Condo owners still brazenly advertising illegal rentals at Bangkok luxury condo

[webfact]

Condo owners still brazenly advertising illegal rentals at Bangkok luxury condo

 

 

Thaivisa has discovered that condo owners at C-Ekkamai in Bangkok are still brazenly advertising short term lets. 

 

This is despite a big raid mounted by 40 tourist police and immigration officials late last week. 

 

Now it can be revealed that furious residents are so incensed that their building is being used as a hotel that they have set up their own campaign group on Facebook. 

 

And they have even posted a video to show what looks like Chinese people with luggage all over their property. 

 

They have turned the condo's advertising slogan "See The Way We Live" into a battle cry to complain about short term rentals on AirBnB and Booking.com that are illegal in condos in Thailand. 

 

A host called "Krit" lists his property on AirBnB for 1,100 baht a night. It boast a "strategic location" and "fancy lifestyle" close to amenities. 

 

Positive recommendations and comments have come in from Canadian and UK nationals perhaps unaware they are breaking Thai laws. 

 

A listing on Booking.com in Thai goes even further. It says that staff are on hand to answer customer queries in English and Thai and there is Chinese language on a picture.

 

Prior to the raid last Thursday residents claimed the condo in Soi Ekkamai Sukhumvit 63 had a check-in desk and maid service. One man was arrested for running an illegal business and five were charged with renting out rooms illegally. Others were charged with not reporting addresses to immigration.

 

File photo

 

The residents of the condo have set up their own Facebook complaint group. They speak of the possibility of weapons and breaches in security and a poster called it a "nationwide issue". People were encouraged to share the story under a banner stating: "I support Law Enforcement".

 

A one and a half minute video showed what looked like Chinese people checking in, lounging about in the lobby, using lifts and carting their luggage throughout the building. It looked just like a hotel.

 

The video ironically mentioned the C-Ekkamai slogan "See The Way We Live".

 

The message was clear - life at the condo was like having to live among hotel tourists using your property and its common areas that you had paid for in your fees.

 

Only rentals of 30 days plus are legal at such properties in Thailand.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-05-28

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[kotsak]

Those owners don't give a hoot, just keep getting while the getting is good..

 

[yokat]

They probably bought the condo for this sole purpose, they will not stop operating unless somebody stops them from doing so.

The neighbour’s action is not completely pointless since it might encourage those owners to operate more stealthily (while still unlikely, it's a possible outcome).

[RotBenz8888]

13 minutes ago, webfact said:

One man was arrested for running an illegal business and five were charged with renting out rooms illegally.

 

 

I suspect that a big number of all the condo units sold in Bangkok are used for short term rent only, it's big business, and also one reason for the hysterical condo prices.  A raid here and there wont make any difference. They'll just pay the "fine" and continue on as usual.

[Mavideol]

lock the place up, there's no other way, owners will not stop renting, they want a return on their investment

[baansgr]

So pleased I sold my condo....to a Chinese person, that bought two more in the same building. Dread to think what it will be like in a few years time.

[mok199]

What next ,scooter traffic jams on the sidewalks !!!

[shady86]

Nobody cares unless you put immigration there all time. Thats the risk buying a srata title property.

[Peterw42]

Its a little like buying next to the airport then complaining about the noise. These blocks are usually short term rental from the get go, and easily recognised as short term rental blocks. Some of the blame needs to rest with the owners who have purchased in an obvious short term rental block.

These blocks dont often start out as owner occupied residential blocks then transition into AirBnB blocks.

[ThorD72]

Lol,. what a pathetic bunch,.. There’s  quite many thousand people in Bangkok living way worse than these whiners,..the way we live,..lol,..choke,..
Like looking at some people with luggage was what made living in Bangkok miserable,..
I can get the if there is trouble with noise at night,..but the paper thin walls in Bangkoks condos sucks big time anyway,..
Wouldn’t live there if they paid me,..

[WinnieTheKhwai]

And this is a problem, why?   People in a lobby, oh how terrible. ????

