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3. A case study and other learning materials, supplementing the
theoretical knowledge and aiding the Practicum Certificate Course on Assessments for
Law-making and Efficiency of the Law instructed by the office of Innovation for
Democracy, King Prajadhipok’s Institute
The research team and Thailand Development Institute (TDRI) has produced a
case study for the regulatory impact assessment. The case study concerns short-term rental
through an online platform. This case study was also used in a workshop of the Practicum
Certificate Course on Assessments for Law-making and Efficiency of the Law instructed by
the office of Innovation for Democracy, King Prajadhipok’s Institute.
The details of the case study concern short-term accommodation platforms
or home-sharing, which is the new business model connecting home-owners to short-term
renters, mostly travellers, through an online platform. The popularity of the platform is
surging in the world today since it provides a new, fast, convivence, and probably cheaper
alternative to traditional accommodation such as hotel. In Thailand, a report from a private
organization found that the rental rate from Airbnb from 2015-2017 had increased 60 per
cent per year.
Despite the growth of the business in Thailand, there hasn't been any
measures regulating that business. This lack of regulation might cause some effects on the
economy and the society, for instance, there is a problem of neighbour nuisance and the
problem of competition since the host of the short-term rents operate on the different
playing field in comparison to the hotel business that has to acquire a license to operate.
The requirement of the license imposes higher costs on the hotel business. Without any
proper regulation, this problem might be escalated in the future.
From the stated problems in the previous paragraph, the research team offers
five solutions to solve the problems 1) doing nothing 2) self-regulation such as setting the
standards to receive complaints and the system for supervision and report 3) solving the
problem through the condominium act or regulation, for instance setting rules for travellers
to pay for any damages to the accommodation or setting rules on compensation for
damages and permits to rent 4) rent regulations such as setting rules for travellers to comply
with and limit the rental period as well as how many days the host can rent the property to
travellers 5) registration system such as using the permit system.
In order to find the most efficient solution to regulate a short-term rental
business through the platform, the researcher team from TDRI proposed the framework for
analysis as follows;