Opening A Hotel/guesthouse In Thailand

[lemoncake]

Well lets not go into the experience area. I know what i know.

A 10 year contract often IS the problem. It is not long enough and provisions in the contract are not always enforceable, like when the land has got a new owner.

Many landowners do not like long term rents. I don't know why, if i owned land on such locations i would be happy with long term contracts.

10 years would be enough time to recoup your investment, you need more years to get into real profits.

Another problem with 10 year contracts are that after 5-6 years you are going to have to make a big decision, maintaining the quality and keep everything in perfect order, or try to minimize costs and slowly quality slips (many run down resorts in Thailand that proves that) all with the knowledge that the landowner can ruin your investments on a whim when it is renewal time.

Now i can say back, you have probably never done business in Thailand.

And i stand by my opinion that a manager in any kind of business that is making 16+ hours 7 days a week is a very incompetent manager. Sounds more like a debt slave.

I don't need to have specific guesthouse/hotel in Thailand management experience to conclude that! It is just common sense.

So again , you have no clue what you talking about but yet will continue to do so.

Of course there are provisions in the long contracts and of course each one is enforceable . There are clause and conditions and in some owner can not even sell without renters permission.

But clearly you know more, that's why there are people who do and people who always want to do but never do and naturally with an excuse .

Have you worked a day in Thailand ? What experience do you have with local work force ?

[simon43]

I'll add my 2 baht's worth. I've built and managed small hotels in south Thailand for 8 years. All have been profitable - some very profitable.

Taninthai and others are right about the workload. My hotels were open 24/7, so I had to be willing to jump out of bed in the middle of the night to help arriving/departing guests if/when the night manager encountered an unforseen problem. Even though I now work in Myanmar, (and my family manage the hotels in Phuket), I still have to spend several hours online each day to manage the marketing and online booking requirements.

Do not rent a guesthouse/hotel where a 3 year (renewable) contract is offered. 3 year contracts (well, 2 years and 364 days), do not need to be registered with the local authority and you will have no security at all to renew your lease at the end of the 3 year period. Many Thai property owners will only offer the 3 year contract because they can avoid paying taxes to register the lease and they can easily kick you out or increase the property rent after 3 years.

My route to long-term security for my hotels is to find a piece of building land and to lease it for 20-30 years. Even in Phuket, I am able to lease suitable land for a 10-room hotel/guesthouse at less than 20,000 baht per month. I arrange the 20-30 year lease, (pay rent monthly, no upfront or bulk payment to the land-owner), get the lease contract drawn up in my name only, (foreigners can legally lease land), and then register the lease with the local Amphur, (I and the land-owner share the tax payment). The monthly rental for the complete lease period is stipulated in the contract and cannot be changed. Nor can the land-owner throw me off the land unless I default on the rental.

Then I build the small hotel .....

My land-lease contracts stipulate that if I terminate the lease early or complete the lease period, I pay no penalty and am allowed to remove all business assets and demolish the hotel buildings. So this 'encourages' the land-owner to renew the lease after 20/30 years, (although I'll probably be dead by then). The business on the land does not belong to the land-owner and I can relocate it as I wish.

So I can lease the land in my own name, but the hotel business must have a Thai partner. This has been my wife for previous businesses. If you're legally married, then upon the divorce, the hotel business assets must be shared equally, unless agreed otherwise. Since no land ownership is involved, Thai law requires a 50/50 split of the business.

(If you think this is a 'dream', I sold one of my previous hotels on divorce and received 50% of the value....)

I have never had to pay any thugs or the police, but I voluntarily 'support' the local police by sponsoring their football team and buying their football kit! No more than 2,000 baht a month and I have never had any problems over the years.

But the key to running any successful business is to identify a demand for a product or service, ideally a niche sector or location where you either have no competitors, or can obtain a competitive advantage. Opening a guesthouse in Patong is probably not going to work

Simon

[mickymouse1]

I want to run a hotel/guesthouse in Thailand, thus i am looking for all the help, information, ideas, pointers ect. i can find, i'm hoping that there are people here who has experience and knowledge on the matter.

I speak a little thai as i have lived in Chiang Mai for a year (2011-2012)

It is an old dream to do this and now i feel it is time to actually live out that dream. I am not in it for the money neither am i running from something, i just want to stir up life and start doing something that gives meaning. My motivation besides this, is being able to give something back to a place that has given me so much through the years.

In future prospect i am hoping to use this project as a base for opening a school, a childrens home, an orphanage or another local-based non-profit institution.

If anyone would like to point me in a direction, help me out or simply whip or pad my back i would be thrilled !!

