THA presses govt to enforce 'nurse room' requirement in all hotels
The Thai Hotels Association is urging the Interior Ministry to ensure that all registered hotels have a functioning nurse room for emergency first aid, as it is a requirement of the Hotel Act.
“Even genuinely registered operators should not receive a licence extension if they don’t have a nurse room,” THA president Prakit Chinamourphong said yesterday.
The association has submitted four requests to Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit for the government to continue to help upgrade hotel standards and safety through the Hotel Act.
The requirement for a nurse room in every hotel was added three years ago as Section 2, Item 4(3), but many hotels still lack one.
The THA is concerned about this problem as many hotels have faced natural disasters including flooding this year. The confidence of overseas operators may weaken after they learn that many hotels in Thailand have no nurse room, he said.
Strict enforcement of regulations is part of the tourism-recovery plan that the THA has proposed to the government for immediate action after the flooding.
The Interior Ministry should close down operators without a hotel licence by using the Hotel Act and encourage non-registered operators to enter the official hotel system, Prakit said.
The THA reported that 362 hotels in Bangkok were operating legally, while more, 380, were non-hotels mostly operating as serviced apartments, condominiums or guest houses.
Over the past few months, many managers got confused when they were asked by hotel inspection officials to show them the nursing room before their licence extensions could be approved.
Operators may face more difficulties not only from natural calamities but also hotel regulations. But being better prepared will eventually be good for the entire industry by raising the confidence of tourists to visit Thailand and of operators to do business in this country, Prakit said.
A nurse room is defined as a station in the hotel lobby or on the second floor equipped to provide first aid to ill or injured guests before they are sent to a nearby hospital.
The other three requirements the THA demanded that the government enforce to improve safety are the fingerprinting of all hotel executives, the placing of the word “Hotel” at each property, and the signing by the hotel general manager of daily room-occupancy registrations.
“Any hotel violating any of these rules should not be endorsed as a hotel,” he said.
