Phuket officials launch ‘last chance’ clinic to help small hotels seek licences

Phuket officials have launched a three-day consultation and complaint clinic aimed at helping small hotel operators enter the legal system and obtain hotel business licences.

Speaking at the launch of the “THE LAST CALL: Last Chance” clinic at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Tuesday, June 30, Phuket Vice Governor Romdon Hayiawae said the programme is intended to help operators legalise their businesses, not to target them for prosecution.

The event, held on behalf of new Phuket Governor Chotinrin Kerdsum, brought together officials from the Department of Provincial Administration, the Tourism Council of Thailand, the Phuket Boutique Accommodation Association and other agencies. They are providing legal advice and receiving feedback from operators who have struggled to secure hotel licences.

Officials said the clinic is designed to assist more than 1,000 operators of small hotels, hostels and converted buildings in Phuket who want to legalise their businesses but remain unable to comply with current regulations because of structural limitations and overlapping legal requirements.

According to officials, five areas of legislation continue to create barriers, including urban planning, building control and environmental laws. Information gathered through the programme will be used to support proposals for changes to ministerial regulations, advance the proposed Phuket Place-Stay Sandbox initiative, and develop standard operating procedures and transitional support measures for small accommodation businesses.

Romdon said about 260 operators had already registered their interest in the programme, out of an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 small accommodation businesses across Phuket. He urged more operators to come forward, saying registration would not be used for enforcement.

“This is not a measure aimed at arrest or prosecution,” he said. “It is a collaboration between the government, the Ministry of Interior and the private sector to jointly resolve legal obstacles.”

He added that five committees had spent the previous two weeks gathering opinions and preparing proposals for legal amendments to better accommodate modern accommodation businesses.

Officials also sought to reassure operators about concerns over retrospective fees. They said businesses would only have to pay fees prescribed by law and urged operators to reject and report any demands for payments beyond legal requirements so the province could investigate.

The consultation and complaint clinic remains open until Thursday, July 2, from 8:30am to 4:30pm daily. Operators have been encouraged to bring building plans or photographs, land ownership documents and any previous licence application records to help officials assess individual cases.

The initiative comes as Thailand intensifies a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed accommodation while also seeking to help operators overcome legal barriers that have prevented them from obtaining hotel licences. In Phuket, industry representatives say thousands of small hotels have been unable to obtain or renew licences after temporary regulatory measures expired, despite repeated efforts to comply with the law.