All the best, chok dee, Julian

Julian, while your intentions may be in the right place going into business has only one point- to make money. If your not out to make money then you'd be better to focus your energy on your interests and hobbies as running a hotel/guesthouse is a lot of work, lots of competition and very little margins.

I have several friends who tried in different places in Thailand with the same outlook, just wanted a hobby and maybe break even and ended up with lots of woes and loans back home to pay a losing proposition in Thailand.

Why not just go straight into your passion? Use your money and spend it on helping existing reputable charities, get one of them to sponsor you with a work permit and help them raise money. Start your own once you understand the business climate and have the necessary licenses.

Not trying to be mean spirited, just trying to convince you that any business is just a job that needs to earn with passion and work, otherwise it is just a hobby and hobbies are a financially losing proposition. Of course if you are extreamly wealthy then my advice does not likely matter

very sensible and best advice..

[anonimus]

Hi Julian,

I have a Thai friend, who wants to build a resort on his land in Phuket. He is looking for partner (50/50), as he need some financial and guidance help. Let me know if you are interested, and I will be more than happy to give you more details.

Regards,

Lola

P.S. Please drop me an email - < Email removed as per forum rule >

Edited April 4, 2013 by metisdead
13) Not to post email addresses in posts due to potential spam problems.

[mdotinc]

just sent you a private message(PM)

[taninthai]

I have to laugh at the posts about spending 16+ hours a day 7 days a week in a guesthouse/hotel.If you do that then you are short on management skills, or like to sit in your own bar/restaurant and get wasted.The reason i not started one yet is that a good location that is affordable is hard to find.I will not rent as that is the biggest problem you will give yourself later.New negotiations for future rental renewals are always going to be a burden on the business.I buy land/guesthouse/hotel/resort outright (freehold) or it is not going to happen.

Khun jean i have learnt t loads from you on this forum with regards to land, believe me on this subject you are very wrong, if you dont put the hours in you will not make half the money you can make, impossible to find perfect english speaking staff that can talk and make the customer fell at home, coupled with the fact if you employ a lot of staff you will simply lose money in low season,i have run our place for 5 years turns brilliant profit even though we only open for 5 months,closing resor because it needs repairs now plus im working harde than i was in the uk and only earning half the money so its time for a change for us,obviously from other comments on here people that run a succesfull place have the same experience as me, put thai people in charge of you bussines yes you have an easy life but your profits are very poor.

Sent from my GT-P7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Morden]

Hi Julian,

I have a Thai friend, who wants to build a resort on his land in Phuket. He is looking for partner (50/50), as he need some financial and guidance help. Let me know if you are interested, and I will be more than happy to give you more details.

Regards,

Lola

P.S. Please drop me an email - < Email removed as per forum rule >

Partnerships often lead to trouble. Perhaps each partner, dedicated to the business, will have different ideas. On the other hand, one partner may be idle and the other become annoyed because he's putting in most of the work. I would never enter into a business partnership.

[Nobelcat]

So I'm now interested by this dialog. I have my own set of questions since people seem to be in a mood of answering questions:

Practical: To own a business in Thailand you must have a Thai involved. But at the same point I know people who do things without proper permission. Do the members of TV who currently run guesthouses / resorts have Thai partners? Is there anyone who has not set it up as a regulated business?

Legal: I know there's a list somewhere of businesses foreigners are blocked from 100%. Things like being a taxi driver and construction worker. Is a position in hospitality services also included in there? And even if it is in there, does anyone really care since it sounds like enough people are doing it (which either means it legal or no one cares).

Reporting: I think I already know about this, but all guesthouses (and actually, any house period) is required to report foreign visitors to some central office. Do you need to register with them or do you just file some paperwork and they don't care who you are? Anyone happen to know how this reporting happens?

So I'm more just bringing these up for the sake of the OP but if someone happened to answer the questions then maybe in a few years I'd "retire" and do the same thing. I used to run a B&B in the USA, and it was more trouble than it was worth, but a lot of that has to do with hotel taxes, business taxes, and horribly high labor costs. I think just lowering the labor costs to almost nothing, one could just start renting out rooms if they had enough of them in their house. But again, I don't know about the legal regulations on any of this.

[taninthai]

here is an example why you dont leave thai staff in charge of your bussiness ,this was last month i only asked the staff to burn a pile of palm leaves and look what happens 1 rai completely burnt out along the back there is a plastic water pipe the fire hit that and melted it and that stopped the fire otherwise it would have hit and burnt 200 rai of jungle land police turned up and just another crazy day of running a resort

another trick we had to pop out for a couple of hours ,told staff only sell drinks no food,next day our regular customer comes tells me oh your staff made some nice food yesterday,mmm cooked and served our food and put the money striaght in their pocket, strting to see why you have to be there 24/7 now?

