Hotels want temporary closure to be deemed 'force majeur'
Hotels that want to temporarily shut operations during the Covid-19 situation are seeking to register as "closure due to force majeur" in order to help their employees.
Thai Hotels Association (THA) will submit such an appeal to the prime minister.
Suraphong Techaruwichit, THA’s honorary consultant, said that the association had submitted a letter to Kalin Sarasin, chairman of Thai Chamber of Commerce, to forward to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.
“In the letter, we asked the government to allow hotel operators to register for temporary closure due to force majeur under Section 79/1 of Social Security Act,” he said. “By being allowed to do so, the Social Security Office will help pay 50 per cent of wages of the employees for 180 days, instead of 60 days currently applicable when businesses are forced to shut down by the government.”
Suraphong added that the government’s latest order to shut down meeting and banquet rooms of hotels until April 30 will affect more employees, including cooks, waiters and maintenance staff.
“The 50 per cent pay from Social Security Office for six months would help a lot in case the virus situation prolongs throughout the year,” he added.
According to THA’s statistics, 27 hotel operators in Bangkok decided to temporarily shut their doors since the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The situation in other tourist provinces are even worse. For example, Phuket has reported over 52 hotels have announced their closure, mostly from April 1, while in Chonburi over 31 hotels and tourist attractions have closed down since March 17,” added Suraphong.