Hotel group seeks rules on Airbnb

[snoop1130]

Hotel group seeks rules on Airbnb

By THE NATION

 

Supawan Tanomkieatipume

 

The Thai Hotels Association (THA) has requested a meeting with the Minister of Interior Gen Anuphong Phaochinda, on the impact of short-term rental and home sharing services, also commonly known as Airbnb, on domestic hotel business nationwide, said president Supawan Tanomkieatipume.

 

“THA has no intention to seek a ban on these services in Thailand,” she said, adding “We just want the government to issue suitable regulations on the operations of these service providers, as well as enforce related laws and quality control measures to protect customers.”

 

Supawan suggested that providers of short-term rental and home sharing services should be required to register with tourism-related agencies under the Ministry of Interior. They should apply for a business licence, the same requirement for hotel entrepreneurs, before commencing operation. Furthermore, these providers should display their licence numbers when advertising their services via regular and online media.

 

THA also wants the ministry to include short-term rental and home sharing services in the total number of hotel entrepreneurs in Thailand, so that the government can design suitable measures to promote hotel business based on the actual number of entrepreneurs in the market.

 

“A preliminary survey by THA revealed that there are over 21,000 providers of accommodations not listed as hotel entrepreneurs scattered around Bangkok and tourist cities. Without knowing the actual number of competitors, hotel entrepreneurs face the risk of room oversupply," she said.

 

Statistics published by Airbnb earlier this year revealed that home sharing business in Thailand had generated more than Bt33.8 billion to property owners as well as local communities where the accommodations are located.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30379031

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-12-03

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[overherebc]

Or.

Can you make a rule/law to help us screw the opposition?

[torturedsole]

25 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Or.

Can you make a rule/law to help us screw the opposition?

Or, there's no falangs bookings this high season so must be attributed to the evil Airbnb empire.  

[ukrules]

They don't want to ban Airbnb, they want to ban everyone from using it to rent out rooms except for licensed hotels which is pretty much only them.

 

 

[torturedsole]

8 minutes ago, ukrules said:

They don't want to ban Airbnb, they want to ban everyone from using it to rent out rooms except for licensed hotels which is pretty much only them.

Which was great when high season meant all the hotels were fully booked and latecomers were left with the evil Airbnb lets and nobody cared or even noticed.  How times have changed.  

[BestB]

a year ago she forced government to raid "unlicensed" hotels, though hotel license not available unless building from the ground up.

 

Now she wants for everyone to register, fair enough, but what business license? back to hotel license?

 

I am only guessing but i reckon she is too thick to understand, pushing out cheaper competition, will not bring her more customers, those who could afford 4-5 star hotels, never stayed in anything cheaper and those who could not, simply will not come if cheap accommodation is not available.

[torturedsole]

1 minute ago, BestB said:

I am only guessing but i reckon she is too thick to understand, pushing out cheaper competition, will not bring her more customers, those who could afford 4-5 star hotels, never stayed in anything cheaper and those who could not, simply will not come if cheap accommodation is not available.

Spot on.  I will never use Airbnb unless my income takes a dramatic dive.  I researched Airbnb a few years ago and is far too wishy-washy for our standards and the horror stories abound.  

[BestB]

38 minutes ago, ukrules said:

They don't want to ban Airbnb, they want to ban everyone from using it to rent out rooms except for licensed hotels which is pretty much only them.

 

 

You forgot one minor part, the "licensed" ones are the 4-5 star ones, part of big groups;)

[Number 6]

I've used abnb and honestly I dislike it on many levels. It's usually much less hassle to stay in a hotel and usually the same price. You get your own room not some creepy debtburdened faux landlord lording over your comings and goings. No need to tiptoe about. No cleaning deposits and cards with funds on hold. No bs reviews about how you are as a paying customer!

 

Further, hotels pay lots of taxes and have safety standards homes and condos don't have.

 

Agoda has been good to us with refunds on some hotel issues. Never happen with abnb.

 

We all know how condos are literally destroyed with the abnb antics. It's a horrible, self serving business model.

[Number 6]

25 minutes ago, BestB said:

a year ago she forced government to raid "unlicensed" hotels, though hotel license not available unless building from the ground up.

 

Now she wants for everyone to register, fair enough, but what business license? back to hotel license?

