Some 14 hotels on Khao San Road are offering deep discounts on room rates for Thais travelling from provincial areas to Bangkok to pay tribute to His Majesty the King.
Among them are Buddy Lodge, Boutique Inn, Hotel De Moc, Dang Derm Hotel, D&D Inn, Dang Derm in the Parc, Baan Chart, Pannee Lodge, the Pillow Hostel, Sleep with Inn, Sakul House, Khaosan Park Resort, Khaosan Palace and Rambuttri House.
Sa-nga Ruangwattanakul, an adviser to the Khao San Road Business Association, said hotel operators in the area want to join the country in mourning and paying their respects to His Majesty.
It is expected that many people from provincial areas will travel to pay tribute to His Majesty, especially during the long weekend including Chulalongkorn Memorial Day (Oct 22-24).
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced it would provide free accommodations for Thais travelling from upcountry to pay tribute to His Majesty at the Grand Palace. The locations are the Bangkok Youth Center in Din Daeng and Baan Imjai shelter near the Mansri intersection.
"We realise it will be difficult to find accommodations near the Grand Palace, so we will offer room rate discounts to help mourners," Mr Sa-nga said. "The free accommodations are not sufficient to house all the travellers."
The association will seek the cooperation of more hotels and restaurants to join this campaign.
Mr Sa-nga, also chief executive of Buddy Group, said his 92-room Hotel De Moc was among the first to offer a room rate discount until the end of November. Each day, the hotel will offer 20 rooms at a special rate of 1,100 baht per night with breakfast, compared with 1,800 baht per night regularly.
Hotel De Moc, located near Wat Tritosathep, will also provide shuttle bus services to Sanam Luang three times a day.
Khaosan Park Resort is offering a 60% discount for Thais until the end of October. After the sharp discount, its room rate is 490 baht per night. It has 47 rooms with no quota on discounted rooms per day.
A staffer at Khaosan Park Resort said the hotel management will consider renewing the promotion after this month, but it wants to see feedback first before deciding.