The appeal was made on June 25 when representatives of Phuket’s hotel industry submitted a formal petition to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Decentralization, Local Administration, and Special Administrative Arrangements, calling for urgent intervention to resolve what they described as inconsistent enforcement of hotel licensing laws.
The petition was received by committee chairman Kongkrit Chatmalirat from Phuket Boutique Accommodation Association President Chinnawat Udomniyom and Tourism Council of Thailand Subcommittee for the Promotion of Small Hotels chairman Manosit Chaengjob. Also present was Senator Nipon Ekavanich, Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Industry.
Mr Chinnawat said small hotel operators had worked for years to resolve licensing issues and welcomed the introduction of Ministerial Regulation No. 4 under the Hotel Act in 2023, which relaxed physical requirements for hotel licences and enabled an estimated 70% of small hotels nationwide to qualify for legal registration.
However, he said Phuket operators continued to face inconsistent interpretation and enforcement of the regulations.
The situation had worsened following the expiry of the ministerial regulation, creating a legal vacuum that has left more than 5,600 hotels across Phuket unable to either obtain new hotel licences or renew existing ones.
Although the Ministry of Interior has established consultation clinics and licensing assistance centres, operators say there are still no clear measures to support businesses caught in the transition.
The group warned that the uncertainty was harming businesses, reducing community income and affecting the local economy.
They called on the parliamentary committee to pursue immediate, medium-term and long-term solutions, including inviting relevant government agencies to jointly determine a path forward and amend legislation to allow operators to conduct their businesses legally while supporting sustainable tourism.
Mr Kongkrit said the committee had received repeated complaints over the issue and would raise the operators’ proposals with the relevant agencies to accelerate solutions and clarify how the law should be enforced.
The licensing issue was also among several matters discussed during a separate follow-up meeting by House committee members with Phuket officials, alongside hotel fee collection, investigations into alleged mafia influence, and probes into businesses suspected of using Thai nominee shareholders on behalf of foreign investors.
Provincial officials reported that the Ministry of Interior, through the Department of Provincial Administration and Phuket Province, has opened a Consultation and Complaint Centre and a Permit Application Clinic to assist hotel and tourism operators in complying with the law.
The services are operating daily from 8:30am to 4:30pm until July 2 at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, with additional application submission points available at the Mueang Phuket, Kathu and Thalang District Offices.
Phuket Vice Governor and Ministry of Interior Security Adviser Pol Lt Col Khetarat Chansilp, who only recently arrived on the island, said authorities would complete data collection within two to three weeks and were acting on the Prime Minister’s instructions to accelerate solutions.
He said he had personally inspected beaches, vehicle rental businesses and other tourism-related operations to ensure problems were being addressed quickly and effectively.
Vice Governor Romdon Hayiawae, who also arrived in Phuket less than two weeks ago, said the province was compiling a comprehensive database of hotels across Phuket.
He noted that more than 1,200 hotels are currently legally registered, while others remain in the process of renewing their licences as officials work to bring operators into compliance with the law.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the parliamentary committee praised Phuket officials for their efforts and said the visit was intended to ensure that government policies directed by the Prime Minister and Deputy Interior Minister were being implemented effectively.
Committee members also pledged to continue supporting proposals that would benefit Phuket’s long-term development, including resolving the long-running hotel licensing impasse.
The petition comes amid an intensified government crackdown on allegedly unlicensed hotels across Phuket, with Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) officers carrying out a series of raids and arrests in recent weeks while the Ministry of Interior simultaneously urges operators to enter the legal licensing system through a temporary consultation and application programme.
The enforcement campaign has unfolded against a backdrop of political controversy, with senior government figures alleging corruption, bribery and extortion within Phuket’s hotel licensing system, alongside investigations into nominee businesses and organised criminal influence.
At the same time, DOPA Director-General Narucha Khosasilvilai is facing separate complaints to the National Anti-Corruption Commission and Election Commission over allegations he interfered in February’s Senate election, allegations he has denied.
Small hotel operators maintain the root of the problem lies in years of restrictive licensing requirements that left thousands of mostly family-run accommodation businesses unable to qualify for hotel licences despite repeated attempts to comply with the law.
Although temporary regulatory exemptions enabled about 1,000 hotels to become licensed, industry groups say the expiry of those measures has again left thousands of operators in legal limbo, prompting the latest appeal to Parliament for legislative action.