Crackdown on illegal hotels in Hua Hin with "mafia" connections

[webfact]

Crackdown on illegal hotels in Hua Hin with "mafia" connections

 

Picture: Daily News

 

HUA HIN: -- Local officials in Hua Hin said they are cracking down on illegal hotels in the city owned by foreign investors linked to the "mafia", reported Daily News.

 

Raided yesterday by Hua Hin district officials backed up by a contingent of soldiers and police was the three story Palada Residence Bar and Restaurant in Naretdamri Road near Hua Hin beach.

 

The raid followed complaints to the government watchdog Damrongtham Center that the hotel was running without a license.

 

The raiding party found Patcharaporn Khongpetch, 30, in charge. She was said be the wife of a foreign man who is the real owner.

 

She said the property had been open for business for a year after they took over from a previous owner.

 

A charge was made of operating illegally without a license.

 

A representative of the Hua Hin authority said that several complaints had been made to Damrongtham about shady foreign investors connected to the mafia running hotels in town.

 

More raids are to be expected, he said.

 

Source: Daily News

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-06-14

[ukrules]

This is a small guesthouse isn't it ?

 

I wonder if it's leased or owned by the current operators.

 

Edit : Mafia ? I don't believe a word of it.

Edited June 13, 2017 by ukrules

[Get Real]

Why would something be connected to the mafia, just because an operating license is missing? The most probable is that the owners just saw the need of more hotels and guesthouses. After that decided to run as long as possible under the radar, as seems to be the general idea of running a business in Thailand.

[ukrules]

5 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Why would something be connected to the mafia, just because an operating license is missing? The most probable is that the owners just saw the need of more hotels and guesthouses. After that decided to run as long as possible under the radar, as seems to be the general idea of running a business in Thailand.

I suspect supposed 'Mafia links' are mentioned to increase public support for this kind of crackdown in a general way - it muddys the waters.

 

There's been plenty of posts in the Chiang Mai forum over the months about guesthouses / small hotels being targeted and how it's very hard if not impossible in some cases to get a  license.

 

[ezzra]

Before going out to look for ' mafia connections ' there are dozens and

dozens of hotels that are operation without a hotel license, thus not

under the control of agencies that are suppose to regulate and safe

guard guests and workers of said hotels....

[ChrisY1]

A case of the big hotels, in particular one very new one recently opened, being deprived of possible patrons to these smaller hotels.

The mafia in this case, is likely the local authorities!

[diehard60]

Hua Hin? try pataya, phuket, and maybe chiang mai or chiang rai.

[klauskunkel]

they are raided because they do not have mafia connections.

[pcliff069]

Mafia seems to be a generic name for any world criminal (or taxi) organisation

[spidermike007]

Complete and utter nonsense. Connected to the mafia, because they do not have a license? What hotel operates without a license? Either someone has an ax to grind, or this is just another sensationalist binge on nationalism. Foreigner this, and foreigner that. Yes, we are responsible for nearly everything wrong with the country, and very, very few Thai people create problems. They are all such angels. Very few would break the law over money. 

 

For reasons like this, Thailand is developing a poor reputation around the world. People find it hard to take the government and the authorities seriously, when they start in on these churlish, and immature diatribes. Someone does not have a license, you do something about it. But, you do not create reports about foreigners connected to the local mafia. And if you do, why not discuss the local mafia, instead of one guy who is supposedly breaking the law?

 

Just the mere mention of the silly word mafia, is intended to create a smokescreen, blur the discussion, and drum up local support for this ridiculous campaign. Nincompoops. Airheads. Nitwits. 

Edited June 14, 2017 by spidermike007

[Guest Jerry787]

Hotels to operate either must have business license or be covered by local officials, otherwise they will be shut down the next day.

[Moti24]

32 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Complete and utter nonsense. Connected to the mafia, because they do not have a license? What hotel operates without a license? Either someone has an ax to grind, or this is just another sensationalist binge on nationalism. Foreigner this, and foreigner that. Yes, we are responsible for nearly everything wrong with the country, and very, very few Thai people create problems. They are all such angels. Very few would break the law over money. 

 

For reasons like this, Thailand is developing a poor reputation around the world. People find it hard to take the government and the authorities seriously, when they start in on these churlish, and immature diatribes. Someone does not have a license, you do something about it. But, you do not create reports about foreigners connected to the local mafia. And if you do, why not discuss the local mafia, instead of one guy who is supposedly breaking the law?

 

Just the mere mention of the silly word mafia, is intended to create a smokescreen, blur the discussion, and drum up local support for this ridiculous campaign. Nincompoops. Airheads. Nitwits. 

" What hotel operates without a license? "

 

Quite a few actually, according to Bangkok's BiB, during their continuous raids.

 

Other than that, you've pretty well summed it up.

[KenKadz]

The negligence, (intentional or not), by the licensing agencies and/or authorities in Thailand is amazing.

