SMALL hotels in Phuket are facing dire financial problems with several having been seized by financial institutions that have put them up for sale while 200 others are in the process of being seized by the Legal Execution Department, Thansettakij newspaper said today (July 13).
Around 50 small hotel owners held a protest at the parking lot behind Krungthai Bank branch at Patong beach yesterday to draw attention to their financial difficulties during a visit to the tourist island by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam and his team.
They had displayed placards on their financial woes but the demonstration ended peacefully after they were allowed to submit their petition to members of this delegation.
A member of the Phuket Boutique Accommodation Association said their members had been suffering since the Covid pandemic started.Â
Today there are at least 200 small hotels in Patong area that lack income and have no money to pay off their debts to financial institutions. This has led to the Legal Execution Department moving to seize and auction their properties.
“We have suffered greatly, hotels were shut because of Covid, and with no tourists there was no income. Unlicensed hotels were closed leading to no money to pay the banks and their assets being seized.
“We would like the banks to extend the repayment period as much as they could, we don’t want them to seize the hotels, some of them whose assets had been seized still have debts to pay off.Â
“So we ask that we be allowed to continue, and be allowed to reopen our business. We urge the government to have mercy on us, not just support big hotels,” he said.
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Top: Phuket’s Patong beach. Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd
Front Page: Bangla Road at Patong beach, Phuket. Photo: Nicolas Lannuzel (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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