chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Jun 24, 2018 4:45:49 GMT 7
There are now almost daily raids on guest houses and small hotels in Chiang Mai and Pattaya where the Tessabahn is nailing notices of closure to front doors, what's it all about you ask.
The answer is I don't know 100% of the picture but for sure the government and TAT are closing down any guest house or hotel that isn't one of the 200 strong member Thai Hotel Association, some quick math reveals that 10,000 hotels minus 200 licensed ones leave quite a large shortfall of guest rooms for visiting tourists!
Why? It seems that guest house and hotel licenses were handed out too freely in years gone by and many if not most don't conform to regulations, trying to retrofit them is apparently impossible - many guest houses don't even have licenses!
But really why? The clampdown seems to have been initiated by central government and TAT, some suspect that big hotels are hurting as a result of Chinese tourists using cheaper rooms. Others suspect tax revenue has been falling and this is an attempt to recoup some of it. The stated reason, of course, is that many of the small guest houses aren't safe for tourists, safety regs etc. Top of the line 5 stars appear to have been spared, I have a relative in Pattaya who manages a large hotel and he tells me the Tessabahn and police did make an inspection which was nothing more than a formality, an attempt to show that all hotels were being checked, he thought.
This is serious stuff, I suspect the purge may lose steam at some point although there will be casualties along the way. If it doesn't, it's difficult to see what the plan is to accommodate hoards of rural Chinese and Indian tourists, it's unlikely they will all want to switch to the Shangri-La or the Dusit.
There's a couple of useful threads on TVF on this subject hence more info to be had there, including cases of where farang owners have been jailed and taken to court. In Chiang Mai we have lost the famed and long-standing Pun Pun guest house and restaurant run by John for more than 20 years, two TVF mods in CM own guest houses here and they are visibly nervous.
Stay tuned.
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Post by rgs2001uk on Jun 25, 2018 21:19:41 GMT 7
Guesthouses are probably what built this country in terms of tourism.
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Jun 26, 2018 6:11:12 GMT 7
Yes, I agree and closing them down now seems crazy. If this is just a thinning out exercise then fine (I suppose), if it's more than that it's suicidal...drive up the cost per room, drive down the number of tourists.
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Post by rgs2001uk on Jun 26, 2018 21:03:39 GMT 7
^^^ I take with a large pinch of salt what I read on forums. Closing them down,  , they have been closing down illegal resorts and resorts have been closed down for land encroachment, as for what takes place on the islands, thats anyones guess. The days of buying a shophouse and turning the rooms into bedrooms with bunkbeds seem to be over, if they were ever legal in the first place. Any news on "home stay" places? |
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Jun 27, 2018 7:18:02 GMT 7
^^^ I take with a large pinch of salt what I read on forums. Closing them down, , they have been closing down illegal resorts and resorts have been closed down for land encroachment, as for what takes place on the islands, thats anyones guess. The days of buying a shophouse and turning the rooms into bedrooms with bunkbeds seem to be over, if they were ever legal in the first place. Any news on "home stay" places? Apparently, Home Stay is going to be the subject of a new ruling which is in the pipeline and due to be issued soon, it's evident the government wants better control over the places where visitors stay and that's not altogether a bad thing I reckon. Again, I have a relative in Pattaya who is GM for a large hotel and he tells me there is a lot of activity by the tessabahn to check on and in many cases close guest houses and small hotels although he is as vague about the end to end process or the logic involved as everyone else. Here in CM John at Pun Pun was forced out as a result of this and he'd been in situ for over 20 years.It will be interesting to see how the myriad of "resorts" in the Mae Sa valley are handled, they're very popular with tourists, especially Bangkokians in the winter, they're a real money earner for the province. |
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Post by Fletchsmile on Jun 27, 2018 17:52:06 GMT 7
Would be nice if it was an actual clean-up and getting people to abide by the laws who previously hadn't. I suspect it isn't that though. Maybe another avenue for gaining cash for those currently with power until the power mongers change again? Maybe a desire to show there is some clean up on corruption - on the face of it/ publicly that is |
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Post by rgs2001uk on Jun 27, 2018 21:21:49 GMT 7
^^^ I take with a large pinch of salt what I read on forums. Closing them down, , they have been closing down illegal resorts and resorts have been closed down for land encroachment, as for what takes place on the islands, thats anyones guess. The days of buying a shophouse and turning the rooms into bedrooms with bunkbeds seem to be over, if they were ever legal in the first place. Any news on "home stay" places? Apparently, Home Stay is going to be the subject of a new ruling which is in the pipeline and due to be issued soon, it's evident the government wants better control over the places where visitors stay and that's not altogether a bad thing I reckon. Again, I have a relative in Pattaya who is GM for a large hotel and he tells me there is a lot of activity by the tessabahn to check on and in many cases close guest houses and small hotels although he is as vague about the end to end process or the logic involved as everyone else. Here in CM John at Pun Pun was forced out as a result of this and he'd been in situ for over 20 years.It will be interesting to see how the myriad of "resorts" in the Mae Sa valley are handled, they're very popular with tourists, especially Bangkokians in the winter, they're a real money earner for the province. I have mentioned before about the cost of doing a road trip within Thailand, can be done for less than 2,000 baht per day once you get off the beaten track and follow the Thais. Example, head up to Nakon Nayok, where the Bangkokians go to escape the oppressive heat and humidity, I dont pass one single hotel, but the roads are littered with homestay and resorts, at prices that at times are almost embarrassing, heck even drove by one that looked like something from the teletubbies. We have went out some days for lunch and arrived back in Bkk 3 or 4 days later . Talking of Pattaya, as a car driver, that can only be a good thing, some of those sois are almost undriveable, guesthouses with motorcycles for hire blocking the sois, I have nothing against guesthouses per se, my problem is, they have no place to park a car. Cant comment on Pun Pun, what I can comment on is, I have lost count the number of bars, restos and guesthouses that have been closed due to massive rental increases on the part of the landlords. |
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Post by rgs2001uk on Jun 27, 2018 21:44:55 GMT 7
CM, you appear to have some knowledge of Pattaya,lets consider the following scenario.