The amounts of money that could be available to local governments through proper control of licenses might even be enough to rebuild a beach.

 

One Walking Street disco in Pattaya was checked for an owner and license by police, during an altercation between employees and customers.

It turned out that no one knew who the current owner was. There had been six or seven owners since the business was issued a license. And the current license was expired.

 

Another bar ran foul of the law and had it's license in the farang owners name revoked.

No problem the farang's wife received a new license, for the bar under the same name, within a couple of days.

 

These are not uncommon incidents as there appears to be no control of licensing by the city authorities!

[spidermike007]

5 minutes ago, KenKadz said:

The negligence, (intentional or not), by the licensing agencies and/or authorities in Thailand is amazing.

The amounts of money that could be available to local governments through proper control of licenses might even be enough to rebuild a beach.

 

One Walking Street disco in Pattaya was checked for an owner and license by police, during an altercation between employees and customers.

It turned out that no one knew who the current owner was. There had been six or seven owners since the business was issued a license. And the current license was expired.

 

Another bar ran foul of the law and had it's license in the farang owners name revoked.

No problem the farang's wife received a new license, for the bar under the same name, within a couple of days.

 

These are not uncommon incidents as there appears to be no control of licensing by the city authorities!

 

More proof that Thailand is not the developing nation it purports itself to be, but rather a nation deeply mired in third world status, due to lack of:

law enforcement

taxation

traffic safety

public safety

industrial safety standards

a consistent and coherent and user friendly visa policy for ex-pats

patent and copyright protection

enforcement against piracy of products. Plus there are issues like:

the corrupt and astonishingly ineffective police

the nationwide transportation system, or lack thereof, such as speed trains

reasonable import duties on products such as wine, foreign beer, cheese, and other "luxury" goods

and more. I could go on for days.

 

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, KenKadz said:

The negligence, (intentional or not), by the licensing agencies and/or authorities in Thailand is amazing.

The amounts of money that could be available to local governments through proper control of licenses might even be enough to rebuild a beach.

 

One Walking Street disco in Pattaya was checked for an owner and license by police, during an altercation between employees and customers.

It turned out that no one knew who the current owner was. There had been six or seven owners since the business was issued a license. And the current license was expired.

 

Another bar ran foul of the law and had it's license in the farang owners name revoked.

No problem the farang's wife received a new license, for the bar under the same name, within a couple of days.

 

These are not uncommon incidents as there appears to be no control of licensing by the city authorities!

Getting an alcohol license merely involves popping down to the local municipality building, filling out a form, paying the small fee and having it rubber stamped. Takes about 10 minutes from what I've heard.

 

A hotel license for a small guesthouse - this appears to be very different.

 

Do they regard a small gueshouse to be different from a 300 room hotel or is it the same license / procedure ?

 

Edited June 14, 2017 by ukrules

[pcliff069]

 
More proof that Thailand is not the developing nation it purports itself to be, but rather a nation deeply mired in third world status, due to lack of:
law enforcement
taxation
traffic safety
public safety
industrial safety standards
a consistent and coherent and user friendly visa policy for ex-pats
patent and copyright protection
enforcement against piracy of products. Plus there are issues like:
the corrupt and astonishingly ineffective police
the nationwide transportation system, or lack thereof, such as speed trains
reasonable import duties on products such as wine, foreign beer, cheese, and other "luxury" goods
and more. I could go on for days.
 

And an erratic President.

Sent from my A37f using Tapatalk

[HerbalEd]

18 hours ago, Get Real said:

Why would something be connected to the mafia, just because an operating license is missing? The most probable is that the owners just saw the need of more hotels and guesthouses. After that decided to run as long as possible under the radar, as seems to be the general idea of running a business in Thailand.

 

18 hours ago, Get Real said:

Why would something be connected to the mafia, just because an operating license is missing? The most probable is that the owners just saw the need of more hotels and guesthouses. After that decided to run as long as possible under the radar, as seems to be the general idea of running a business in Thailand.

And maybe you don't know the complete story.

[NickJ]

These crackdowns just keep coming. Never seem to ever accomplish much. The Thais doing the cracking get bored or move on to another crackdown. 

[Get Real]

9 hours ago, HerbalEd said:

 

And maybe you don't know the complete story.

No, off course not. Probably nobody do yet, due to that the police are looking in to it.

Very strange comment made by you. In this forum there are mostly a lot of speculations. That´s want I did too. Actually I phrased it like a question, and then added what´s probably the most common reason why many hotels don´t have a license.

Please, get a grip.

[ukrules]

Is this place still open I wonder ?

[gk10002000]

On 6/13/2017 at 8:48 PM, klauskunkel said:

they are raided because they do not have mafia connections.

Yep.  many hotels have a foreign owner or investor, and often the place is run or managed or maybe even in the name of the foreign person's Thai wife or partner.

