Crackdown On Illegal Hotels, Guesthouses

[RigPig]

Ok so small guest houses are not complying with regulations.....

What are the regulations, where do you find them?

I have 2 rooms above my coffee shop I rent out as a guest house and declare them and there income and do my best to comply with what I believe to be "the right things" but how do I find out.

I am certainly not making enough from them to join the hotel association.

[trogers]

It is laughable that they would be crying about laws, when there is no existing hospitality law in Thailand that works. Fire egress, emergency lighting, disability access, and crowd capacity and thoroughfares do not exist in a standardized format. Emergency standards, fire rated doors and sprinkler systems don't have regulations here. Just having emergency egress maps on each floor, sprinklers (that don't always work), smoke alarms, or room capacity signs don't mean squat unless it's absolutely regulated by a governing board. There needs to be a Health and Safety Board that inspects all hospitality businesses including restaurants. Building codes in Thailand are a joke. Disability codes? Nope.

And even if there is a Health and Safety Board, do you expect sub-standard issues to be addressed and corrected, or some 'tea' money will make it business as usual?

[StrongSnuff]

happy to hear that about the crackdown, finally!! so much thanks

law have to be applied, as there is no safety (fire alarm, smoke sensors, emergency exits...) in these illegal guest houses.

crackdown should be regularly within country!

[Hawk]

happy to hear that about the crackdown, finally!! so much thanks

What's it got to do with you if the guesthouses have no fire alarm or whatever?

Has anyone ever heard of a guesthouse burning down?

[StrongSnuff]

happy to hear that about the crackdown, finally!! so much thanks

What's it got to do with you if the guesthouses have no fire alarm or whatever?

Has anyone ever heard of a guesthouse burning down?

yes, that was just one of million of examples.. why to say NO to illegal bungalows, hotels, guest houses, whatever...

and yes personally I know 3 bungalows what burned down in Koh Samui and at least 2 at Koh Phangan (in last 5 years)

http://www.google.co.th/#hl=en&biw=1440&bih=679&q=bungalows+burn+down+thailand&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=1b9298701edab6f2

[jayjay0]

quote

"Fivestar hotels also experienced a similar drop, from 62 per cent in the last three years to 46 per cent in the first seven months of this year."

Hard to believe that people are going from a five star hotel to a 500 Baht room a night. Maybe they should look at what they are doing and failing to offer as the reason for a fall in rentals. Also they should quit listining to The government talk about how good tourism is and how it is going to be great.

[jayjay0]

Why all the negative comments? Aren't you also the same people that scream about the lack of safety standards? Hello??? Earth to vapid heads.

The registered and licensed hotels have most likely invested in following some form of fire and life safety code. If it's a major brand, alot of money was spent on the installation of function smoke & heat detectors, fire alarms and function firehoses. Do you think any of the illegal operators care anything about keeping fire exits unlocked or a smoke detector? If you want the staff to wash their hands after taking a crap then you need to provide soap in the staff bathrooms. Do you think that the illegal hotels do that? They do at Sheraton, Centera etc. The illegal hotels are not paying taxes and are taking advantage of municipal services whereas the licensed establishments are paying an inflated rate which is subsidizing the illegal operators.

Personal I hadn't noticed any uproar on Thai Visa about safety standards in hotels and guest houses.

Secondly are you suggesting Thailand take steps to keep out tourists who can't afford four and five star hotels? A bit elitist aren't we?

[jayjay0]

<br />But where will the Blacks and Indians kick out of these good hotels go then.<br /><br />"The association also plans to ask the Interior Ministry to help enforce the hotel law, since many pseudohotels are providing substandard service and security, and hurting the hotel industry's image."<br /><br />Maybe the image would improve if people are not kicked to the street for being the wrong color. <br /><br />

<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Dude: I am really sorry that it happened to you. Thais are Xenophobic by nature after having to change the location of their country's capital 3 times due to Burmese invasions and ransacking. They dealt with that impending danger for hundreds of years.

They have a dual price system: one for foreigners and another for Thais. To them, that is OK.

FYI

Thailand has in the Web page of their Ministry of Foreign Affairs, specific rules about some African countries whose citizens cannot even apply for a tourist visa. They are persona non grata. This stems from the fact that countries, such as Nigeria, has an enormous incidence of scammers, in person, on the internet and in every conceivable way. Police have for many years arrested Africans for a variety of reasons: theft, hooliganism, pimping, drug smuggling and distribution, ATM, scams and miscellaneous other transgressions. To say as a defense that whites also do that, does not exonerate the Africans.

Africans have not done a favor to themselves by being just tourists. Most feel they have "special rights". I do not like it anymore than you do. Bottom line: it is their country. If we do not like the way they run it, we have two options:1-take it in stride without trying to Americanize them. 2- Do not to be here and take your business elsewhere. Very sorry you had to go through that experience. Maybe next time, you can say right off the bat that you are an American, not African. If you learn to say that in Thai will open even more doors to you.