[Morden]

here is an example why you dont leave thai staff in charge of your bussiness ,this was last month i only asked the staff to burn a pile of palm leaves and look what happens 1 rai completely burnt out along the back there is a plastic water pipe the fire hit that and melted it and that stopped the fire otherwise it would have hit and burnt 200 rai of jungle land police turned up and just another crazy day of running a resort

IMG_0042.JPG

another trick we had to pop out for a couple of hours ,told staff only sell drinks no food,next day our regular customer comes tells me oh your staff made some nice food yesterday,mmm cooked and served our food and put the money striaght in their pocket, strting to see why you have to be there 24/7 now?

You can occasionally find a gem but many are stupid or lazy at least and dishonest at most.

I know of a case where a married couple where employed to serve in a small restaurant. After a few weeks of them dong a good job the boss/cook trusted them to deal with the bills when he was busy in the kitchen. They pocketed some of the cash and also stole stock. I'd say that he was to blame for letting go of cash control but it shows just how careful an owner has to be.

A friend of mine has a very busy restaurant with about twelve staff, including a cashier. The controls were good and he always checked the previous day's takings against the receipts and bills. He told me that he thought about THB20,000 was missing one month. His wife eventually found that a waitress and the cashier were colluding to syphon of some of the takings.

Take a holiday from running an hotel and imagine the fun the staff will have with cash and food stocks.

[taninthai]

here is an example why you dont leave thai staff in charge of your bussiness ,this was last month i only asked the staff to burn a pile of palm leaves and look what happens 1 rai completely burnt out along the back there is a plastic water pipe the fire hit that and melted it and that stopped the fire otherwise it would have hit and burnt 200 rai of jungle land police turned up and just another crazy day of running a resort

IMG_0042.JPG

another trick we had to pop out for a couple of hours ,told staff only sell drinks no food,next day our regular customer comes tells me oh your staff made some nice food yesterday,mmm cooked and served our food and put the money striaght in their pocket, strting to see why you have to be there 24/7 now?

You can occasionally find a gem but many are stupid or lazy at least and dishonest at most.

I know of a case where a married couple where employed to serve in a small restaurant. After a few weeks of them dong a good job the boss/cook trusted them to deal with the bills when he was busy in the kitchen. They pocketed some of the cash and also stole stock. I'd say that he was to blame for letting go of cash control but it shows just how careful an owner has to be.

A friend of mine has a very busy restaurant with about twelve staff, including a cashier. The controls were good and he always checked the previous day's takings against the receipts and bills. He told me that he thought about THB20,000 was missing one month. His wife eventually found that a waitress and the cashier were colluding to syphon of some of the takings.

Take a holiday from running an hotel and imagine the fun the staff will have with cash and food stocks.

yep trust no one and dont put temtation in anyones way ,we also had a fold up bed stolen from one of the rooms dont know weather it was customer took it when they checked out or staff took it after cleaning room ah the joys of running hotels

[Eddythekid]

Running hotel guesthouse you will be working 16-18hour days, you may say your not in it for the money but once the novelty wears of and you realise how hard work it is you wilk be wanting to turn a profit,speaking from experience 5 years of running a place,i have customers everyday telling me what a great relaxed easy lifestyle i have,if only they knew whats involved,if you are not running it for the money you will soon start losing money then see how much fun it is working them hours 7 days a week and not turning any profit Sent from my GT-P7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Ha what a load of crap, I've had my very large guesthouse for 6yrs now, and other than the odd light bulb/ blocked trap/ leaking tap, I don't get involved. Oh sorry yes i do answer all emails, do accounts, and a little bit of marketing, If I work more than 7hrs a week I'd be lying. I taught my wife how to hire and fire, our staff are 3yr, 4yr and 6ys in the job, there's the secret to an easy life. My wife started working 3 days a week once our youngest started school, but that was by choice, and she finishes 5pm sharp on the 3 days that she works, when going away on hols we shuffle the rota to suite and pop off for a week on a family vacation. My staff do everything, each is trained to cook, clean and serve, and one has been given the dedicated job of maintaining the swimming pool, I never prop up my bar, you'll be lucky to see me in there one day a week, could it make more money if I was a piss-head probably, but then I could never live that life. PS I designed and built my place, with 2 little children to raise, don't listen to the negative crap on here, some people just got no balls, and will forever live in fear of their own negativity, and in doing so will never find true happiness.

In other words, you have never ran the hotel, your wife works it. Because if you did work the hotel, you would know that staff do not stay for 3-4 6 years as you claim. Not only that, if you not there, they could not care less about cleaningness and everything else.

I too own a hotel, and 200% agree with taninthai, it is 16-18 hour days, 7 days per week.

