A traveler says he booked a $0.12 Airbnb in Bangkok, where a man in a suit met him behind a rolling door with a mat and a portable urinal

Finding the cheapest Airbnb in Bangkok turned into a viral novelty moment for traveler Seth Peterson (@sseth.mov), and all it cost him was $0.12. In a video with over seven million views, Peterson documented his stay at the “Sleep on the Floor” property in Bangkok, Thailand, which started with a walk down an alleyway to get to a metal rolling door. 

After Peterson knocks and calls out the Thai greeting, “Sawasdee ka,” the door slides up to reveal a man in a suit who identifies himself as the Boss. Behind him, the video shows a clean room with modern lighting, seemingly fresh paint, a mirror, and a floor fan. Peterson’s first surprise is the sleeping arrangements, which are three blue and white mats on the floor, each with a laminated label. His reads “Seth’s floor,” complete with a tiny American flag.

Boss then walks him through the amenities: a “blanket and private toilet,” which is a blue, hospital-grade portable urinal, covered in stickers and the label, “Seth’s Private Bathroom.” The Boss then tells him, “But if you want a shower, wait for raining or go outside to the mall.” The boss then indicates that Peterson has to negotiate with the other guests, a Malaysian influencer couple, for time with the fan. Then he introduces him to a blonde concierge who reportedly speaks five languages, including Russian, Chinese, English, and Ukrainian.

Peterson’s viewers were rather impressed

Even with how cheap some offerings are in Thailand, many of the commenters were shocked at the price. They joked that the amenities offered, like the included shampoo, had to cost more than $0.12. One user even marveled, “12 cents and bro even have a polyglot employee.” While some made darker jokes, like the one user who wrote, “Waking up with both kidneys is a win,” others were curious enough to look it up and learn a surprising detail: the room was “Fully booked out till 2027.”

One user noted that the point of the Airbnb wasn’t to make money. They wrote, “For anyone wondering how this makes financial sense: it doesn’t directly! The 3-Baht floor is basically a loss leader. The host takes a tiny loss on water and electricity to go viral with travel creators, which drives massive traffic to their Airbnb profile so people end up booking their regular, higher-priced rooms instead.”

According to Salesforce, loss leader pricing is when businesses sell a product or service at a loss to attract customers. The goal is that this initial sacrifice in profit will lead customers to purchase other, more profitable offerings later, as is commonly seen with printers. While the strategy can help attract new customers and increase sales volume, it carries risks like potential financial losses and the need to manage customer expectations.

According to Peterson’s video, the viral attention is working for the Airbnb listing. As the boss in the video mentioned, “People around the world wanna stay at this floor. They wanna try Floor in Thailand. It’s amazing.” In fact, the couple featured in Peterson’s video also have their own viral video of their stay, along with the female companion of the “private toilet.”

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the Airbnb’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from Peterson’s Instagram and TikTok posts.