The 1G1-7 Hotel has suddenly become a familiar name after a cluster of more than 10 Thai female workers and tourists tested positive for Covid-19 upon returning home from the luxury hotel-cum-entertainment complex in Myanmar's Tachileik.
Situated only 1.5 kilometres from a permanent immigration checkpoint on the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai, the hotel is now recognised as one of the biggest entertainment complexes in Tachileik after four to five years in business, a local source said.
The 1G1-7 Hotel targets high-end guests who seek ultimate entertainment in all forms.
Thai ladies among the hotel staff are said to be highly popular with the hotel guests and clientele.
The four-storey hotel has 100 rooms, with prices ranging from 1,200 baht to 10,000 baht per day.
Right on the ground floor are a pub, bar and discotheque with a combined capacity of receiving, at most, a thousand guests, the source said.
The second floor of the hotel has more than 20 VIP karaoke rooms, with rates ranging from 500 baht to 2,000 baht per hour, he said.
After an outbreak of Covid-19 in Tachileik made headlines, many of the hotel's Thai workers decided to try and sneak back into Thailand via natural trails along the porous border in order to bypass the official Covid-19 screening process because they were afraid they would end up being put into quarantine for 14 days.
After the first Covid-19 case, a woman returning to Chiang Mai through a Chiang Rai border crossing, was found on Nov 28, the number of new infections linked to the 1G1-7 Hotel had risen to 17 as of Friday.
Although not really known to many people in Thailand before it was linked to these new Covid-19 infections, the 1G1-7 Hotel has long been known among nightlife enthusiasts.
It is said to be a business in what is called a grey zone, a joint investment involving business people from Thailand, Myanmar and China.
A Chinese investor is said to hold the largest stake in the business.