Sounds like you're calling me a liar mate, dangerous territory that PM and I'll send you a link to my website, look through my photo gallary over the years and you will see the staff have been here from 3-6yrs and as I said there is the secret to an easy life, get that right and it becomes easy, I taught my wife how to get rid of dead wood, not give an inch or they take a mile, motivation skills, annual bonus benefits, and how to do a thorough interview asking all the right questions. Get the staff right, get them to stay and it runs itself. Something I learn in management many many moons ago "A good manager is a redundant manager" I am the redundant manager, as I was in many of my roles back in UK. As I use to say to many managers I've trained, if you're working hard, your not working smart - work smarter not harder, and how do you rekon they don't care about cleanliness, perhaps you should check out my Trip advisor page, no complaints there either. Trained staff are motivated staff, Thais can be very loyal, but all staff want to be motivated. Sounds like you and Taninthai ain't working smart enough

[lemoncake]

Running hotel guesthouse you will be working 16-18hour days, you may say your not in it for the money but once the novelty wears of and you realise how hard work it is you wilk be wanting to turn a profit,speaking from experience 5 years of running a place,i have customers everyday telling me what a great relaxed easy lifestyle i have,if only they knew whats involved,if you are not running it for the money you will soon start losing money then see how much fun it is working them hours 7 days a week and not turning any profit Sent from my GT-P7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Ha what a load of crap, I've had my very large guesthouse for 6yrs now, and other than the odd light bulb/ blocked trap/ leaking tap, I don't get involved. Oh sorry yes i do answer all emails, do accounts, and a little bit of marketing, If I work more than 7hrs a week I'd be lying. I taught my wife how to hire and fire, our staff are 3yr, 4yr and 6ys in the job, there's the secret to an easy life. My wife started working 3 days a week once our youngest started school, but that was by choice, and she finishes 5pm sharp on the 3 days that she works, when going away on hols we shuffle the rota to suite and pop off for a week on a family vacation. My staff do everything, each is trained to cook, clean and serve, and one has been given the dedicated job of maintaining the swimming pool, I never prop up my bar, you'll be lucky to see me in there one day a week, could it make more money if I was a piss-head probably, but then I could never live that life. PS I designed and built my place, with 2 little children to raise, don't listen to the negative crap on here, some people just got no balls, and will forever live in fear of their own negativity, and in doing so will never find true happiness.

In other words, you have never ran the hotel, your wife works it. Because if you did work the hotel, you would know that staff do not stay for 3-4 6 years as you claim. Not only that, if you not there, they could not care less about cleaningness and everything else.

I too own a hotel, and 200% agree with taninthai, it is 16-18 hour days, 7 days per week.

Sounds like you're calling me a liar mate, dangerous territory that PM and I'll send you a link to my website, look through my photo gallary over the years and you will see the staff have been here from 3-6yrs and as I said there is the secret to an easy life, get that right and it becomes easy, I taught my wife how to get rid of dead wood, not give an inch or they take a mile, motivation skills, annual bonus benefits, and how to do a thorough interview asking all the right questions. Get the staff right, get them to stay and it runs itself. Something I learn in management many many moons ago "A good manager is a redundant manager" I am the redundant manager, as I was in many of my roles back in UK. As I use to say to many managers I've trained, if you're working hard, your not working smart - work smarter not harder, and how do you rekon they don't care about cleanliness, perhaps you should check out my Trip advisor page, no complaints there either. Trained staff are motivated staff, Thais can be very loyal, but all staff want to be motivated. Sounds like you and Taninthai ain't working smart enough

I am sure if i left my business to my staff without supervision, they will also stay for years, since doing nothing and stealing is free for all.

I once left for 3 weeks, and staff were very very happy, only with high sales, bank account did not add any digits.

All were also happy, until i started to check CCTV for the month and cross check passports with bookings, then all over sudden a few had to go back to village

On my website i also have pics of staff from 2 years ago, it does not mean they still work for me.

You will also find some pics on FB with ex staff claiming they work here, though have been fired for years.

You really remind me of someone i know, who had a guesthouse and had great managerial skills. All of hos staff were very loyal, so he hardly ever had to be there.

For some reason, he sold the place 1 year after for 1/3 of what it should have been worth, to someone i knew and for some reason none of the "loyal" staff stayed. I attribute this to the new owner actually running the business and watching things

But what would i know, i along with few others need to work 16-18 hour days to make our business work

[taninthai]

Eddies the kid certainly has different scenario from what I have and from what many other hotel owners I know ,everyone will tell you staff is the biggest problem no matter what bussiness you have here.

Yes I could leave Thais in control of my bussiness but I know for a fact the profits would be cut in half,bonuses do not affect Thai people when they want to leave they will leave.

