DOZENS of tourists were unable to find places in cheap Chungking Mansions guesthouses yesterday, with some being forced to spend the night in Tsim Sha Tsui parks.
Most of the 240 guesthouses in Chungking Mansions had to be closed, some for renovation, in the wake of new fire regulations.
The owner of a house still operating said he had turned away at least 40 people.
Pakistani tourist Ashfaq Nadeem Nasir had to leave the guesthouse where he had been staying the past few days because it was temporarily closed for renovation to meet licensing conditions.
''I need a cheap guesthouse because I can't afford expensive rents. I have almost run out of money and will be drifting on the streets or just sitting on the bench in the park for the next few days,'' the 26-year-old businessman said.
A worker from Africa, Jones Patrick, 24, had hoped to get cheap accommodation in Chungking Mansions.
''I wanted to move to Chungking as the factory where I'm working is in Tsuen Wan. It takes a lot of time from Wan Chai, where I live now, to go to Tsuen Wan,'' he said.