“Non-registered hotels offering rooms for rent is a worrying issue, and for this I am not working with the Phuket office of Tourism Authority Thailand (TAT),” Gov Chomroen told The Phuket News this week.
“Only the Revenue Department, the Tourism Business and Guide Registration and some other officials are involved,” Gov Chamroen said, though declined to identify specifically which officials.
“The committee is to conduct in-depth investigations. They will report their findings directly to me by the end of March, and we will consider what action to take then,” he added.
Confirmation that the Revenue Department will be among those spearheading the purge concurs with the strategy proposed by Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul in Bangkok last Friday (Mar 4).
In response to the Thai Hotels Association (THA) calling for legal action to be taken against operators offering accommodation on the global rental portal Airbnb, Minister Kobkarn said that those profiting by illegally renting out accommodation to tourists would be brought to heel by enforcement of tax laws.
“Tax payment is a key issue to consider in the Airbnb situation because the website, accommodation owners and tenants should pay the same tax as hotel operators in Thailand,” she said.
THA President Surapong Techaruvichit said that owners who rent their condo units, resort homes and shared rooms on a daily basis using the Airbnb website should be considered in violation of the Hotel Act, as they rent their accommodations for less than 30 days and lack a hotel licence.
Ms Kobkarn agreed. “We don’t want to set any barrier to doing business, as long as it is fair and legitimate,” she said, but added that offering a daily rental without a hotel licence is illegal.
However, Ms Kobkarn made it clear that the Airbnb problem would be a focus after the ministry resolved existing problems surrounding tour agent nominees. (See story here).
As of Wednesday (Mar 9), Airbnb boasted more than 300 listings for Phuket alone, from B300 to B35,000 or more per night, while travel giant Agoda listed 2,413 venues in Phuket offering accommodation.
Those numbers fly in the face of the Phuket TAT office, which marks only 376 registered hotels on the island. If the Agoda listings are accurate, about 84 per cent of all accommodation offered in Phuket is illegal.
TAT Phuket chief Anoma Wongyai publicly recognised the problem in September last year, when she revealed that her office knew of 93,750 rooms available in 1,800 hotels in Phuket – but that only 376 venues were registered.
Speaking to The Phuket News from the global travel trade show ITB in Berlin, Ms Anoma on Wednesday said she was aware that Governor Chamroen was tackling the issue.
“This is a pressing issue that needs to be remedied quickly,” she said. “Bringing these hotels under registration will only improve Phuket’s tourism industry, and prevent cost-cutting price wars.”
Ms Anoma declined to comment further, but added, “I can talk more about this after March 14, when I get back.”
Bhuritt Maswongssa, President of the Phuket chapter of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) and also speaking to The Phuket News from ITB Berlin, supported move to bring unregistered hotels into the fold.
“Phuket has an oversupply of accommodation, and this is adding extra pressure on the legal hotels,” he said.
“In this market, it is the buyers who determine the room rates, and this downward pressure will affect economic growth. Hotels are more likely to lay off staff, which in turn directly affects families,” he said.
“The government must recognise this issue and it must act quickly, before tourism in Phuket begins to fail,” Mr Bhuritt warned.
Mr Bhuritt also confirmed that Phuket TCT chapter and the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA), of which he is also Vice President, were not invited to join task force formed by Governor Chamroen.