Of coarse if you put Thais in control and they can help themselves to a little something each day they probably won't leave as it a nice earner for them ,every Thai I know with hotels will not let their staff handle any cash at all wonder why that is.....

Edited April 4, 2013 by taninthai

[Khun Jean]

I have three managers in my wifes family and they know how to manage Thai workforce.

A 'farang' would not be able to do that. I have seen a few 'faragn' managers growing grey hair in weeks and depart within a few months. Unwilling to adapt is the main reason.

First lesson that is 90% the case, as a farang don't be the visible manager.

A Thai, best from chinese decend should play that role. Fire them if they are not good.

Oh, yeah, you need to give them a good salary preferably with a bonus.

Then as the 'farang' owner you only need to manage the manager.

The suprise inspection keeps them on their toes. I have 'stealth' inspections.

I do that with my condos and it is working great.

In the beginning we did it all ourself, worked ok, but took to much time and my personal management skills over Thais is not good enough. So i accepted my own weakness (i am too soft to employees) and took care of it.

[JLCrab]

Maybe have a look here -- I only know of this place because I once stayed at a hotel in the neighborhood:

International Hotel & Tourism Industry Management School http://www.i-tim.ac.th/the-school/historical-background.php

[taninthai]

Oh yes it's so easy just fire them if there no good, do you think there is a queue of qualified people waiting to step into their job ,so you fire your chief in the morning who is is gonna do all the cooking it could take you weeks to find another chief,heard the saying if you want something done properly then best to do it yourself this is especially true for Thailand.look around, every hotel has signs outside needing 5 or 6 staff you cannot bully your staff in Thailand they will walk away to another hotel,these are my opinions based on 5 years experience of dealing with these things everyday.

[lemoncake]

I have three managers in my wifes family and they know how to manage Thai workforce.

A 'farang' would not be able to do that. I have seen a few 'faragn' managers growing grey hair in weeks and depart within a few months. Unwilling to adapt is the main reason.

First lesson that is 90% the case, as a farang don't be the visible manager.

A Thai, best from chinese decend should play that role. Fire them if they are not good.

Oh, yeah, you need to give them a good salary preferably with a bonus.

Then as the 'farang' owner you only need to manage the manager.

The suprise inspection keeps them on their toes. I have 'stealth' inspections.

I do that with my condos and it is working great.

In the beginning we did it all ourself, worked ok, but took to much time and my personal management skills over Thais is not good enough. So i accepted my own weakness (i am too soft to employees) and took care of it.

, please stop.... you really killing me with your deep knowledge of business and local ways

[lemoncake]

Oh yes it's so easy just fire them if there no good, do you think there is a queue of qualified people waiting to step into their job ,so you fire your chief in the morning who is is gonna do all the cooking it could take you weeks to find another chief,heard the saying if you want something done properly then best to do it yourself this is especially true for Thailand.look around, every hotel has signs outside needing 5 or 6 staff you cannot bully your staff in Thailand they will walk away to another hotel,these are my opinions based on 5 years experience of dealing with these things everyday.

Not only bully, but should you dare to critisize them or point out they did not follow company rules, not only they will not show up, but will most likely take somethings with them on the way home.

Fine them for not showing up to work and the next day after salary they are gone with the wind.

With the ones who stay, you can spend days training them and they still get it wrong, months later, they still get it wrong, so you end up doing your job, their job and another job to watch what they have done.

Thai manager could not care less what you the owner wants, he/she cares more about being liked by staff, because if the staff do not like him/her, they leave if they leave he/she the manager has the headache of finding and training new. So rest assured Manager is not here to help you run the business, but here solely to do as little as possible but still be paid.

Perhaps it is a good reason why some bars and hotels do well and why so many others do not. One being the wife or gf runs it, thai style.

Have come across a few and see it daily, the business man with gf's running it, loosing millions.

[Eddythekid]

My god you lot are so offensive, you live in Thailand, and yet have no regard or respect for the Thai people, calling them, thieves, cheats and lazy at every opportunity, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Also consider this, if you treat people like they can't be trusted, then they will prove you right. The problem in Thailand is not the Thai people, but the low standard of foreigner that arrives on its shores. You all come with the attitude that they are stupid and can be bought for peanuts, only to find out that this is not the case, if you're old and wrinkly and living with a beautiful 25yr old, she's there for the money, if you don't give her enough she will take it at every chance, this then rubs off onto the other staff, hey presto - doomed to fail from the start.

Do you not think after 6yrs in business I would identify a theif, you identify all loop holes within the 1st few months of business and put in measures to plug the hole. You then make sure all your staff are aware of all the procedures. If you have 1 girl who arrives late, or is lazy, or shows signs of dishonesty you get rid because like a bad apple the rot will spread. It seems there is a lack of man management skills among you.