 

YES it looks just like a hotel.  All condominiums do!   That's why I don't like them in the first place. 

 

I think some condo dwellers have unrealistic expectations on what it means to live in a big international city that's a big destination for business and tourism.

[from the home of CC]

bnb rentals have caused problems in every major city the world, it might take some time but I believe Thailand is not going to roll over like most countries..

[brucegoniners]

"Brazenly". LOL

 

Just make it legal here. Why does Thailand have these hangups about things that are done everywhere else?

 

So frikin stupid!

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Its a little like buying next to the airport then complaining about the noise. These blocks are usually short term rental from the get go, and easily recognised as short term rental blocks. Some of the blame needs to rest with the owners who have purchased in an obvious short term rental block.

These blocks dont often start out as owner occupied residential blocks then transition into AirBnB blocks.

 

Eh? The law in Thailand is very specific. Rentals can only be for 30+days and hotels must be licensed. If you buy a condo and find some other people have bought condos to rent out as hotel rooms, then you think it's your fault?

 

There are no legal short term rental blocks. Blind eyes were turned when it wasn't a major nuisance and problem. Now it is the authorities are beginning to act - condos, "holiday villas" etc.

[GreenerGrass]

Nothing will be done, 75% of renters are Chinese! 

[guruavi]

can't the residence of the condo file a complaint to Airbnb (and / or any other site) and have the host banned? Employee a lawyer to make it even more official so airbnb would receive a letter from an actual lawyer... i doubt they would want to deal with it, and simply remove the xxxhole ..

[Mavideol]

52 minutes ago, brucegoniners said:

"Brazenly". LOL

 

Just make it legal here. Why does Thailand have these hangups about things that are done everywhere else?

 

So frikin stupid!

can't make it legal because ""mafia"" hotel owners want the control, no competition

[Jane Dough]

46 minutes ago, guruavi said:

can't the residence of the condo file a complaint to Airbnb (and / or any other site) and have the host banned? Employee a lawyer to make it even more official so airbnb would receive a letter from an actual lawyer... i doubt they would want to deal with it, and simply remove the xxxhole ..

You have obviously never dealt with AirBnB. Their bottom line is profit and they are pretty <deleted> cunning.

 

Rooster

[MartinKal]

There are an awful lot of envious people in this column. Envious of the little people who have worked hard to buy an investment condo for their retirement. Helping themselves to independence.

 

Not just helping themselves. By showing that with hard work you can generate an income from your condo, they are holding up the value of condos for everyone. And this at a time of surplus property. So tourists are needed and welcome to come and pay to use surplus condos.

 

Airbies are helping themselves to an income, other owners to a capital gain and the Thai economy as well by making tourism affordable. It's 12% of gross  national product.

 

The only people Airbies are NOT helping are the big hotel chains. Big hotel chains, often foreign-owned, are jealous of Airbies taking their customers.

It's the BIG BOYS JEALOUS OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE.

 

I very strongly support Airbies. Thaivisa has taken the wrong side when it writes "Thaivisa has discovered that condo owners at C-Ekkamai in Bangkok are still brazenly advertising short term lets". 

 

I cannot agree with this attack on ordinary people making a living, condo owners and the Thai economy. We must recognise this as a campaign organised by a handful of wealthy selfish people who want to keep all the benefits of tourism for themselves.

 

Everyone follows the number of overnight foreign visitors - 40 million a year is the aim. But what is REALLY IMPORTANT is who gets to benefit from this tourism. We want the benefits of the tourist trade to be shared with everyone. 

 

Please upvote me if you agree.

[PaoloR]

45 minutes ago, MartinKal said:

There are an awful lot of envious people in this column. Envious of the little people who have worked hard to buy an investment condo for their retirement. Helping themselves to independence.

 

Not just helping themselves. By showing that with hard work you can generate an income from your condo, they are holding up the value of condos for everyone. And this at a time of surplus property. So tourists are needed and welcome to come and pay to use surplus condos.

 

Airbies are helping themselves to an income, other owners to a capital gain and the Thai economy as well by making tourism affordable. It's 12% of gross  national product.

