Government warns against making hotel reservations through Booking.com

[RandolphGB]

Just noticed this warning on the Thailand Pass website: 

 

URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT !

Starting 4 January 2022

Please be advised to avoid making hotel reservations through Booking.com as they do not fully comply with Thailand’s entry regulations and may result in delayed consideration

 

I booked a hotel for the Phuket Sandbox through the site on Sunday January 2. Anybody have experience of this issue?

 

[bang saen guy]

A defamation law suit coming?

[RandolphGB]

1 minute ago, bang saen guy said:

A defamation law suit coming?

How / why would a hotel booking website sue the Thai government for defamation? 

[overherebc]

17 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

How / why would a hotel booking website sue the Thai government for defamation? 

I'm pretty sure he means the other way around.

[MrJ2U]

28 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

I booked a hotel for the Phuket Sandbox through the site on Sunday January 2. Anybody have experience of this issue?

Cancel and book directly with the hotel.

 

Easier to deal with any changes anyways.  Who wants the hassle of the government delaying  something so important.

Edited January 6, 2022 by MrJ2U

[mancub]

Or is it a case of some properties mis-representing themselves ? 

[overherebc]

20 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

Cancel and book directly with the hotel.

 

Easier to deal with any changes anyways.  Who wants the hassle of the government delaying  something so important.

At one time Booking.com system had a 'glitch' in the system where if you booked say a week at X hotel and it was all confirmed and you later went back to their site to maybe look at other dates for the same X hotel it somehow took that as being a cancellation of your first booking. We got caught with that for a booking in Japan. Of course when you tried to get it corrected the price for that week had gone up, surprise surprise.  After a few angry e-mails it got resolved and fixed at the original price but we haven't gone near booking.com since.

Edited January 6, 2022 by overherebc

[RandolphGB]

20 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

Cancel and book directly with the hotel.

 

Easier to deal with any changes anyways.  Who wants the hassle of the government delaying  something so important.

Booking websites are a thousand times easier than dealing with Thai hotels directly. ????

 

 

[lordblackader]

43 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

How / why would a hotel booking website sue the Thai government for defamation? 

you must be new to Thailand. Welcome. 

 

Even stating facts in Thailand can result in a defamation suit. Some say that the law is an ass but in Thailand it is a 5 mile wide sinkhole. 

[RandolphGB]

1 minute ago, lordblackader said:

you must be new to Thailand. Welcome. 

 

Even stating facts in Thailand can result in a defamation suit. Some say that the law is an ass but in Thailand it is a 5 mile wide sinkhole. 

Not knew to Thailand... few companies would be dumb enough to sue the Thai government, which they need to have permission from to operate in the country, and especially when during covid the ministers and their staff have their backsides firmly covered with legislation.

[bang saen guy]

5 minutes ago, lordblackader said:

you must be new to Thailand. Welcome. 

 

Even stating facts in Thailand can result in a defamation suit. Some say that the law is an ass but in Thailand it is a 5 mile wide sinkhole. 

Thanks. I knew someone would educate him

[overherebc]

8 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

Booking websites are a thousand times easier than dealing with Thai hotels directly. ????

 

 

Not all have that experience.

[RandolphGB]

3 minutes ago, bang saen guy said:

Thanks. I knew someone would educate him

Tends to be expats with no experience with litigation and the legal system in Thailand that believe that and stereotype the whole country ????

 

Thankfully not everyone is as ignorant as that, but thanks for 'educating' me. 

 

[MrJ2U]

12 minutes ago, overherebc said:

At one time Booking.com system had a 'glitch' in the system where if you booked say a week at X hotel and it was all confirmed and you later went back to their site to maybe look at other dates for the same X hotel it somehow took that as being a cancellation of your first booking. We got caught with that for a booking in Japan. Of course when you tried to get it corrected the price for that week had gone up, surprise surprise.  After a few angry e-mails it got resolved and fixed at the original price but we haven't gone near booking.com since.

Hotel.com,Booking.com,etc.are really handy.

 

I prefer booking directly most of the time for rewards and changes are easily taken care of when you're dealing directly with the hotel.

 

Your also more likely to get upgrades in my experience.

