Tri Augkaradacha, Phuket’s 43rd governor will set tourism promotion as his prime policy objective. It would also focus on the unregistered hotels issue. As per September 12th statistics showed that there are 279 hotels with total of 31,014 rooms legally registered with the province. Meanwhile, for hotel with no permission so far known are 117 of them.

The owner of these hotels are running business without initial environmental evaluation (IEEs) or environmental impact assessments (EIAs) or were built without necessary construction permits from local authorities. There are also apartments, guesthouses and condominiums that offer daily accommodations and other services that fall under the Hotel Act.

“I would like to bring both of these groups into the system and have them legally registered. I have been working on a policy to help achieve this and I held a meeting with the [illegal] operators to inform them of my efforts – I will help them make it right. I admit that in the past, the government sector was lax in terms of enforcement, so now I need to compromise with them – both for their benefit and ours,” said Governer Augkaradacha.

For a start, the government would benefit from increased tax revenue from these businesses. Second, it would be good for them in terms of marketing and in obtaining investment funding. Hotels with no legal registration documents are ineligible to apply for investment through proper channels. Some must seek loans from informal funds or sources that charge high interest rates.

News by Phuket Gazette