Hua Hin: Two hundred Illegal hotels apply for amnesty

[webfact]

Hua Hin: Two hundred Illegal hotels apply for amnesty

 

Picture: Talknewsonline

 

Talknewsonline reported a local official as saying that more than 200 hotels had applied for an amnesty to continue operating in Hua Hin. 

 

Regulations issued by the Interior Ministry on June 12th gave operators of illegal hotels nationwide until September 9th - next Monday - to apply for an amnesty that will last through until August 2021.

 

Jirawat Phramanee of the Hua Hin municipality said that more than 200 illegal and unregistered establishments had so far applied for the amnesty. 

 

It is understood that such establishments will have two years to comply fully with the regulations or face being shut down for good. 

 

Source: Talknewsonline

 

 

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[ezzra]

That's the system in this country, first start a business with a complete disregards to the rules and requirements, most of to enacted to ensure safety and fair trading, operate on the margins of the law for as long as you can avoiding paying taxes and other payments and when your numbers are up you will ask for amnesty... and than people wonders why lawlessness and corruption is rife in Thailand...

[seajae]

if built without any legal approval they should be demolished, they simply waited as long as possible to ask for amnesty so they could increase their profits. The govt needs to crack down on all the illegal traders/businesses operating in Thailand and hit them with massive fines as well, money is all they understand

[BritManToo]

Just now, seajae said:

if built without any legal approval they should be demolished, they simply waited as long as possible to ask for amnesty so they could increase their profits. The govt needs to crack down on all the illegal traders/businesses operating in Thailand and hit them with massive fines as well, money is all they understand

I thought one of the reasons we liked Thailand was because it wasn't a massive nanny state and everyone could more or less do what they wanted?

[RotMahKid]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I thought one of the reasons we liked Thailand was because it wasn't a massive nanny state and everyone could more or less do what they wanted?

Maybe that is the reason for you to like Thailand, maybe to work or start something also illegal.

A lot of things in Thailand I like and love, except the criminality, illegal stuff, dishonest and lazy police etc.

Even the smog here in the north during wintertime is caused by illegal fires lighted by farmers & compagnies and no police to handle it.

[BritManToo]

10 minutes ago, RotMahKid said:

Maybe that is the reason for you to like Thailand, maybe to work or start something also illegal.

I'm elderly, retired and fully funded thanks.

It's poor foreigners that need to work the Thais don't want.

[Beggar]

1 hour ago, seajae said:

if built without any legal approval they should be demolished, they simply waited as long as possible to ask for amnesty so they could increase their profits. The govt needs to crack down on all the illegal traders/businesses operating in Thailand and hit them with massive fines as well, money is all they understand

I think the rooms are so important for tourism so that they can't remove them immediately. There seem to be so many. 

[gunderhill]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

will have two years to comply

Thats a long LONG time in Thailand and the way things are  going theyll go our of business before anyway

[gunderhill]

1 hour ago, seajae said:

if built without any legal approval they should be demolished, they simply waited as long as possible to ask for amnesty so they could increase their profits. The govt needs to crack down on all the illegal traders/businesses operating in Thailand and hit them with massive fines as well, money is all they understand

How about  illegal govts  though?

[ThomasThBKK]

20 minutes ago, Beggar said:

I think the rooms are so important for tourism so that they can't remove them immediately. There seem to be so many. 

They changed the hotel laws afterwards and started enforcing them after decades, i wouldn't blame the thai hotel guys for this too much...

It's like the tm30 rubbish, suddenly it gets enforced, prolly both of that because of the hotel mafia - they don't want competition.

 

Most of these laws are absolute rubbish, for example you need a parking space of x squaremetres if u have x rooms... while you have no <deleted> guest that arrives with a car anyway, same stupid rule on the island where we have a house - but cars are not even ALLOWED ON THE ISLAND... it's this kind of non sense thats the real issue

[Lupusthai]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I'm elderly, retired and fully funded thanks.

Me too....

