FOR THE EXPAT IN ALL OF US! ISSUE 408 16th December 2016
ABSENT WITH OUT LEAVE IN THE LAND OF SMILES
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EVERY FRIDAY SINCE 2008
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Call 032 547 199 (Office) or 081 817 3000 (Mobile) Located on Soi 2, Phetchkasem Road opposite Hua Hin Airport
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Victor’s
OPEN 24/7
WIDE RANGE OF ROOMS IN THE HEART OF HUA HIN A/C, LCD TV, DVD player, fridge, free premium wifi, cable TV victorguesthouse@gmail.com 032 511564 60 Naresdamri Road, Hua Hin
P A N AMA BAR
Good Times Every Night A DJ To Save Your Life
SHORT TIME ILLEGAL AND ENCROACHING HOTELS RAIDED
•Six• hotels located on the Naresdamri Road between Saphan Pla and Sarn Jao Mae Thap Thim, the stretch HUA HIN
of beachfront land that has been scheduled to be cleared to make way for a sea view promenade, have been raided and booked by thirty soldiers, police and members of the local Hua Hin administration under the leadership of district chief Rutpratheep Thamrapheephat, for encroachment and also operating without the requisite licenses. The establishments face fines of up to 10,000 baht a day from when they were opened, and will be prosecuted under a 1994 hotel law. There has been a crackdown all over Thailand on both beach encroachment, but more significantly on ‘hotels’ operating without proper licenses, and it is something that many condominium and house owners should be wary of falling foul of as well. Any landlord or landlady who rents or leases a property out for less than 30 days must possess a licence to do so, as this is what is deemed as operating as a hotel, as opposed to longer term rentals. The Thai Hotels Association (THA) has been pressuring the authorities to enforce these existing laws for some time, and in recent weeks and months, action has been taken against a number of establishments, both in Hua Hin and around Thailand. It is estimated that of the more than 18,000 hotels in the country, only 8,000 are registered, comprising 400,000 rooms. That leaves more than 10,000 hotels with more than 400,000 rooms operating illegally. The THA argues that this is potentially damaging for tourism, with unlicensed hotels maybe offering substandard quality and could even be unsafe for guests, although the loss of earnings to registered hotels is the more likely motive to ask for the clampdown.