AIRBNB AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THAI PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCE THEIR PARTNERSHIP...

This exception to the law was announced on last July 6th with the primary goal of developing local tourism.

For some months have been talking a lot about the illegality AIRBNB following the conviction of two individuals who had rented their condominium for a period of less than 1 month.
The problem was that AIRBNB only relates the owners and tenants and de fact cannot be prosecuted.

So today it is possible, via AIRBNB, to rent for a day or a week under condition to make a declaration of renting of the accommodation under the title "Stay at the inhabitant".

Namely that for now are only concerned individual houses and not condominiums (situation that can still change).

The authorities hope to facilitate the discovery by tourists of the culture and the way of life of the inhabitants in the most remote and hidden places of the country.

We can or should not welcome such an approach, but in my opinion this raises several questions and can give rise to several comments.

1) As the text does not provide for territorial limitation it is certain that the vast majority of rentals will be in the largest tourist areas like Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya... but not in the most remote places. The counter argument will be that precisely this exception to the law is made to develop accommodation in remote places.

2) in so-called "remote Places", small hotels have difficulty surviving and therefore an influx of rent among individuals may suffice to make them disappear. Is that the goal? Certainly not because we need the hotel business, if only for groups of people who at that time, without hotels, would no longer go to these places without hotel offerings.

3) What is the reaction of hoteliers to this exception to the law? Let's wait but there is a good bet that the profession will not remain speechless.

4) Is there not a risk of a poorly mastered offer? Poorly mastered in qualitative terms because the authorities will never have the means to check all the renters and poorly mastered in quantitative terms since apparently no limit is fixed. If tomorrow a massive offer comes on the market without control we risk problems of on offer and therefore of not control of prices.

Let's wait and see what happens next because this exception could give ideas to other areas and in any case see how that will evolve…