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How can a foreigner legally own/operate a small guest house?


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How can a foreigner legally own & operate a small guest house? Around 10 rooms. The clientele is foreign & secured. Hence, that is not an issue. I would probably be hiring a Thai or two to manage the setup. However, I would like to own & operate it (licenses, etc) legally. I have lived in Thailand in the past (around 10+ years). Can speak moderate level Thai too. However, I won't be residing in Thailand or working/managing the guest house. 

 

Regards,

 

 

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You are proposing becoming a hotelier.

 

If you have >4 rooms, you will need a hotel license. 

Try google search and start reading. I just skimmed this article 

https://pugnatorius.com/hotel-license/ and there seems to be a lot of requlations.

 

Are you interested in this as a business, or do you want real estate appreciation?

Dude, are you sure you want to take the plunge?

 

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It's really easy to run and operate a guesthouse legally...

Especially as you don't intend to live and work in Thailand!

here are the easy steps:

  • find location
  • buy land
  • build property
  • employ locals to screw it up run it for you
  • start business
  • make money
  • retire rich & happy

 

All of this is easy and achievable PROVIDING you DON'T do it in Thailand !

Sorry, but that's the truth, they are just making it harder and harder to invest in and be safe with your investment, within Thailand.

Edited by TheMacMan
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Ive had this sort of business much of my life.

Its far more labour intensive , well labour 'present' than most imagine.

My question is , "How will you know if staff have rented rooms and pocketed the income  or not?"

In the end , and with you not around , the possibilities for staff to enrich themselves is large...

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Lease the property for 30 + 30 & off you go,

But running the business by remote is nigh impossible & you will no doubt get ripped off.

Having run some 14 hotels & guest houses in my career believe me have a long. hard look before you jump in

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14 hours ago, SEADude said:

How can a foreigner legally own & operate a small guest house?

Many, if not most or even all, lease a guest house; or land at long term (30 years) and build a guest house. At least One forum-member has leased land and build guest houses (yes, more than once), so maybe he will post in the tread.

 

I know several people, and have friends also, leasing a gust house and running it (as manager) with some Thai staff employed. Some do Okay, some survive, one became very succesful and expanded to something very big, and one was extremely happy to just get out of the business without to big loss – the latter probably had too big expectations and became instead real estate agent and building constructor, and thereafter quickly rich...

 

If you wish to "own" a guest house – i.e. the land under the buildings – you'll need to partner with a couple of Thais, and form a company limited, of which you can own 49% only, but may find a method to control it all (your lawyer will know). 

 

If you however don't wish to be present – i.e. "won't be residing in Thailand or working/managing the guest house" – I will strongly advise you not to get involved. Use instead your savings to buy SET stocks in for example Centara Hotels & Resorts (CTARAF) and cash some 6+% dividend...:thumbsup:

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Thank you very much for your inputs. As some one who has lived in Thailand off and on since 2004, I am aware that the odds are pretty much stacked up against foreigners when it comes to running a business in Thailand (more so in recent times with the economy slowing down & work permits n so on becoming harder). This is precisely the reason why I chose to leave  Thailand (and explore opportunities elsewhere) despite feeling very at home in Thailand, having some good friends & having learned to speak & read the Thai language.

 

I am aware of property funds. SPF has been my favorite for over a decade. In fact, when it comes to investment, I have done OK with Chinese real estate in recent times (until the Govt. clamped down with some very harsh measures to control prices). 

 

The reason behind exploring the guest house bit was that I have an assured stream of guests visiting Thailand (through various sources). I was just thinking that if its not that hard (regulation wise) to setup/own guest house (without jumping too many hoops), I can test the waters by setting up a small one (with 10 rooms or so). My estimate is that if I can fill these 10 rooms for 20 days in a month & can make around 500 THB (net profit) per room, I can make around 1 million THB per year. 

 

Its not the kind of sum for which I will leave whatever I am doing now & move to Thailand (although I have the Thai Elite card). I am aware that the local employees might try to cheat me & keep their own guests (when the rooms are free), I do not think there are a lot of ways to avoid it (except setting up CCTV cameras which I can monitor remotely from outside Thailand). I also think that hiring Burmese workers might be easier/better. Some of them do tend to have better English & are more disciplined (as they need the job more than the Thais). 

 

I am only interested in the revenue coming from the assured guests (on which I have complete control as they will pay into a bank account). I always kind of thought it might be something worth more trouble then its worth. Hence, I have not done it till now. Still, I decided to take the opinion of the experts here. It can be lucrative if this experiment works & I can probably expand with 80-100 assured daily guests.

 

I have also thought about typing up with a local guest house/hotel. However, no one really likes a middle man & I think both ends of the business would probably like to take me out of picture eventually. 

 

 

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