Call for law amendments to tackle illegal daily condo rentals

The Thai Hotels Association (THA) has called on the government to amend existing laws as well as employ stricter legal enforcement to tackle the issue of daily condo rentals by foreign investors.

The issue is primarily related to condominium owners, often Chinese nationals, who purchase several units and list them on online platforms for short-term rentals at significantly lower prices than hotels can offer.

This practice, commonly referred to as “zero-dollar condos”, is considered illegal under Thai law, Thienprasit Chaiyaphatranan, president of the THA, said on Friday, adding that it is causing distress among local residents as well as hurting the business of hotel operators.

He pointed out that under the current law, officials must pretend to be a customer and secure a rental receipt as evidence before they can arrest the operator. In most cases, officials manage to arrest the owner of only one unit, while there could be several rooms in the same building that have been put up for short-term rent, he said.

The Hotel Act of 2004 mandates that daily accommodation services must be licensed as hotels, a condition most condominiums do not meet.

Thienprasit suggested that a clause be added to the current law, allowing officials to arrest condo owners upon finding that they advertise short-term rental via media channels. This would eliminate the need for a sting operation by law-enforcement officers, he said.

Thienprasit added that the average fine for violating the law at about 20,000 baht is too lenient. He suggested a stiffer penalty to deter illegal business practice that has caused significant damage to the country’s hotel and tourism industry.

The THA estimated that daily condo rentals have so far cost the hotel industry more than 10 billion baht in lost revenue, not to mention that these operators have never paid tax to the Thai government. 

The THA president also called on local police officers to increase monitoring on agencies who are responsible for placing keys to these condo units at designated boxes for customers to pick up later. This practice is necessary for this business as the building concierges are not legally allowed to keep the units’ keys.