Provincial authority launches Phuket Hotel Model

BANGKOK, July 5 (TNA) - Thailand's southern resort Phuket Province is implementing an initiative, called the "Phuket Hotel Model", under which unlicensed hoteliers are regulated, aimed to bring them in good order, take proper care of international tourists and boost local government's revenues. Phuket Deputy Governor Chokdee Amornwat told journalists on July 4 the new move followed a latest survey showing that there are now over 100,000 hotel rooms in Phuket, but less than 50,000 of them have been legally registered under the 2004 Hotel Act. Besides, there are unlicensed rented rooms and those at local hostels, apartments, condominiums, mansions, guesthouses and commercial buildings opened to accommodate international tourists daily or monthly. According to the deputy governor, the unregistered businesses have affected operators of legalised hotels and the local government to properly control and take care of international visitors in terms of providing them with safety and needed assistance. The deputy governor said under the Phuket Hotel Model, the local accommodations will be regulated into three groups, including those which can be immediately regulated as legalised hotel rooms, those which require minor improvements and those which cannot be regulated and must be turned into other types of lodging, namely daily or monthly rented rooms, instead. (TNA)