Considering buying a hotel in Thailand

[baansgr]

Unless both you and your wife are Thai...you won't be able to run the hotel....You should read up on restricted professions and work permit rules....Hiring Thai staff which you will have to do will be your worst nightmare...degree educated or farmhands, dealing on a daily basis with babies that throw their rattle out the pram if you so much as tell them how to do something will drive you raving bonkers...that's without the lying and thieving that comes with many staff...12 years of working with Thais, I aged 50 years in that time...Far better countries to have a business, that isn't corrupt, has employment laws and actually allows you to be hands on in your business that you could actually OWN

[taninthai]

At the end off the day I have been running resorts for 12 years and this year even before the virus came about was not good  occupancy rates and that’s not just our place I know many hotel owners and oct,nov early December was just terrible a complete write off really,I know a few Thais that owned there hotels 10 years plus and they would sell tommorow if they could as said earlier hotel business has huge constant outgoings and you need to be near full to show nice profit 30/45% occupancy is just covering staff and outgoing costs.

[natway09]

If you are serious , happy to help ,,,,been in the business all my life but holding cost fot the next 15 months will be high. obviously.

But at the right price ,,, lets do a spreadsheet

[Max69xl]

If you want to throw away money, and of that I'm 100% sure, go ahead and buy a hotel. It seems you have missed the whole coronavirus situation and in the near future many hotels will close forever because of no tourists. 

 

[Iron Tongue]

If you have to ask for advice from strangers on the internet, you are NOT ready to throw your life savings into a foriegn investment.

 

 

[tonray]

15 hours ago, NilSS said:

Sorry but again I don't agree. Thailand is littered with shells of former hotels, either abandoned or converted for some other use.

and even the apartments advertise themselves in Agoda and Hotels.com as hotel rooms these days to fill vacancies. Couple that with airBNB competition and it makes for a tough road

[SteveK]

If I was opening a hotel in Thailand, I wouldn't be too worried about the competition, I have found standards of customer service in Thai-run hotels to be simply appalling. If you can run it to a good standard and offer a good rate, you should be able to do well, if and when tourism properly returns to Thailand. That's a big if though, tourism was halfway down the crapper long before covid hit, it may never return to the heady heights of pre-2010, thanks to both the exchange rate and Anutin ranting about how much he hates westerners, which went completely unchecked by the other cronies.

 

Then all you have to worry about is the staff not turning up, not doing any work or spending all their time on their phones, and the paperwork and bureaucracy involved in running a business as a westerner in Thailand. And then the people who come out of the woodwork looking for a handout when they see that the farang is making money. It's almost like there is a huge headache waiting for you at every turn of the way. And we haven't even gotten to visa/WP issues yet!

 

The government clearly doesn't really want farangs here, and that's what would concern me the most. If you want to live in Thailand, buy a cheap house, and put your money into proper financial investments which pay you a monthly sum without you having to do anything. Everyone I know who has had to employ Thais has said the same thing as baansgr.

Edited April 28, 2020 by SteveK

[Led Lolly Yellow Lolly]

9 hours ago, tonray said:

and even the apartments advertise themselves in Agoda and Hotels.com as hotel rooms these days to fill vacancies. Couple that with airBNB competition and it makes for a tough road

I actually think the disruptive power of airBNB is overstated. Independent travellers are small change to large hotels, who, like our hotel, have a focus on large tour groups. Further, there will always be groups (or indeed independent travellers) that want or need the facilities large hotels offer, meeting facilities, swimming pool, hotel restaurants and bars etc etc. I just don't see people selling their spare bedroom as a hobby to be a threat to that, nor do I see tour group coaches pulling up outside someone's house.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by NilSS

[Langsuan Man]

Sorry but I agree with the above poster.  AirBnB are no longer a cheaper alternative, at least in the US

 

Found it cheaper to stay in motels since they don't charge me extra for cleaning the room when I leave and give me a free breakfast

 

And now that AirBnB have to pay sales tax as well as local occupancy taxes, they are no longer cost competitive  with hotels and motels 

[impulse]

On 4/28/2020 at 4:50 AM, Logosone said:

Why buy a hotel?

 

Why not rent one? You can rent one for 190,000 Baht a month, six months up front.

 

Much smaller outlay, you can test if it works, and if it's your thing. Then you can buy the place.

 

I think that's what the OP is pondering...  But with $140K in key money.  He didn't mention the fine print in those ads he was looking at.

 

Which was my first thought...  That's the asking price.  The final negotiated price may be a lot lower.  In today's market, he should be able to find lots of properties where the existing proprietor has had to pick up sticks and the landlord is looking for a new renter.

 

Edit:  I'd also point out that he hasn't mentioned how many rooms, the location(s) and amenities, and whether it's a legally licensed hotel or a gray market deal that may be closed down or sucked dry by local officials demanding tea money to allow it to operate. 

 

All of which leads me to suggest he stay away, regardless of how good a deal it may be for someone who knows all the potholes.

Edited May 3, 2020 by impulse

[JohnBZ]

On 4/29/2020 at 7:41 AM, SteveK said:

If I was opening a hotel in Thailand, I wouldn't be too worried about the competition, I have found standards of customer service in Thai-run hotels to be simply appalling. If you can run it to a good standard and offer a good rate, you should be able to do well, if and when tourism properly returns to Thailand. That's a big if though, tourism was halfway down the crapper long before covid hit, it may never return to the heady heights of pre-2010, thanks to both the exchange rate and Anutin ranting about how much he hates westerners, which went completely unchecked by the other cronies.

 

Then all you have to worry about is the staff not turning up, not doing any work or spending all their time on their phones, and the paperwork and bureaucracy involved in running a business as a westerner in Thailand. And then the people who come out of the woodwork looking for a handout when they see that the farang is making money. It's almost like there is a huge headache waiting for you at every turn of the way. And we haven't even gotten to visa/WP issues yet!

 

The government clearly doesn't really want farangs here, and that's what would concern me the most. If you want to live in Thailand, buy a cheap house, and put your money into proper financial investments which pay you a monthly sum without you having to do anything. Everyone I know who has had to employ Thais has said the same thing as baansgr.

I agree with most we you just said.  But people need to work.  Few like to sit on their ass all day.  Most like to do some meaningful work to appreciate value of life.  What is the business you can work on without losing a lot of money?  Is owning a language school a good business?  I think it might be.  If you are teaching in your center as well, I can not see you will lose too much money.