Why is only one staff trained to cook? Train them all to the same standard.

Unless caught steeling who says you must sack immediately, if you don't like someones' behaviour, employ someone else give it a month cross over and then sack the weak link.

As I say "It seems there is a lack of man management skills among you.

PS. I live above my property, my staff cook all my food daily, finger on the pulse always! I do a sneak tour every now and then but have nothing but praise for my manager, who by-the-way earns a measly 10k p/m. Someone said my wife does everything, no my wife works 3 days a week on the rota like all my staff. She works from 8am to 5pm, but I will admit she is the best worker, but all that has done is increase the standards of the rest of the work force

[lemoncake]

Eddythekid, on 04 Apr 2013 - 18:58, said:

My god you lot are so offensive, you live in Thailand, and yet have no regard or respect for the Thai people, calling them, thieves, cheats and lazy at every opportunity, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Also consider this, if you treat people like they can't be trusted, then they will prove you right. The problem in Thailand is not the Thai people, but the low standard of foreigner that arrives on its shores. You all come with the attitude that they are stupid and can be bought for peanuts, only to find out that this is not the case, if you're old and wrinkly and living with a beautiful 25yr old, she's there for the money, if you don't give her enough she will take it at every chance, this then rubs off onto the other staff, hey presto - doomed to fail from the start.

Do you not think after 6yrs in business I would identify a theif, you identify all loop holes within the 1st few months of business and put in measures to plug the hole. You then make sure all your staff are aware of all the procedures. If you have 1 girl who arrives late, or is lazy, or shows signs of dishonesty you get rid because like a bad apple the rot will spread. It seems there is a lack of man management skills among you.

Why is only one staff trained to cook? Train them all to the same standard.

Unless caught steeling who says you must sack immediately, if you don't like someones' behaviour, employ someone else give it a month cross over and then sack the weak link.

As I say "It seems there is a lack of man management skills among you.

PS. I live above my property, my staff cook all my food daily, finger on the pulse always! I do a sneak tour every now and then but have nothing but praise for my manager, who by-the-way earns a measly 10k p/m. Someone said my wife does everything, no my wife works 3 days a week on the rota like all my staff. She works from 8am to 5pm, but I will admit she is the best worker, but all that has done is increase the standards of the rest of the work force

Well i would like to call some of my staff genius, but find it hard to do when after working for 6 months they still do not know which switch turns on the light and which does the fans.

Why is only 1 staff trained to cook? is this a tricky question?

Perhaps because he/she is the cook, while others are either room maids or reception

Or you now proposing to have maid also be a cook

PS. Have you noticed how staff problem is a problem country wide, even for the big boys who not only pay well, but also provide housing and the rest. I guess all lack managerial skills and need someone as experienced as you and few others on this thread to come and sort it out

Edited April 4, 2013 by lemoncake

[taninthai]

^

really

Why do you think the Thai people that own hotels employ Burmese. Think about that one.it's my wife that manages her resort it is also my wife that says all this about Thai workers ,my wife is Thai,the resort 100 meters away from us has been there 12 years same Thai owner and she won't even employ Thai people anymore all her staff are from Burma.

Little example we make around 25% of our total profit from selling tours we are only a simple basic resort,our friend has a 4* hotel she wants us to run it for her she us always moaning that she never sells any tours ,why do you think that is? it's because the Thai staff do not talk and build up a rapour with the customers.

Eddythe kid we were paying our chief more than you are paying your manager.

Edited April 4, 2013 by taninthai

[Eddythekid]

Oh yes it's so easy just fire them if there no good, do you think there is a queue of qualified people waiting to step into their job ,so you fire your chief in the morning who is is gonna do all the cooking it could take you weeks to find another chief,heard the saying if you want something done properly then best to do it yourself this is especially true for Thailand.look around, every hotel has signs outside needing 5 or 6 staff you cannot bully your staff in Thailand they will walk away to another hotel,these are my opinions based on 5 years experience of dealing with these things everyday.

Taninthai, I don't doubt your experiences, in fact I 100% believe you have all the problems you've mentioned. The thing is they'll never go away, because you are the problem. You should never bully staff in Thailand or any other country, treat them like they're the most important link in the chain and they will deliver, but beware, people can spot your incompetence a mile away, the first thing you'll need to run a successful business is the respect of your employees, without it you got no chance. It's pretty impossible to get respect unless you deserve it, so there's your first lesson, earn their respect.

PS there's no point bragging about your 5yrs experience if it hasn't been a good experience - does that make sense? Why tell everyone else they're doomed to fail just because (in your words) you are?