 

I am only guessing but i reckon she is too thick to understand, pushing out cheaper competition, will not bring her more customers, those who could afford 4-5 star hotels, never stayed in anything cheaper and those who could not, simply will not come if cheap accommodation is not available.

Too lol.

 

She might have pressed for the raids but if the hotels are illegal they are illegal! What sort of logic is this?

 

Maybe the only reason they are cheaper is because they lack all the safety standards she'd invested in. Stupid backpackers will sleep in any old fire trap.

 

[CygnusX1]

15 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

I've used abnb and honestly I dislike it on many levels. It's usually much less hassle to stay in a hotel and usually the same price. You get your own room not some creepy debtburdened faux landlord lording over your comings and goings. No need to tiptoe about. No cleaning deposits and cards with funds on hold. No bs reviews about how you are as a paying customer!

 

Further, hotels pay lots of taxes and have safety standards homes and condos don't have.

You’re certainly correct in that a 24 hour check-in desk at a hotel’s less hassle, but I think airbnb’s perfect if you need a stay of a few weeks, which is too long in a hotel, but too short for a normal rental contract. I also like having my own kitchen, and being able to select an apartment with a good view.

As for bs reviews, after staying in dozens of airbnb’s I’ve yet to receive a bad review.

You do have a point about taxes, but I don’t understand the safety standards issue. I’ve stayed in a Jomtien apartment as an airbnb guest, and I now own a condo in the same building, but I don’t see how being an owner magically means I need different safety standards than a short term renter.

[BestB]

14 minutes ago, CygnusX1 said:

You’re certainly correct in that a 24 hour check-in desk at a hotel’s less hassle, but I think airbnb’s perfect if you need a stay of a few weeks, which is too long in a hotel, but too short for a normal rental contract. I also like having my own kitchen, and being able to select an apartment with a good view.

As for bs reviews, after staying in dozens of airbnb’s I’ve yet to receive a bad review.

You do have a point about taxes, but I don’t understand the safety standards issue. I’ve stayed in a Jomtien apartment as an airbnb guest, and I now own a condo in the same building, but I don’t see how being an owner magically means I need different safety standards than a short term renter.

Your last sentence is precisely the reason why Thai law is so stupid.

 

It is ok to rent the very same room/apartment on monthly basis, totally safe but somehow becomes unsafe for lesser term.

 

One of the points, must have parking for daily rentals, but common sense suggests those who are tourists are less likely to have a vehicle than those living full time.

 

Daily rentals, must have fire alarms fitted, but for monthly, its ok to burn.

 

Daily rentals must have staircase of certain width, but totally irrelevant for monthly.

[Ron jeremy]

Never had a problem with abnb, I always respect the unit, therefore have good reviews, easy checkin, no tip toeing around. It helps tourism as not a lot of people can afford to stay in 4-5 star hotels.

 

[Destiny1990]

Can she explains how would condo units get those airbnb hotel licenses?

[BestB]

3 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Can she explains how would condo units get those airbnb hotel licenses?

Ohhh but you missed it, she has now changed her tunes, She is now saying business license not hotel license, though what  exactly is business license  remains to be discovered

[30la]

Small suggestion, don't you want to miss the few customers you have left? Moderate prices, which are absolutely too high and you begin to understand what "5-star" is, it's not just the luxurious resort but, for the most part, the service that, in Thailand, is poor!

[Bassosa]

Airbnb isn't what it used to be. It's become big business and therefore I think that some basic regulation is justified.

 

As for using the service, it's not my cup of tea. I hate feeling like I'm in someone else's property. 

[1duckyboy]

AirB&B is the only thing keeping the condo real estate values afloat. It'll be interesting to see who wins between the Hotel Association and condo owners.

[ThomasThBKK]

43 minutes ago, 1duckyboy said:

AirB&B is the only thing keeping the condo real estate values afloat. It'll be interesting to see who wins between the Hotel Association and condo owners.

Yeah and also who the <deleted> are these people that want to tell me what i can and cannot do with my own HOUSE that has not even neighbours... i can rent for a month but not 2 weeks because meeeh, who came up with that bs

 

I can to a lesser extent understand the condo regulations but a free staying detached house on our own land and we cannot rent it out because??? ...

[ToddinChonburi]

Yes get rid of all the illegal hotel rooms that are destroying property value.  drunk Russians running the grounds at 5 am.