 

The only people Airbies are NOT helping are the big hotel chains. Big hotel chains, often foreign-owned, are jealous of Airbies taking their customers.

It's the BIG BOYS JEALOUS OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE.

 

I very strongly support Airbies. Thaivisa has taken the wrong side when it writes "Thaivisa has discovered that condo owners at C-Ekkamai in Bangkok are still brazenly advertising short term lets". 

 

I cannot agree with this attack on ordinary people making a living, condo owners and the Thai economy. We must recognise this as a campaign organised by a handful of wealthy selfish people who want to keep all the benefits of tourism for themselves.

 

Everyone follows the number of overnight foreign visitors - 40 million a year is the aim. But what is REALLY IMPORTANT is who gets to benefit from this tourism. We want the benefits of the tourist trade to be shared with everyone. 

 

Please upvote me if you agree.

I am not envious or jealous of little people making money.

When what they are doing is against the law, then I reserve the right to condemn their actions.

These are people breaking the law by illegally renting, no doubt failing to declare and pay tax on their income and at the same time greatly reducing the amenity value of a property that others have worked hard to purchase.

If we were all as selfishly one eyed as the above poster wouldn't life be hell!

[MartinKal]

Where have all the comments gone? Many people think AirBnB is a good thing for ordinary families and helps the Thai economy grow. It pulls in foreign exchange and for once individuals can benefit not just chain hotels.

[PaoloR]

Just now, MartinKal said:

Where have all the comments gone? Many people think AirBnB is a good thing for ordinary families and helps the Thai economy grow. It pulls in foreign exchange and for once individuals can benefit not just chain hotels.

BS - like your other posts. People do not decide to come to Thailand because of Airbnb.

There is no growth in foreign exchange, merely substitution of a safe and legal rental environment for an uncontrolled and illegal one. Why your obsession with what you call chain hotels? The vast majority of hotel rooms in Thailand are in small and privately owned properties.

[newnative]

3 hours ago, brucegoniners said:

"Brazenly". LOL

 

Just make it legal here. Why does Thailand have these hangups about things that are done everywhere else?

 

So frikin stupid!

   They are not 'done everywhere else'.  Quite the opposite.  Most condos in America have strict rules against short-term rentals.  However, recognizing that Airbnb does exist and some condo and home owners want to use it,  the municipality where I used to live in America put rules into law a couple years ago to deal with Airbnb and the like.  I think what they came up with is fair and reasonable and could serve as a good model everywhere.  There are a number of rules in the ordinance but the 3 main ones are:

1.  The condo association or home owner's association has to first approve allowing  short-term rentals.  Excellent.  If the association votes no, it doesn't go any further and short-term rentals remain prohibited.   

2.  If the association votes yes, the short-term rentals are limited to only the owner's principal residence.  Excellent.  So, no buying 20 or 30 condos in a building and starting an illegal hotel. Investment properties that are not the owner's principal residence have to remain as long-term rentals.

3.  The number of days the residence can be offered for rent is limited to a certain number of days each year--I forget how many days but this is excellent, too.  Condos and homes are not constantly being rented out short-term the whole year.  

    Seems like a fair plan and it maintains the original idea of short-term rentals as a way to earn a little extra money without having to set up a hotel or guesthouse business and conform to all the regulations, etc. 

[thailand49]

Let us try to get this right?  The use of the word condo owners? who are we talking about individual owners of units or the complex owner or developer who has assigned someone or a company sells the units?

Based on the story this doesn't happen by unit owners a complete setup of the front desk and room service etc.. this is something directly done by the developer who is running it like a hotel until units are all sold or using the Condo name as a front?

Something isn't right here?

 

[Chrisswe]

There's Law and regulations regarding condominiums to be followed , but for Thai- peoples (mostly) they totally egnore those Laws and regulations as per here in Khao Yai where they run 100% short term renting with (in some cases full ABF) If peoples who invest in a condo is aware of this situation by the seller /developer than the buyer is aware of this. If the developer built a Hotel and Residence that's another question.

