Favstay gets funding to battle Airbnb in Thailand’s tourism boom

Koh Toa, Thailand. Photo credit: basketman23 / 123RF.

Thailand saw a record high number of foreign visitors – 32.6 million – in 2016, which is important as tourists account for 10 percent of the nation’s GDP.

Hoping to ride this wave is Favstay, an Airbnb-esque service. The startup just got a huge boost, attracting US$2.9 million in funding led by upscale Thai hotel chain Dusit International. 500 Startups and a bunch of undisclosed strategic investors also threw in some cash.

Dusit, with its four brands, now has 29 hotels across Thailand and nine other countries.

Natavudh “Moo” Pungcharoenpong earlier this year. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

One of Favstay’s duo of co-founders is Natavudh “Moo” Pungcharoenpong, a big name in Thailand’s tech industry as the founder and CEO of Ookbee, a hugely popular ebook store. Favstay now has 10,000 property listings, mainly in Thailand’s travel hotspots, but there are also a growing number in Laos and Vietnam.

“Favstay is planing to expand its presence to cover a large part of ASEAN countries in the near future,” Moo tells Tech in Asia, referring to the trading block of 10 Southeast Asia nations.

“Favstay has very little similarity with Airbnb,” says Moo – though their business models are actually identical. It all comes down to different approaches to its partners. “How it connects and helps to promote accommodation is different. The service and support all are completely different. Favstay is an active platform while Airbnb is passive,” he claims.

He wants Favstay to be very active on the ground in Southeast Asia so that it can nurture a home ground advantage over the US$31 billion Silicon Valley startup. “It is not logical to assume that every country has the same nature in doing business,” Moo says, and so the approach needs to be “tailored for every market.”

See Moo’s AMA on Tech in Asia earlier this year.

UPDATED April 17, 2017: Updated with quotes and a new listings figure from Moo.