Tan Passakornnatee is known in Thailand for selling bottled tea and wearing his captain’s hat. He is now also known for running afoul of authorities in Chiang Mai after his Eastin Tan Hotel was found to have no license because of a change in city planning regulations, local media outlets are reporting.
The man behind Ichitan has come out and said he wants to remedy the problem after the issue was brought to his attention. On his Facebook page recently, he explained that local authorities charged the manager of his 128-room luxury hotel with running an unlicensed operation.
The issue isn’t if the building has a license, but rather that it has the wrong license. Tan’s Tanboon Company received a license to build a nine-storey building and originally requested a hotel license. However, in 2014 the company obtained approval to change the type of building from a condominium to a hotel. Construction was completed and the hotel received a license to use the building.
New city planning regulations went into effect that changed some requirements and eventually meant the hotel did not have the proper license, Tan reported. Earlier this year Tanboon requested a hotel business license, but that was rejected because of new city planning regulations.
Tan, chairman and chief executive of popular tea maker Ichitan Group, said the company did not intend to violate any law and is ready to cooperate with government agencies to solve the issue. It is being reported that the government found some details in the hotel license request that did not match the original blueprints, which caused them to reject it.
The Eastin Tan Hotel is located near the intersection of Nimmanhaemin and Huay Kaew roads in Chiang Mai. The property opened in November 2014 and it currently has an occupancy rate of 90 per cent.