[impulse]

On 6/15/2017 at 0:16 AM, HerbalEd said:

And maybe you don't know the complete story.

 

I get a kick out of reading Stickman, Stickboy, Drummond, etc. about the shady (foreign) characters running a lot of the nightspots and other businesses in BKK.  Many of them posing as respectable businessmen, but actually, well, let's just leave it at not so respectable.

 

I can only imagine some of the shady foreigners running businesses in other parts of Thailand.  Though I don't have a clue about these particular guest houses, I have no doubt that the stories could go a lot deeper than we'll ever know.

 

That's not to say it's universal, but when the full story does occasionally leak out (like the guy who got shot in the head in Pattaya), it seems that the authorities have good reasons for going after who they have- at least the ones we read about in the media.

 

[lvr181]

On 6/14/2017 at 6:11 PM, Moti24 said:

" What hotel operates without a license? "

 

Quite a few actually, according to Bangkok's BiB, during their continuous raids.

 

Other than that, you've pretty well summed it up.

" What hotel operates without a license? "  Those who hand over large brown envelopes? 

 

Anyone want to define 'mafia' as it applies to Thailand? I think there would be many differing answers to that one!

[YetAnother]

On 6/14/2017 at 2:34 PM, spidermike007 said:

Complete and utter nonsense. Connected to the mafia, because they do not have a license? What hotel operates without a license? Either someone has an ax to grind, or this is just another sensationalist binge on nationalism. Foreigner this, and foreigner that. Yes, we are responsible for nearly everything wrong with the country, and very, very few Thai people create problems. They are all such angels. Very few would break the law over money. 

 

For reasons like this, Thailand is developing a poor reputation around the world. People find it hard to take the government and the authorities seriously, when they start in on these churlish, and immature diatribes. Someone does not have a license, you do something about it. But, you do not create reports about foreigners connected to the local mafia. And if you do, why not discuss the local mafia, instead of one guy who is supposedly breaking the law?

 

Just the mere mention of the silly word mafia, is intended to create a smokescreen, blur the discussion, and drum up local support for this ridiculous campaign. Nincompoops. Airheads. Nitwits. 

Today's Thailand, quite the cesspool

(Sh,sh; don't say anything)

[inThailand]

6 hours ago, lvr181 said:

" What hotel operates without a license? "  Those who hand over large brown envelopes? 

 

Anyone want to define 'mafia' as it applies to Thailand? I think there would be many differing answers to that one!

Mostly government organizations or government employees that are above the law?

[YetAnother]

On 6/14/2017 at 4:17 AM, webfact said:

A charge was made of operating illegally without a license.

doesnt sound strong enough, they will just pay the fine, bribe the person that is in the current govt position and in one month everything will be smooth

[Happy Grumpy]

The real crime of a foreigner making money from a successful business without paying his 'tax' is going through the motion of % tax to be paid on future earnings. After the back tax has been paid of course. 

[The manic]

On 14/06/2017 at 9:42 AM, spidermike007 said:

 

More proof that Thailand is not the developing nation it purports itself to be, but rather a nation deeply mired in third world status, due to lack of:

law enforcement

taxation

traffic safety

public safety

industrial safety standards

a consistent and coherent and user friendly visa policy for ex-pats

patent and copyright protection

enforcement against piracy of products. Plus there are issues like:

the corrupt and astonishingly ineffective police

the nationwide transportation system, or lack thereof, such as speed trains

reasonable import duties on products such as wine, foreign beer, cheese, and other "luxury" goods

and more. I could go on for days.

 

So? We all know it's not the USA.  Thank God. Ditto Australia or UK.

[wakeupplease]

On 6/14/2017 at 9:42 AM, spidermike007 said:

 

More proof that Thailand is not the developing nation it purports itself to be, but rather a nation deeply mired in third world status, due to lack of:

law enforcement

taxation

traffic safety

public safety

industrial safety standards

a consistent and coherent and user friendly visa policy for ex-pats

patent and copyright protection

enforcement against piracy of products. Plus there are issues like:

the corrupt and astonishingly ineffective police

the nationwide transportation system, or lack thereof, such as speed trains

reasonable import duties on products such as wine, foreign beer, cheese, and other "luxury" goods

and more. I could go on for days.

 

Months you mean and it will do until that day the Chinese wake up and that day will come and then what, back to USA and Europe again to attract guests

 

If that is the thinking there are some very hard up years coming here in the non to distant future, but the sexpats will be ok I think

[BKK1969]

We, (my Thai gal of 28 years and I) just completed the purchase of a condo at Takiab beach.
We took 15 months to decide but jumped any way, noticed that there's less Air BNB customers than there was a few months ago and there's a sign in the foyer saying "this isn't a hotel and any daily or weekly stays is a criminal offence" or words to that effect.
Anyone else seeing similar?


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