[lemoncake]

^

really

Why do you think the Thai people that own hotels employ Burmese. Think about that one

I am afraid you and i do not have a chance against savvy business professionals on this thread. Some rent out condo's so they know everything about hotel business.

You, i and everyone i know has problems with getting, training and keeping staff, but thats because we lack managerial skills ,while keyboard experts know how to fix that in no time.

[lemoncake]

Oh yes it's so easy just fire them if there no good, do you think there is a queue of qualified people waiting to step into their job ,so you fire your chief in the morning who is is gonna do all the cooking it could take you weeks to find another chief,heard the saying if you want something done properly then best to do it yourself this is especially true for Thailand.look around, every hotel has signs outside needing 5 or 6 staff you cannot bully your staff in Thailand they will walk away to another hotel,these are my opinions based on 5 years experience of dealing with these things everyday.

Taninthai, I don't doubt your experiences, in fact I 100% believe you have all the problems you've mentioned. The thing is they'll never go away, because you are the problem. You should never bully staff in Thailand or any other country, treat them like they're the most important link in the chain and they will deliver, but beware, people can spot your incompetence a mile away, the first thing you'll need to run a successful business is the respect of your employees, without it you got no chance. It's pretty impossible to get respect unless you deserve it, so there's your first lesson, earn their respect.

PS there's no point bragging about your 5yrs experience if it hasn't been a good experience - does that make sense? Why tell everyone else they're doomed to fail just because (in your words) you are?

Sorry tell me again, what work experience you have in Thailand? and what experience you have with managing work force in Thailand? or anywhere for that matter?

[Eddythekid]

Taninthai, don't believe everything you here, unless you live in Nae Hong Song!

Ha Lemoncake you've just bought a smile to my face, your statement just took me back 6yrs, when my wife said to me, nobody will do everything, cook is for cooking, cleaner is for cleaning, etc. I have 10 rooms, running at 50-60% so to clean rooms only would take max 3hrs, so the rest of the time do you just pay them to sit around waiting for the customer to vacate, get real. My restaurant may make between 10 and 20 meals a day so on a bad day 10 meals at 20mins (av) she too will have just over 3hrs work, so do I pay her to sit around all day waiting for someone to order food. I said to my wife "believe me, you put in their job description and they will do it", until this day it was never raised as an issue again. Rooms are cleaned the moment a room is vacant as long as food is not being cooked, when rooms are all clean and no food is required they move onto the laundry, if the laundry is finished they do general cleaning of the hotel and restaurant. When your staff are idol they will get bored and grow to hate their job, if you'd read all my posts thoroughly you also know that one member is dedicated to pool cleaning, appox. 4/5hrs work a week. YOU DON'T KEEP A DOG AND BARK YOURSELF.

[taninthai]

Oh yes it's so easy just fire them if there no good, do you think there is a queue of qualified people waiting to step into their job ,so you fire your chief in the morning who is is gonna do all the cooking it could take you weeks to find another chief,heard the saying if you want something done properly then best to do it yourself this is especially true for Thailand.look around, every hotel has signs outside needing 5 or 6 staff you cannot bully your staff in Thailand they will walk away to another hotel,these are my opinions based on 5 years experience of dealing with these things everyday.

Taninthai, I don't doubt your experiences, in fact I 100% believe you have all the problems you've mentioned. The thing is they'll never go away, because you are the problem. You should never bully staff in Thailand or any other country, treat them like they're the most important link in the chain and they will deliver, but beware, people can spot your incompetence a mile away, the first thing you'll need to run a successful business is the respect of your employees, without it you got no chance. It's pretty impossible to get respect unless you deserve it, so there's your first lesson, earn their respect.

PS there's no point bragging about your 5yrs experience if it hasn't been a good experience - does that make sense? Why tell everyone else they're doomed to fail just because (in your words) you are?

You are reading my posts wrong I don't manage any staff my wife does how can I manage staff when I dint speak the language.

I had the best 5 years of my life running our resort and made a nice bit of money at the same time.

When did I ever tell anyone they will fail and not make money ,I have always said you can makemoney but it's not easy and involves a lot of work which is a realistic view .you are the one saying it's easy and not hard work at all I do wonder if your businesses turning good profit

[lemoncake]

Taninthai, don't believe everything you here, unless you live in Nae Hong Song!

