Negative review lands US man in Thai suit
A US citizen has been sued by an island resort in Thailand over a negative Tripadv isor rev iew, aut horities said on Saturday. He could face up to t wo years in prison if found guilt y.
Domestic tourism is st i l l happening in Thailand, where coronav irus numbers are relatively low, wit h loca ls and expatriates heading to near-empty resorts – including Koh Chang island, famed for its sandy beaches and turquoise waters.
But a recent v isit to t he Sea View Resort on t he island landed Wesley Barnes in trouble after he wrote unflattering online rev iews about his holiday.
Colonel Thanapon Taemsara of Koh Chang police said: “The Sea View Resort owner filed a complaint that the defendant had posted unfair rev iews of his hotel on t he Tripadv isor website.”
He said Barnes was accused of causing “damage to t he reputation of t he hotel”, and of quarrelling wit h staf f over paying a corkage fee for a lcohol brought to t he hotel.
Barnes, who works in Thailand, was arrested by immigration police and returned to Koh Chang where he was briefly detained and then freed on bail.
According to the Tripadvisor review Barnes posted in July, he encountered “unfriendly staff ” who “act like they don’t want anyone here”.
The Sea View Resort said legal action was only taken because Barnes had penned multiple reviews on different sites over the past few weeks.
At least one was posted in June on Tripadv isor accusing the hotel of “modern-day slaver y” – which t he site removed after a week for v iolat ing its guidelines.
“We chose to file a complaint to serve as a deterrent, as we understood he may continue to write negative reviews week after week for the foreseeable future,” the hotel said, adding that staff had attempted to contact Barnes before filing the complaint.
Barnes did not immedi
The Sea View Resort owner filed a complaint that the defendant had posted unfair reviews of his hotel
ately respond to requests for comment.
Thailand’s notorious antidefamation laws have long drawn scrutiny from human rights and press freedom groups, who say powerful players use it as a weapon to stifle free expression.
The maximum sentence is t wo years in prison, a long with a 200,000 baht ($ 6,300) fine.
Earlier t his year, a Thai journa list was sentenced to t wo years i n prison for posting a t weet referencing a dispute over working conditions at a chicken farm owned by the Thammakaset company.