Phuket Vice Governor Danai Sunantarod chaired the event, held at The Pago Design Hotel in Phuket Town, joined by Sinit Bunsit, Director of the Building Control and Inspection Office under the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning.
The event marked five years of small guest accommodation venues, including boutique hotels and resorts, in Phuket appealing for the right to register as hotels, a fight that finally saw the Ministerial Regulations Prescribing Other Types of Buildings for Hotel Business Operations (No. 4) 2023’ signed as approved by caretaker Minister of Interior Gen Anupong Phaochinda on June 7, and the new ministerial regulation coming into effect with its promulgation in the Government Gazette on June 20.
However, small hotel operators have continued to wait while a third and final article of legislation comes into effect, allowing local administrations, namely provincial governments, to create a system for accepting applications and issuing approvals for small hotels to be legally registered. That third and piece of final legislation came into effect on Aug 30.
Chinnawat Udomniyom, President of the Phuket Boutique Accommodation Consortium (BAC Phuket), pointed out that 80% of tourist accommodation operations in Phuket were small hotels not legally recognised by the Thai government.
“To be able to enter the system to receive a license from the hotel registrar correctly will allow operators to receive cooperation from banks under government supervision, such as the SME Bank,” he said.
“After obtaining a valid license, it will result in Phuket having a supply side in terms of accommodation that grows to accommodate the increasing number of tourists, and we are about to enter the high season in October,” he added.
Wirintra Paphakityotphat, head of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) Region 11 branch, which represents Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi, was also present for the event yesterday.
Ms Wirintra has been instrumental in spearheading the need to broaden the legal definition of hotels so that smaller venues may serve tourists legally. She led the charge by making a special appeal in person to then Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in January.
Ms Wirintra pointed out, “There will be more than 25-30 million tourists entering Thailand by the end of this year. Small hotels in Phuket have the opportunity to resume business after obtaining a license. Then Phuket will be able to welcome more than 10,000 tourists per day, or 2.19 million people per year, generating more than B16.202 million per year in Phuket.
“Small hotels will earn only 10% of their room revenue from tourists, while the other 90% will circulate to other supply chains throughout the province, more than 2,500 places, altogether worth more than B14.585bn baht per year, creating more work for 25,000 people in all tourism industries in Phuket, who all benefit from unlocking the law this time,” Ms Wirintra added.