Holiday Villa Rental Service Launched By Thaivisa

[newnative]

4 hours ago, Arandora said:

If that's the case why not contact ThaiVisa and all the other agents (Thailand-villas.com has over 1000 villas and apartments on offer throughout Thialand, most of which are probably let for less than 30 days) and point out to them that they are acting illegally since you appear to know more about Thai law than they and their lawyers do?

You don't need to be a lawyer to know that daily rentals of condos are illegal most places, not just Thailand.  Many city ordinances prohibit them, as do most condo by-laws.  Every condo I owned in America had a strict prohibition written into the condo bylaws restricting rentals to a minimum of 1 year.  It's all just common sense; hotels and condos are two completely different things and there needs to be laws governing them--and there are.  Greedy people are breaking the law and renting illegally short-term but that doesn't make it right.

[Arandora]

8 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

  "point out to them that they are acting illegally".   Lol.   How long have you been in Thailand, abt 15 minutes?  

A lot longer than that but my comments were supposed to put the onus back on to those suggesting ThaiVisa is acting illegally to do something constructive and try and get ThaiVisa's views. You post to ThaiVisa forums. This is a ThaiVisa initiative. They are responsible for ensuring anything they set up and promote is legal. Do everyone a favour and get THEM to prove it instead of just supporting the armchair lawyers who seem to know better! 

[khunPer]

Google it – this should clear the discussion (has been up before in other threads): 

»

Hotel Act

The Hotel Act (2008) requires any place that provides accommodation for less than a period of one month in exchange for payment is defined as a “Hotel”, regulated by the Hotel Act, and requires a hotel license.

There is a limited exception to this. A license is not required if:

1) the said place has less than five rooms; and

2) cannot accommodate over 20 guests at a time; and

3) the income being earned for such is merely “additional income”.

However, even in this case the owner must report such accommodation activity to the relevant local authorities.

Anyone who operates a “Hotel” without a license is liable to:

.a) a fine of up to B20,000; plus

.b) a fine of up to B10,000 per day of such illicit operation; and

c) imprisonment of up to one year (in the case of a company, the person subject to such imprisonment would be the director).

...«

Source and read more: Phuket Law: Is your house or condo an illegal hotel?

Edited May 24, 2017 by khunPer

[Arandora]

5 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Google it – this should clear the discussion (has been up before in other threads): 

»

Hotel Act

The Hotel Act (2008) requires any place that provides accommodation for less than a period of one month in exchange for payment is defined as a “Hotel”, regulated by the Hotel Act, and requires a hotel license.

There is a limited exception to this. A license is not required if:

1) the said place has less than five rooms; and

2) cannot accommodate over 20 guests at a time; and

3) the income being earned for such is merely “additional income”.

However, even in this case the owner must report such accommodation activity to the relevant local authorities.

Anyone who operates a “Hotel” without a license is liable to:

.a) a fine of up to B20,000; plus

.b) a fine of up to B10,000 per day of such illicit operation; and

c) imprisonment of up to one year (in the case of a company, the person subject to such imprisonment would be the director).

...«

Source and read more: Phuket Law: Is your house or condo an illegal hotel?

So a 4 bed villa (not a condo) with a maximum occupancy of, let's say 16, and the income from which is additional to the owner's other sources of income and let for a period less than one month is by this definition a hotel and therefore requires a licence but is not illegal? 

Just asking. 

[khunPer]

2 hours ago, Arandora said:

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

Google it – this should clear the discussion (has been up before in other threads): 

»

Hotel Act

The Hotel Act (2008) requires any place that provides accommodation for less than a period of one month in exchange for payment is defined as a “Hotel”, regulated by the Hotel Act, and requires a hotel license.

There is a limited exception to this. A license is not required if:

1) the said place has less than five rooms; and

2) cannot accommodate over 20 guests at a time; and

3) the income being earned for such is merely “additional income”.

