Workers remain reluctant to return to the hospitality industry even though employee revenue from hotel service charges has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels.

According to a Facebook survey of Phuket and Samui hotel service charges in December 2022, the highest average rate of 61,145 baht was at the Twinpalms Montazure Phuket, while hotels in the top 20 saw average monthly service charges surge to more than 26,000 baht, of which most were five-star properties or managed by international brands.

A president of the Thai Hotels Association said revenue from service charges was almost at pre-pandemic levels across all hotel segments, partly because the workforce is 30% lower than before the viral outbreaks.

Even though employees can earn a higher income, they have to deal with extra workloads, particularly when hotels are fully booked, including helping out by doing multiple jobs at the same time, he said.

Many hotels still have to recruit more employees, but they face difficulties as experienced staff moved to work at five-star hotels, which can offer higher rates of pay.

More four-star hotels are hiring fresh graduates to fill their vacancies, he said.

As of Jan 14, Thailand tallied 854,485 foreign arrivals this year, of which 450,170 entered via Suvarnabhumi airport and 146,275 through Phuket airport.