Krabi crackdown on dodgy hostels – 99% illegal

Krabi’s Governor has ordered a deadline on the closure of illegal hostels after officials found that 99% of the businesses are illegal and don’t comply with regulations.

Yesterday (July 19) officials ordered illegal hostel and hotel operators to meet with investigating officers at the Krabi administrative office next Monday (July 23) to face legal charges.

Krabi’s Governor, Lt Col ML Kitibodee Pravitra, says, “Almost every hostel we inspected was found to be illegal and without a proper license or adherence to regulations. We have ordered the temporary shut down of all those hostels while operators modify the building according to the local codes and laws before they can open them again.”

“The hostel crackdown is to make sure that tourists who are staying at hostels can have greater confidence in the safety of the venues if any emergency happens.”

Krabi Vice Governor Apinan Pueakpong says, “We are also cracking down on rental vehicles, public transportations and piers to get rid of nominee businesses (overseas operators using ‘ghost’ Thai nominees to run illegal companies).”