[natway09]

Apartments & condos from my understanding are only able to be rented on a monthly basis

ie; longer staying customers.

This was agreed to when hotel "bed tax" was introduced by the Govt of the day & was a concession granted on that basis

Maybe they could restrict Airbnb to a minimum stay of 2 weeks but I never use them now as 

already stated many are not up to scratch, if unsuitable no refund forthcoming & I hate bed bugs, noise from next door along with many poor maintenance stories (do not be fooled by a photo) My friend stayed in a place & it was not even the place the photo was taken.

Agoda & Accor foe me

[CNXexpat]

I Chiang Mai they build a huge building with 600 condos and advertise it as "Airbnb friendly". Poor people they want to live there. If Thailand changes it´s laws, poor people they buy a condo and can´t rent it out later.

[torturedsole]

1 hour ago, natway09 said:

Agoda & Accor foe me

Can't argue with that. 

 

I use Agoda for independent hotels where no international hotels exist and Accor branded hotels where they do.  But I've been branching out a bit in the last year or two to follow the points promotions with Hilton branded hotels as some of the promotions are extremely generous.  Obviously I'll pick up the Accor points promotions too but, as much as I like the Accor brand, their loyalty program isn't the best out there.  I also noticed, just yesterday, that the Places by Le Club AccorHotels app was closed in the various app stores at the end of November 2019 and the app will be permanently discontinued to existing members on 28 May 2020 and I did make some good points from it.  

[BestB]

4 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Yeah and also who the <deleted> are these people that want to tell me what i can and cannot do with my own HOUSE that has not even neighbours... i can rent for a month but not 2 weeks because meeeh, who came up with that bs

 

I can to a lesser extent understand the condo regulations but a free staying detached house on our own land and we cannot rent it out because??? ...

 Because then you take away customer from the 5 star hotel who has a pull with current government ????

[Globettrotter]

If Air BNb's pay commercial insurance, commercial taxes, all hotel and tourism taxes then nothing wrong with them.  But if they do not then it is kinda unfair competition.

[torturedsole]

25 minutes ago, Globettrotter said:

If Air BNb's pay commercial insurance, commercial taxes, all hotel and tourism taxes then nothing wrong with them.  But if they do not then it is kinda unfair competition.

I'm not a fan of Airbnb but they're just a middle man.  Then, surely, the onus for all of the above falls to the owner of the rental property?  

[Maestro]

Removed a troll post.

[Elkski]

I have been using air bnb my last4 trips to Thailand.   I love it.   I say short term rental is not going away.   How does it lower values.  I like how you can pick exact place to stay.  You can pick if you want washer and dryer in the place or not.  The value is there and I'm all about screewing da Man.  Meaning big hotel chains that charge to much in bkk.  I know land is expensive but considering the price of Labor hotels in Bangkok should not be so expensive.   Hotels have overcharged for so long I say F them. They could overcharge  because of stupid willing buffaloes not willing to crack the system. Many times I only see a caretaker on the day of check-in. Privacy is as good as a condo and if you need something it can be a very fast response.  I have stayed in the less private places but still had adequate  privacy. I think it takes more time than booking on Agoda, to read all the reviews and maybe even send some inquiries about kitchen utensils requirements. Usually via reviews  and pictures you can determine exact condo location.  But beware or you may end up staying 2-5 km away from intended location.   This is my 9nly issue.  Some of you gents are just four and  five-star kind of wusses. So you can pay and enjoy. Some of you guys are the same people who want small government in Freedom and control over your property. 

 I prefer living in different condos throughout my visits.  Many times I have never even seen another guest on the floor of the condo the entire  stay.   Obviously money isn't an issue to some.  There is no way Airbnb type business is going away. 

[Traubert]

10 hours ago, ToddinChonburi said:

Yes get rid of all the illegal hotel rooms that are destroying property value.  drunk Russians running the grounds at 5 am.

Don't they trip up over the Indians washing their smalls and the Chinese peeing, at poolside? I thought that was rife?

 

On a serious note, I'm staying in an Airbnb right now in a country that's a little less, shall we say, excitable about the issue and I've had little problem of any description. I've never seen the owner, the last I heard from him was how to get the keys out of the safebox in an e-mail. It's cheap, well placed, quiet as the grave, well equipped and so I don't see how the model can't be reproduced in Thailand and the two live side by side. Competition sharpens business right?

 

Or is that what they are scared of?