Talk about racism have you ever looked at the hoops a Thai has to go through to get into the good old USA or Canada for that matter?

[pisico]

<br />But where will the Blacks and Indians kick out of these good hotels go then.<br /><br />"The association also plans to ask the Interior Ministry to help enforce the hotel law, since many pseudohotels are providing substandard service and security, and hurting the hotel industry's image."<br /><br />Maybe the image would improve if people are not kicked to the street for being the wrong color. <br /><br />

<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Dude: I am really sorry that it happened to you. Thais are Xenophobic by nature after having to change the location of their country's capital 3 times due to Burmese invasions and ransacking. They dealt with that impending danger for hundreds of years.

They have a dual price system: one for foreigners and another for Thais. To them, that is OK.

FYI

Thailand has in the Web page of their Ministry of Foreign Affairs, specific rules about some African countries whose citizens cannot even apply for a tourist visa. They are persona non grata. This stems from the fact that countries, such as Nigeria, has an enormous incidence of scammers, in person, on the internet and in every conceivable way. Police have for many years arrested Africans for a variety of reasons: theft, hooliganism, pimping, drug smuggling and distribution, ATM, scams and miscellaneous other transgressions. To say as a defense that whites also do that, does not exonerate the Africans.

Africans have not done a favor to themselves by being just tourists. Most feel they have "special rights". I do not like it anymore than you do. Bottom line: it is their country. If we do not like the way they run it, we have two options:1-take it in stride without trying to Americanize them. 2- Do not to be here and take your business elsewhere. Very sorry you had to go through that experience. Maybe next time, you can say right off the bat that you are an American, not African. If you learn to say that in Thai will open even more doors to you.

Talk about racism have you ever looked at the hoops a Thai has to go through to get into the good old USA or Canada for that matter?

Sorry to say that yours is a false analogy. What do you call then what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that Nigerians are banned from entering the Kingdom?

The thread is about a business exercising a policy within the bounds of the premises based on past experiences with customers of a specific race.

I pose a question to you: are the Belgians racist when they forbid the entry of British fans to the country to attend certain soccer games?

The ban is based on past experience in which the Brits behaved like hooligans, destroyed property and delivered physical harm to spectators in their attendances to the games. Are they racists?

You are comparing Rambutan to Mangosteen, (to use regional examples) when talking about the hoops a Thai has to go through to go to USA or Canada and comparing it to the unpleasant experience this fellow has to go through at the hotel. That is a false analogy. As far as the hoops to migrate to USA and/or Canada, it is not only Thais, but Romanians, Brazilians, Nigerians and many other nationalities that must comply with the Immigration Laws of each country. Just like here in Thailand Farangs must go through all the hoops the Thai government dictates. What do you call a dual price system: one for nationals and the other for Farangs? Your idea of racism is obfuscated by strong nationalistic feelings of injustice and not a clear, just vision of the world. Aristotle once commented that the LAW is reason free from passion. If we applied that principle to our daily lives this would be a better world.

My 2 opinion Bahts

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I think some of you are missing the point by concentrating on low end guesthouses. Clearly this isn't the biggest worry of a four or five star hotel.

Note that they mention

residences, serviced apartments...

The problem for them is that some of these properties offer a better product for less money than their 'hotels'.

An example: I stayed in a River View room at the Mandarin Oriental. Cost around 11.000 baht per night at the time. Though whilst it was very nice, it was put into the shade by the 184 square metre two bedroom serviced apartment with a full kitchen and washing machine and river view and balcony nearby for which I paid 4200 baht per night.

Therein lies their problem. Can't sell their pokey and overpriced hotel rooms because of the high quality competition, so try to smear them instead.

[ukrules]

Are there no depths, to which these people will stoop, in their efforts to meet the paying-customers' needs ?

No, no depths are too low, they will stoop as low as is required.

[Ricardo]

Are there no depths, to which these people will stoop, in their efforts to meet the paying-customers' needs ?

No, no depths are too low, they will stoop as low as is required.

Perhaps they might get passed a new law, requiring all incoming-tourists carrying back-packs through Swampy, to stay in hotels with a minimum of 3-stars & upwards ?

And of course no patriotic local-citizen would ever dream, of staying in a guest-house or cheaper non-THA-member hotel, so such a law need not apply to Thai citizens !

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Lets take another look...

One on the THA list, JW Marriot Between 5,000 and 6,000 baht for a 33 square metre room.

One not on the list: Fraser Suites Urbana Sathorn 3000 baht for a 69 to 72 square metre fully furnished serviced apartment. If you don't want breakfast, that drops down to 2636 baht.

Perhaps these are not the properties to which they refer, but I'm quite sure they don't like the competition.

I rarely stay in hotels now given the choice. Serviced apartments are generally much better and cheaper.

Perhaps the hotels in the THA are charging too much for what they offer?