Bangkok: Famous 5 star luxury hotel shuts and lays off staff

[webfact]

Bangkok: Famous 5 star luxury hotel shuts and lays off staff

 

Picture: Sanook

 

Sanook reported that Bangkok's Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel is the latest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic. 

 

A letter to staff signed by general manager Richard Coleman and an HR manager said that staff were temporarily no longer required. 

 

They would receive no money though they might qualify for the government's 15,000 baht social security handouts over the next three months.

 

Furthermore if they didn't show up when the crisis has eased that would count as dereliction of duty.

 

They were told to look after themselves and thanked for their understanding. 

 

The hotel cited "extraordinary circumstances" for the laying off and temporary closure of the hotel that is near the Asoke intersection in downtown Bangkok.

 

Source: Sanook

 

 

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[OnTheGround]

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

They would receive no money though they might qualify for the government's 15,000 baht social security handouts over the next three months.

 

I think social security confirmed 1-2 weeks ago that hotel staff do qualify.

 

[cornishcarlos]

14 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

Furthermore if they didn't show up when the crisis has eased that would count as dereliction of duty

 

Do they employ soldiers at Sheraton ?? 

Dereliction of duty !!!

[peter14]

Shocking... I remember going there for lunch an meeting...

Edited May 5, 2020 by peter14
Correction

[BobbyL]

A sign of things to come in that area I reckon. Far too many new hotels like the Hyatt and many others being built on that same stretch of Sukhumvit from Nana to Asoke. They will be hemorrhaging money from now on. 

[Andrew65]

3 minutes ago, peter14 said:

Shocking... I remember going there for lunch an meeting...

Beautiful hotel, I stopped there a few times.

[pj123]

The report quotes the hotel as stating that staff "would receive no money". But under Thai employment law 

"Employees with more than 120 days, but less than one year employment are entitled to severance pay equal to one month's salary. If employed more than one year, but less than three years, employees are entitled to severance pay equal to three months' salary." (https://www.thaistartup.com/references/severance-pay-rules.php)

Or is the hotel using some loophole to avoid severance pay by saying their jobs will be available again in three months?

[blackcab]

A post attempting to bypass the profanity filter has been removed.

[ChipButty]

6 minutes ago, pj123 said:

The report quotes the hotel as stating that staff "would receive no money". But under Thai employment law 

"Employees with more than 120 days, but less than one year employment are entitled to severance pay equal to one month's salary. If employed more than one year, but less than three years, employees are entitled to severance pay equal to three months' salary." (https://www.thaistartup.com/references/severance-pay-rules.php)

Or is the hotel using some loophole to avoid severance pay by saying their jobs will be available again in three months?

Sure there will be some loophole they can use

[steven100]

I ate there regularly because the service was second to none and their food excellent. imo

shame it's closing.

More to follow I expect, and the Charlton only just opened recently so they will not be happy.

[Mistymilesdj]

Make the rooms available to COVID-19 patients 

[Andrew65]

1 minute ago, Mistymilesdj said:

Make the rooms available to COVID-19 patients 

...if they croak there it would be "haunted" . a good idea NOOTTTTT!????

[spidermike007]

Quantity over quality is never a good thing, unless you are selling one dollar items at a swap meet. It just lowers the quality of the experience for all. This is an emergency situation. It needs to be dealt with, and it needs a high degree of intelligence and competence. Not something Prayuth or Pipat possess. Someone else needs to handle this, and it needs to be handled yesterday!

 

The tourism industry is teetering on the edge of a tragic drop, and has already been devastated by this highly destructive administration. This could crush millions of families dependent on tourism. 

 

You know what they say about putting all of your eggs in one basket? I have been warning of the dangers of becoming too dependent on China for years. Now, after you have made your bed, you get to sleep in it. You have alienated all tourists but Indians and Chinese. Westerners are not coming here anymore for a dozen very good reasons. You insulted us. You demeaned us. You accused us of being evil, and you accused us of being criminals. You mounted campaigns touting us as bad for the nation. You demonstrated deplorable amounts of racism and xenophobia, and fear of the outside world. Some of your officials even went as far as saying we prefer to have tourists that look more like us! And now you want us to come back? Really? How soon you forget. Sorry, but they have not forgotten what was done and said. What they have forgotten is the Thailand, as a tourist destination. There are too many alternatives now, and they are not only trying harder, they actually have competent people in charge! Surprise!

 

Sorry to say, but the high spending tourists are lost for good. They WILL NOT come back to Thailand, for a dozen different reasons. And places like Pattaya, Phuket and Samui will continue to go downhill. So, the goons at the TAT continue to pursue ever higher numbers, regardless of the noxious air, unbelievable congestion on the roads, and woeful service at the airports, that this policy only exacerbates. But, will they return? Not like before. Not even close.

[Relocated]

Decades old joke said if all Chinese poop on island of Japan, it would cover the entire island with that fertilizer. COVID proves it isn't a joke. 