[metisdead]

An offensive troll post containing inappropriate language has been removed. 

[newnative]

1 hour ago, MartinKal said:

There are an awful lot of envious people in this column. Envious of the little people who have worked hard to buy an investment condo for their retirement. Helping themselves to independence.

 

Not just helping themselves. By showing that with hard work you can generate an income from your condo, they are holding up the value of condos for everyone. And this at a time of surplus property. So tourists are needed and welcome to come and pay to use surplus condos.

 

Airbies are helping themselves to an income, other owners to a capital gain and the Thai economy as well by making tourism affordable. It's 12% of gross  national product.

 

The only people Airbies are NOT helping are the big hotel chains. Big hotel chains, often foreign-owned, are jealous of Airbies taking their customers.

It's the BIG BOYS JEALOUS OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE.

 

I very strongly support Airbies. Thaivisa has taken the wrong side when it writes "Thaivisa has discovered that condo owners at C-Ekkamai in Bangkok are still brazenly advertising short term lets". 

 

I cannot agree with this attack on ordinary people making a living, condo owners and the Thai economy. We must recognise this as a campaign organised by a handful of wealthy selfish people who want to keep all the benefits of tourism for themselves.

 

Everyone follows the number of overnight foreign visitors - 40 million a year is the aim. But what is REALLY IMPORTANT is who gets to benefit from this tourism. We want the benefits of the tourist trade to be shared with everyone. 

 

Please upvote me if you agree.

   As I have said before, nobody is stopping anyone from buying a condo and renting it out--and making money.  They just need to obey the law and rent it for 30 days or more.  You paint a picture of some hard-working Joe who has scrimped and saved all his life and now has bought a condo to rent out and help support him--and is being stopped from doing it.

    In reality, what is happening is very rich people are buying 10, 20, 30 or more condos in a project and setting up illegal boutique hotels within the condo project.  Or, they are renting multiple condos on one-year contracts and then illegally subletting them daily.  It's cheaper than buying land themselves, constructing a hotel, and doing all the hotel licensing, etc.   Plus, they get to burden condo staff to do some of the work hotel employees normally would do and, on top of it, no tax to report and no burdensome things regular hotels have to do like reporting their guests to Immigration. 

     In reality, the poor Joe I mentioned with just 1 condo would probably be better off renting it long-term--hard to make much money short-term with just 1 condo after you pay condo fees, electric fees, water fees, internet and cable fees, breakage fees, laundry fees, cleaning fees, and booking fees--even if you are able to rent it every single day, which is unlikely.

   

[Knocker33]

Strange how the French guy running a hotel on Samui has his nationality and photo on the net but no mention of nationality of the person charged here

[Peterw42]

7 minutes ago, newnative said:

   As I have said before, nobody is stopping anyone from buying a condo and renting it out--and making money.  They just need to obey the law and rent it for 30 days or more.  You paint a picture of some hard-working Joe who has scrimped and saved all his life and now has bought a condo to rent out and help support him--and is being stopped from doing it.

    In reality, what is happening is very rich people are buying 10, 20, 30 or more condos in a project and setting up illegal boutique hotels within the condo project.  Or, they are renting multiple condos on one-year contracts and then illegally subletting them daily.  It's cheaper than buying land themselves, constructing a hotel, and doing all the hotel licensing, etc.   Plus, they get to burden condo staff to do some of the work hotel employees normally would do and, on top of it, no tax to report and no burdensome things regular hotels have to do like reporting their guests to Immigration. 

     In reality, the poor Joe I mentioned with just 1 condo would probably be better off renting it long-term--hard to make much money short-term with just 1 condo after you pay condo fees, electric fees, water fees, internet and cable fees, breakage fees, laundry fees, cleaning fees, and booking fees--even if you are able to rent it every single day, which is unlikely.

   

100% agree

[hansnl]

4 hours ago, GreenerGrass said:

Nothing will be done, 75% of renters are Chinese! 

The owners?