Ha Lemoncake you've just bought a smile to my face, your statement just took me back 6yrs, when my wife said to me, nobody will do everything, cook is for cooking, cleaner is for cleaning, etc. I have 10 rooms, running at 50-60% so to clean rooms only would take max 3hrs, so the rest of the time do you just pay them to sit around waiting for the customer to vacate, get real. My restaurant may make between 10 and 20 meals a day so on a bad day 10 meals at 20mins (av) she too will have just over 3hrs work, so do I pay her to sit around all day waiting for someone to order food. I said to my wife "believe me, you put in their job description and they will do it", until this day it was never raised as an issue again. Rooms are cleaned the moment a room is vacant as long as food is not being cooked, when rooms are all clean and no food is required they move onto the laundry, if the laundry is finished they do general cleaning of the hotel and restaurant. When your staff are idol they will get bored and grow to hate their job, if you'd read all my posts thoroughly you also know that one member is dedicated to pool cleaning, appox. 4/5hrs work a week. YOU DON'T KEEP A DOG AND BARK YOURSELF.

10 rooms take 3 hours to clean? now you have just shown that you do not have anything

I have had to clean rooms and 10 rooms will take minimum 6 hours of non stop work if properly cleaned.

Unless of course your idea of a clean is to change towels and put a toilet paper.

No doubt a maid or reception staff will cook a great looking delicious meal

Lets hope your imaginary guests are happy with the food and "clean" rooms.

[lemoncake]

Oh yes it's so easy just fire them if there no good, do you think there is a queue of qualified people waiting to step into their job ,so you fire your chief in the morning who is is gonna do all the cooking it could take you weeks to find another chief,heard the saying if you want something done properly then best to do it yourself this is especially true for Thailand.look around, every hotel has signs outside needing 5 or 6 staff you cannot bully your staff in Thailand they will walk away to another hotel,these are my opinions based on 5 years experience of dealing with these things everyday.

Taninthai, I don't doubt your experiences, in fact I 100% believe you have all the problems you've mentioned. The thing is they'll never go away, because you are the problem. You should never bully staff in Thailand or any other country, treat them like they're the most important link in the chain and they will deliver, but beware, people can spot your incompetence a mile away, the first thing you'll need to run a successful business is the respect of your employees, without it you got no chance. It's pretty impossible to get respect unless you deserve it, so there's your first lesson, earn their respect.

PS there's no point bragging about your 5yrs experience if it hasn't been a good experience - does that make sense? Why tell everyone else they're doomed to fail just because (in your words) you are?

You are reading my posts wrong I don't manage any staff my wife does how can I manage staff when I dint speak the language.

I had the best 5 years of my life running our resort and made a nice bit of money at the same time.

When did I ever tell anyone they will fail and not make money ,I have always said you can makemoney but it's not easy and involves a lot of work which is a realistic view .you are the one saying it's easy and not hard work at all I do wonder if your businesses turning good profit

When his maids cook meals and also clean 10 rooms in under 3 hours-i seriously doubt it. But lucky for the safety of computer screen, will never know the truth

Not to mention the excellent salary package for the manager

Edited April 4, 2013 by lemoncake

[Eddythekid]

Oh yes it's so easy just fire them if there no good, do you think there is a queue of qualified people waiting to step into their job ,so you fire your chief in the morning who is is gonna do all the cooking it could take you weeks to find another chief,heard the saying if you want something done properly then best to do it yourself this is especially true for Thailand.look around, every hotel has signs outside needing 5 or 6 staff you cannot bully your staff in Thailand they will walk away to another hotel,these are my opinions based on 5 years experience of dealing with these things everyday.

Taninthai, I don't doubt your experiences, in fact I 100% believe you have all the problems you've mentioned. The thing is they'll never go away, because you are the problem. You should never bully staff in Thailand or any other country, treat them like they're the most important link in the chain and they will deliver, but beware, people can spot your incompetence a mile away, the first thing you'll need to run a successful business is the respect of your employees, without it you got no chance. It's pretty impossible to get respect unless you deserve it, so there's your first lesson, earn their respect.

PS there's no point bragging about your 5yrs experience if it hasn't been a good experience - does that make sense? Why tell everyone else they're doomed to fail just because (in your words) you are?

Sorry tell me again, what work experience you have in Thailand? and what experience you have with managing work force in Thailand? or anywhere for that matter?

Seems like you need to add "Can't read" to your failures. I've been running a guesthouse for 6yrs, now I know you're gonna say "well I've been doing it for 5yrs" the difference between you and me is, mine runs well with me putting in very few hours a week, why are you asking me silly questions that have clearly been covered in this thread. Are you assuming that I have no management skills?

Please note, not once have I said it's easy to find staff, it isn't - more the reason to train them well, motivate them and get them to stay. My experience is that my manager has been here since we opened our doors in 2007, I had 2 staff that left after 2-3yrs service, family reasons. and my new staff have been here 3 & 4 yrs already, and unlike you I'm very very happy with them. Have I lost staff after 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, of course I have but it's a numbers game, and better they go earlier rather than after months of training. Stop assuming that just coz you can't get it to work everyone is in the same boat