[Bassosa]

I'm building a hotel at the moment. I don't have the exact numbers handy but I suspect that we made a few million baht worth of changes (most fairly random) to comply and receive the hotel license. Once we have the hotel license we are well and truly on the record and required to pay taxes.

 

I would be quite unhappy if the amnesty is granted tbh.

[ThomasThBKK]

6 minutes ago, Bassosa said:

I'm building a hotel at the moment. I don't have the exact numbers handy but I suspect that we made a few million baht worth of changes (most fairly random) to comply and receive the hotel license. Once we have the hotel license we are well and truly on the record and required to pay taxes.

 

I would be quite unhappy if the amnesty is granted tbh.

Good luck, i also had to do a <deleted>ton of changes to our layout, glad we did it before we started. We've frozen it now to see what happens first.

 

But look on the other hand, these are like 30 yo hotels and they are simply impossible to change, i mean theres some absurd rules about the size of stairs and all that <deleted>, the amount of greenspaces etc - that's all stuff impossible to change.

 

Register as a hotel, pay taxes, fire safety, building safety, first aid kits, traind and background checked personal etc - THAT KIND OF STUFF all makes sense and i can totally agree to it, but most of their weird rules are just insane rubbish

[owenm]

So possibly 200 hotels that probably have never done TM30 reports for their tourist guests.. 

[BestB]

6 hours ago, seajae said:

if built without any legal approval they should be demolished, they simply waited as long as possible to ask for amnesty so they could increase their profits. The govt needs to crack down on all the illegal traders/businesses operating in Thailand and hit them with massive fines as well, money is all they understand

None were build without any approval , most were built with residential approval but later turned into a hotel.

 

whole saga is absolute nonsense , already being said hundreds of times .

 

all the “illegal” are legal to rent monthly but illegal to rent daily .

 

all 200 can not get their affairs in order because they do not have and can not get hotel license .

 

even all those that manage to comply with all the silly ruler like green zones , they come to a dead end of initial construction approvals.

 

if something is illegal then it should be illegal for all uses , not illegal for daily but legal for monthly .

 

safe for monthly but illegal for daily 

[BestB]

4 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Good luck, i also had to do a <deleted>ton of changes to our layout, glad we did it before we started. We've frozen it now to see what happens first.

 

But look on the other hand, these are like 30 yo hotels and they are simply impossible to change, i mean theres some absurd rules about the size of stairs and all that <deleted>, the amount of greenspaces etc - that's all stuff impossible to change.

 

Register as a hotel, pay taxes, fire safety, building safety, first aid kits, traind and background checked personal etc - THAT KIND OF STUFF all makes sense and i can totally agree to it, but most of their weird rules are just insane rubbish

Precisely but then all the training and and and kits you mention in your last paragraph not required for monthly rental but somehow become very important for daily .

 

absolute nonsense .

 

building is either safe for tenants or unsafe , there is nothing in between unless you in Thailand , where it’s totally safe for monthly tenants but unsafe for daily 

[NCC1701A]

"X" marks the boom boom.

 

 

[xylophone]

7 hours ago, seajae said:

if built without any legal approval they should be demolished, they simply waited as long as possible to ask for amnesty so they could increase their profits. The govt needs to crack down on all the illegal traders/businesses operating in Thailand and hit them with massive fines as well, money is all they understand

Also, I thought I read somewhere on TV that a hotel licence had to be applied for before the building was actually started/finished and that granting one retroactively was not possible?

 

Anyone else heard of something similar?

[BestB]

5 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Also, I thought I read somewhere on TV that a hotel licence had to be applied for before the building was actually started/finished and that granting one retroactively was not possible?

 

Anyone else heard of something similar?

Supposedly it’s done at the sane time. When apply for building permit also apply for hotel license . Hotel license takes 2-3 years just in time for completion. 4-5 star hotels have one, all the rest do not , this why they estimate there are 22000 hotels nationwide and 20000 do not have hotel license ie 90% are “illegal” so if they were to shut down 90% then where would 30 million and growing be staying ?