Farang checks into hotel at midday, quick shower and hits the bars at 1pm, checks into a shortime place at 2pm, checks out at 3pm, back to the hotel for a kip, wakes up, has a nose bag and hits the bars, checks into another shortime place at 10pm and checks out at 11pm.
Pity the poor officer sat in some office trying to make sense of it all.
I seem to remember some while back a crackdown on soi 6 (pattaya) with rooms upstairs being sealed off, cant really comment, not an area I frequent.
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Jun 28, 2018 6:46:37 GMT 7
First off, I don't really have knowledge of Pattaya other than what I've read or from hearsay, I've only been there once for three days in the past ten years although my son does work there and we talk on a regular basis, rarely if ever about Pattaya however. Secondly, I no longer have recent first-hand knowledge about such things but I'd be very suprised if short time hotels take "guests" through a full-blown (no play on words or puns intended) hotel registration procedure hence such visits will almost certainly remain under everyone's radar. But I also remember the crackdown on upstairs rooms at bars and that goes back quite some way as I recall, as far as ten years or more so I tend to think that may be a different and more obvious problem that was being addressed. In my younger days I had a temporary role as a ceiling inspector and I inspected many in such places, I can confirm that those facilities were extensive in tourist areas and went way beyond the staff sleeping quarters they purported to be.  FWIW I'm in favour of some form of rationalisation and control of lodgings, it's a win win scenario for almost everyone apart from the person who's trying to circumvent laws, regulation or taxation. The problem is whether that rationalisation will be properly managed and be fair, the risk is some tessabahns will be overzealous, monetise the process for private gain and/or go too far without appreciating the negative impact on tourism in the future. |
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Post by rgs2001uk on Jun 28, 2018 22:05:30 GMT 7
^^^, the song remains the same, same day different shit, give it a few weeks and it will blow over.
As hard as it may be to believe, I have never used a st hotel, the nearest I ever came to it, was in PattayaLand years ago, I now understand why other forums are talking about the "good old days", bar in PL1, shorttime, 300 baht, 100 for the bar, 100 for the girl and 100 for the room.
Was in Pattaya last month and went for a trip down memory lane, PL, what happened to the place, it used to be buzzing and jumping every night, Palmers, Daves GB Bar, The Shamrock, The Anzac, lawd it reminded me of the time we landed at an airport in Arkansas, nothing but tumbleweed blowing down the soi, the place was DEAD, I mean DEAD, this was about 6 or 7 in the eveningm thankfully found refuge in Wonderful Beer Bar, live music and a full crowd, it was like escaping from the twilight zone.
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smokie36
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Post by smokie36 on Jun 29, 2018 11:05:52 GMT 7
We visited Pun Pun one time....nice feller decent bfast no idea about the rooms.
Seemed a perfectly legit run place....blether said it was to do with fire regs etc but I can't imagine the Pun place was a death trap as it was all fairly open plan anyway.
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Jun 29, 2018 18:11:08 GMT 7
Somebody else made the point that Chiang Mai tourism was built on a foundation of guest houses, I have no idea what the Pun Pun rooms were like but as you say, John is a great guy, the food was good and it was friendly and inexpensive, it's sad to see places like that swept away.
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Post by rgs2001uk on Jun 29, 2018 21:37:30 GMT 7
^^^ same same Bkk, all the old places are being swept away.
Are the top nth and cha(r)tee still there? havent been up that way for a few years, but am planning on getting up there this summer.
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me
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Post by me on Jun 29, 2018 21:40:22 GMT 7
When I first came here hotels consisted of the second floor of a wooden structure dived into 6 * 10 rooms with a common dipper style bathroom.
Travelling salesmen and mid level government employees stayed in them all the time as there was no alternative. Dangerous fire traps. We do not see any of these now as they either built into properly constructed (in relative terms) "hotels" or were shut down either by not getting more customers or by being encouraged to close.
We have had a new breed of these spring up lately and I am not surprised they are being closed down, just like the older style Pun Pun was, knowing John I feel sorry for him but in fact I do not have a lot of sympathy. Times change and rebuilds and upgrades are needed. A few gems of course are lost in this of course but Thai expectations have risen so they no longer accept the kind of acomodation that was never permitted in the west.
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rubl
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Post by rubl on Jun 29, 2018 21:46:48 GMT 7
"it's unlikely they will all want to switch to the Shangri-La or the Dusit." Which reminds me, if you want to stay in the Dusit Hotel you'd better check before because April 16, 2018 is the last day  "Dusit Thani Bangkok confirms last day of operations, prepares for ‘exciting new chapter’ to come with a series of special promotions Hotel as it stands will close on 16 April 2018, but the Dusit Thani legend will continue in new property inspired by the hotel’s legacy and distinctive design Dusit Thani Bangkok, the flagship hotel of Thailand-based, global hospitality company Dusit International, will officially hold its last day of operations in its current form on 16 April 2018, bringing to a close a successful first chapter some 48 years in the making." www.dusit.com/news/dusit-thani-bangkok-confirms-last-day-of-operations-prepares-for-exciting-new-chapter-to-come-with-a-series-of-special-promotions/ |
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, they have been closing down illegal resorts and resorts have been closed down for land encroachment, as for what takes place on the islands, thats anyones guess.
