardened opinions against short term rentals. many owner see short term renters as adding to virus risks. We just dont want them in our condo would be the general view.

I think if any owner tried to do AirBnB again many owners would insist that they were reported to the authorities immediately (some may even do it themselves directly)

[lkn]

On 3/28/2020 at 7:41 PM, wordchild said:

Not true in our condo and at least one other condo that i know, its the exact opposite

My condo already ban AirBnB (and we enforce it), but definitely I agree with you that COVID-19 is making co-owners *more* concerned about short-term stays.

 

Lots of condos are putting up signs about self-quarantine for 14 days if you recently arrived in Thailand, wants to register all guests (of tenants) arriving at the condo, etc.

[iBike]

I think many condos, particularly older, highly occupied are less likely to have Airbnb, than newer condo with many investors, but low occupancy rates.

 

You'd be better checking how many units in condo are occupied by owner or long term tenant rather that whether they accept airbnb or not. 

 

Most long term tenants and owners will raise complaint against airbnb and you'd be surprised how many condo management enforce this. We had a few obvious airbnb arrivals and it was stamped out immediately.

 

Stand outside Hyde Sukhumvit 11 or Vtara Suk 36 for a couple of hours and you'll see what an airbnb condo looks like (before/after COVID).

 

So to answer your question, yes it is enforced and no it is not enforced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lkn]

On 4/16/2020 at 11:47 AM, iBike said:

Stand outside Hyde Sukhumvit 11 or Vtara Suk 36 for a couple of hours and you'll see what an airbnb condo looks like (before/after COVID).

Curious about the COVID-19 remark.

 

Do you mean that now it looks like a “regular” condo building with few people coming and going, as opposed to before, with dozens of people dragging suitcases in and out of the building daily?