[Antonymous]

I expect that there will be alot of hotels for sale in Hua Hin soon...no doubt advertised by Agents in English to unsuspecting foreigners.

[BestB]

17 minutes ago, Antonymous said:

I expect that there will be alot of hotels for sale in Hua Hin soon...no doubt advertised by Agents in English to unsuspecting foreigners.

It’s not huahin alone , it’s 20000 if not more nationwide 

[Sydebolle]

So finally the chicken come home to roost ............ lets see, what they will be doing about that as they cannot stick that onto a non-Thai for a change! 

[sunnyboy2018]

9 hours ago, ezzra said:

That's the system in this country, first start a business with a complete disregards to the rules and requirements, most of to enacted to ensure safety and fair trading, operate on the margins of the law for as long as you can avoiding paying taxes and other payments and when your numbers are up you will ask for amnesty... and than people wonders why lawlessness and corruption is rife in Thailand...

Its called enterprise. Its called entrepreneurship. Its called essential small businesses. Its called spontaneity. I love it. Deregulation is the key to the sucess of small businesses which are key to a healthy economy.  Im sick of people constantly criticising Thais and Thailand. Are they yanks or ockers?

[sunnyboy2018]

1 hour ago, Antonymous said:

I expect that there will be alot of hotels for sale in Hua Hin soon...no doubt advertised by Agents in English to unsuspecting foreigners.

Just the crooked army extorting bribes in another step in the ruination of Thailand

[sunnyboy2018]

16 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

So finally the chicken come home to roost ............ lets see, what they will be doing about that as they cannot stick that onto a non-Thai for a change! 

The army oppressing decent hard working people to please Chinese tour operators is nothing to be happy about.

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

It is understood that such establishments will have two years to comply fully with the regulations or face being shut down for good

A-mazing Thailand

[Sydebolle]

14 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

The army oppressing decent hard working people to please Chinese tour operators is nothing to be happy about.

Point taken and you're absolutely right. Either 200 crooks operate(d) hotels or the entire procedure is just too tedious or impossible to administer by a (small SME) applicant. The TM30 springs to mind - or the 90 days reporting rule; all of which is to wear the individual down in such a way that (s)he resorts to the little brown manila envelopes in one or the other way. 
I ran a restaurant for 15 years; you would not believe what paperwork is involved (down to light boxes, mounted completely on your own land) to operate "legally". The first year or so I got visited by Tom, <deleted> and Harry from the government and all left empty-handed, i.e. no envelopes, as I managed to keep everything above board. On their second visit I told them that there is nothing to find her. So they may come back during the hours the office was open with an official letter to check on me. Not one ever came back ...... I would not be surprised, if Hua Hin is similar. 

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

Point taken and you're absolutely right. Either 200 crooks operate(d) hotels or the entire procedure is just too tedious or impossible to administer by a (small SME) applicant. The TM30 springs to mind - or the 90 days reporting rule; all of which is to wear the individual down in such a way that (s)he resorts to the little brown manila envelopes in one or the other way. 
I ran a restaurant for 15 years; you would not believe what paperwork is involved (down to light boxes, mounted completely on your own land) to operate "legally". The first year or so I got visited by Tom, <deleted> and Harry from the government and all left empty-handed, i.e. no envelopes, as I managed to keep everything above board. On their second visit I told them that there is nothing to find her. So they may come back during the hours the office was open with an official letter to check on me. Not one ever came back ...... I would not be surprised, if Hua Hin is similar. 

Pressure came from hotel association and it’s no secret .

 

HA claims illegal hotels bite into their profits. From memory HA has 800-900 members who happen to be 4-5 star hotels and/or large chains 

[ChipButty]

Quiet apart from all the building regulations that would have to be done how much would a hotel license cost?

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Quiet apart from all the building regulations that would have to be done how much would a hotel license cost?

For small hotel, from memory up

to 50 rooms , no conference or ballroom 50000 for 5 years

 

price goes up depending on facilities and number of rooms