[Artisi]

33 minutes ago, BobbyL said:

A sign of things to come in that area I reckon. Far too many new hotels like the Hyatt and many others being built on that same stretch of Sukhumvit from Nana to Asoke. They will be hemorrhaging money from now on. 

Do you feel sorry for them? 

I don't, screwing the staff at every turn - - let the share-holders dig into their huge profits generated off the backs of their employees. 

[blackcab]

An off topic post has been removed.

 

This topic has nothing to do with the president of the United States. The topic is about a hotel on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok closing as a result of the Corona Virus.

[Andrew65]

8 minutes ago, Retarded said:

Decades old joke said if all Chinese poop on island of Japan, it would cover the entire island with that fertilizer. COVID proves it isn't a joke. 

Decades old joke says that if all the Kiwis in Australia went back to live in New Zealand it would sink!

[stevenl]

38 minutes ago, pj123 said:

The report quotes the hotel as stating that staff "would receive no money". But under Thai employment law 

"Employees with more than 120 days, but less than one year employment are entitled to severance pay equal to one month's salary. If employed more than one year, but less than three years, employees are entitled to severance pay equal to three months' salary." (https://www.thaistartup.com/references/severance-pay-rules.php)

Or is the hotel using some loophole to avoid severance pay by saying their jobs will be available again in three months?

temporarily, so I presume the staff has been furloughed.,

 

If so the payment is 50% of social security information, so for minimum wage would be 3x (around) 5,000, but if they get paid more SS payments will also be more.

[PatOngo]

14 minutes ago, Retarded said:

Decades old joke said if all Chinese poop on island of Japan, it would cover the entire island with that fertilizer. COVID proves it isn't a joke. 

I shudder to think where it all ends up in China! 

[Makoshark]

Too Bad. I live in a condo at State Tower on Silom. Lebua has Been closed for 1 month so far and still closed. You reap what you sow

[SkyFax]

12 minutes ago, billd766 said:

And how is your response helpful?

Well as long as you ask, I don't think the tourist he describes for the umpteenth time is the typical tourist who will stay at the Mandarin Oriental or the Peninsula. Those persons are generally not concerned with a stay of more than 30 days at the hotels, have maybe been coming routinely for years, and will likely return when this COVID mess clears up.

[Ventenio]

I swear I'm the only paying resident in my entire hotel.  not that big, maybe four floors.  i might give them an extra 500 or 1000 baht because they have a kid and sometimes a nice gesture goes a long way.  but i can only imagine the stress....... 

 

in another hotel, i remember the owner would be super depressed if their place wasn't full.  now it must be numbing......

 

this is obviously not just a Thailand thing.....every hotel in the world.  soooo crazy.  

[Grumpy one]

1 hour ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

Do they employ soldiers at Sheraton ?? 

Dereliction of duty !!!

What happens if they get a new job, death by firing squad 

[Grumpy one]

57 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

Decades old joke says that if all the Kiwis in Australia went back to live in New Zealand it would sink!

What would happen to West Auckland ( Bondi ) ?

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

A letter to staff signed by general manager Richard Coleman and an HR manager said that staff were temporarily no longer required. 

No I didn't ! 

Someone's stole my i.d. 

[BobBKK]

I was feeling sorry for them until "dereliction of duty" which is bullying frankly.

[Odysseus123]

51 minutes ago, SkyFax said:

Yes -- And a stitch in time saves nine.

And for want of a nail the shoe was lost

And the early bird gets the worm.

How many times are you going to copy-&-paste the same thing?

Ah yes...a most pertinent question and one that I have asked on more than one occassion.

There is quite an oversupply of hotels in that area-it's the old idea of if you are onto something good-build another one right next door.

[SkyFax]

8 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

There is quite an oversupply of hotels in that area-it's the old idea of if you are onto something good-build another one right next door.

Per OP and as noted above:

A letter to staff signed by general manager Richard Coleman and an HR manager said that staff were temporarily no longer required. 

While some have noted the jet-ski scam in this topic about a luxury 5-star hotel, some guests at these 5-star hotels may very well arrive BKK by private jet -- no ski.

Edited May 5, 2020 by SkyFax

[jmccarty]

Was one of my fav hotels to stay at. Made it a Christmas few nights annually for years and ate a fabulous dinner buffet there.  Treated like appreciated guests by the excellent staff.  I sincerely wish they can be re-employed soon.

[CNXexpat]

54 minutes ago, billd766 said:

How will the Chinese tours help the local economy, given that they eat in their tour groups, are herded around in groups on tour buses?

Here in Chiang Mai 80% of the Chinese came as individual travelers. They spent a lot of money and stayed often in 5* hotels. The market sellers are missing them most because they spent the most per person. More than every western "quality tourist". A friend owns a restaurant (he is not Chinese) and said that Chinese spent 800 Baht per person, western tourists 300 Baht. Guess who he misses more.