None of the 18 hotels are licensed and all are co-owned by businessmen from several countries, said officials, including UK, Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, Israel and Austria. The inspection was carried out following complaints from licensed hotels that they had seen a large decrease in patrons after the new hotels began operating. Hoteliers said the new hotels have an unfair advantage because they are not paying the same taxes as the licensed hotels. Officials found the 18 hotels have land deeds but have not been registered as hotels. On Wednesday, the Borphud police station took legal action against foreign executives of the four companies that run four of the 18 hotels.

Source: The Nation Bangkok April 24, 2019 06:45 UTC