However, even in this case the owner must report such accommodation activity to the relevant local authorities.

Anyone who operates a “Hotel” without a license is liable to:

.a) a fine of up to B20,000; plus

.b) a fine of up to B10,000 per day of such illicit operation; and

c) imprisonment of up to one year (in the case of a company, the person subject to such imprisonment would be the director).

...«

Source and read more: Phuket Law: Is your house or condo an illegal hotel?

So a 4 bed villa (not a condo) with a maximum occupancy of, let's say 16, and the income from which is additional to the owner's other sources of income and let for a period less than one month is by this definition a hotel and therefore requires a licence but is not illegal? 

Just asking. 

»...is by this definition a hotel...«
I understand the opposite – ...is by this definition not a hotel... – however, please read the Hotel Act's "limited exception... ...license is not required if" again, and let me know if I have misunderstood the whole thing...

[Arandora]

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

»...is by this definition a hotel...«
I understand the opposite – ...is by this definition not a hotel... – however, please read the Hotel Act's "limited exception... ...license is not required if" again, and let me know if I have misunderstood the whole thing...

Just checking! So the previous assertions that it is illegal for villas to be rented for less than 30 days are wrong then? 

[jojothai]

12 hours ago, Arandora said:

If that's the case why not contact ThaiVisa and all the other agents (Thailand-villas.com has over 1000 villas and apartments on offer throughout Thialand, most of which are probably let for less than 30 days) and point out to them that they are acting illegally since you appear to know more about Thai law than they and their lawyers do?

I guess this may be a case of distinguishing between "agents" and the owner / house master who is actually renting the property.

I don't know the precise legal wording but would guess that the person who actually rents the property is liable for compliance. If the agent is simply acting on behalf of the house master and is not the party renting the property then they may have no liability for the compliance.

However perhaps the agents have to be careful that they do not incur liability if the house master cannot provide what has been promised. ( ie because he is illegally renting for under 30 days).

 

Further comment welcomed, anybody?

 

[newnative]

8 hours ago, Arandora said:

So a 4 bed villa (not a condo) with a maximum occupancy of, let's say 16, and the income from which is additional to the owner's other sources of income and let for a period less than one month is by this definition a hotel and therefore requires a licence but is not illegal? 

Just asking. 

I think a stand alone villa meeting the accommodation rules would be ok legally.  If the villa is part of a housing complex it would need to abide by the villa complex's rules and regulations.  Condos used as short-term hotel rooms are definitely illegal. 

[khunPer]

9 hours ago, Arandora said:

Just checking! So the previous assertions that it is illegal for villas to be rented for less than 30 days are wrong then? 

Yes, that's how it seem, and what has been posted in similar ThaiVisa-threads...

 

Furthermore, villas for rent in a project may meet hotel registration requirements – one of the offers I saw in ThaiVisa's "villa rental service" from the area I'm familar with, was part of a row of 2-bedroom (4 person) beach-front villas that might well be operated as hotel – where I live many "resorts" have, or are only, villas for rent, with various levels of service included; i.e. a resort on the beach has only luxury villas for rent, fully staffed and including private chef; and I also noticed that the famous resort Nikki Beach in Lipa Noi was offering a 2-bed villa in the ThaiVisa villa-service...

[Jonathan Fairfield]

I raised some of the points here with people higher up the food chain than me, so to speak, for renting condos and apartments the rule is it must be over 30 days. 

 

However that does not apply to a villa as it is a single private property.

[just.a.thought]

On 24 May 2017 at 1:49 PM, kmj said:

looks like a front for thailandholidayhomes.com using their API's and listed properties ( Partner program ), website needs a few fixes...

 

Tv gets a commission every time they send a customer on to thailandholidayhomes same as many real estate agents. The website is provided by thailandholidayhomes yet every "agent" has to pay a fee to have the site set up on their own websites.

Edited May 31, 2017 by just.a.thought