 

That said, I just booked Centre Point Korat on Hotels.com because it was 180 baht cheaper than their promotion on there website.

 

Great hotel if you're in Korat or passing through.

 

Happy New Year!

[JustAnotherHun]

Sarcasm is not everyones cup of tea...

[BangkokReady]

25 minutes ago, mancub said:

Or is it a case of some properties mis-representing themselves ? 

Probably just a big misunderstanding.

[MrJ2U]

18 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

Booking websites are a thousand times easier than dealing with Thai hotels directly. ????

 

 

Probably the smaller ones.

 

We usually stay at the Marriotts,Hiltons, Avani/Anantara's as there proper resorts.

 

There just better maintained,service orientated, and an overall better experience in my opinion.

 

Theres certainly nice Thai run hotels though.  We just haven't had the luck of staying in one.

[RafPinto]

What's about A GO DA and others?

[JAS21]

19 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Not all have that experience.

Agreed… I look the hotel up on booking.com.  MrsJ then phones the hotel to see what they can offer. 
 

In the past have found that with some up market hotels the ‘walk in’ price is greater than an agents price. But now tends to not be the case…

[clivebaxter]

26 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

Booking websites are a thousand times easier than dealing with Thai hotels directly. ????

 

 

I don't agree as long as you get a Thai to deal with the hotel Eg Hotel on Suk Soi 20 is 3k on booking.com and 2.5 on the Hotel website, Mrs rang and got it for 1.5k a night inc breakfast for a 60 sq meter studio. I have booked on booking websites years ago only to find the rack rate cheaper at the hotel.

Edited January 6, 2022 by clivebaxter

[bang saen guy]

25 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

Tends to be expats with no experience with litigation and the legal system in Thailand that believe that and stereotype the whole country ????

 

Thankfully not everyone is as ignorant as that, but thanks for 'educating' me. 

 

I've had a bit of experience in Thai courts but, unlike you, not as a litigator. Was in difficult to pass the bar in Thailand language? I fail to see where their was ant stereotyping. Enlighten me

[bang saen guy]

18 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

What's about A GO DA and others?

Same ownership as Booking.com

[overherebc]

13 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

I don't agree as long as you get a Thai to deal with the hotel Eg Hotel on Suk Soi 20 is 3k on booking.com and 2.5 on the Hotel website, Mrs rang and got it for 1.5k a night inc breakfast for a 60 sq meter studio. I have booked on booking websites years ago only to find the rack rate cheaper at the hotel.

We have also had better experiences booking direct. Not only on price but on repeat visit sometimes a nice freeby of some sort.

Nice bottle of wine at one place.

[Ohyesuare]

24 minutes ago, bang saen guy said:

Same ownership as Booking.com

Yup. Think it's one company that owns a lot of the major hotel booking sites.

[bang saen guy]

1 hour ago, RandolphGB said:

Tends to be expats with no experience with litigation and the legal system in Thailand that believe that and stereotype the whole country ????

 

Thankfully not everyone is as ignorant as that, but thanks for 'educating' me. 

 

As a matter of fact, I am in need of an attorney now on a property issue. Where is your office? 

[pookett]

@RandolphGB

Do you have a link, if that's possible without registering on Thaipass or a more informative screenshot, redacted if needs be.

[khunjeff]

1 hour ago, Ohyesuare said:

Yup. Think it's one company that owns a lot of the major hotel booking sites.

"Booking Holdings" owns Booking.com, Agoda, Priceline, Kayak, Momondo, and a number of others.

[ThaiFelix]

3 hours ago, RandolphGB said:

Booking websites are a thousand times easier than dealing with Thai hotels directly. ????

 

 

Alai na kah??

[JackGats]

2 hours ago, bang saen guy said:

Same ownership as Booking.com

Indeed! I never understood how they could be under the same ownership and still act as competitors (provided you hide your tracks when you check the prices so that they don't recognise the queries as coming from the same potential customer). When I don't hide my tracks Booking quotes me a price 5-10% higher than Agoda, albeit with a better cancellation option.

[TropicalGuy]

Lesson Learned: Have your Thai Lady directly phone Thai Sellers to secure 30-50% savings …seen that here for Furniture, Home Equipment,  New Vehicles and now Hotels ….