American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

BANGKOK: An American has been sued by an island resort in the country over a negative Tripadvisor review, the authorities said yesterday, and he faces up to two years in prison if found guilty.

Domestic tourism is still happening in Thailand, where Covid19 numbers are relatively low, with locals and expats heading to near-empty resorts, including Koh Chang island, famed for its sandy beaches and turquoise waters.

But a recent visit to the Sea View Resort on the island landed Wesley Barnes in trouble after he wrote unflattering online reviews about his holiday.

“The Sea View Resort owner filed a complaint that the defendant had posted unfair reviews on his hotel on the Tripadvisor website,” said Colonel Thanapon Taemsara of Koh Chang police.

He said Barnes was accused of causing “damage to the reputation of the hotel”, and of quarrelling with staff over not paying a corkage fee for alcohol brought to the 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 country’s notorious antidefamation laws have long drawn scrutiny from human rights and press freedom groups, who say that powerful players use it as a weapon to stifle free expression.

The maximum sentence is two years in prison, along with a 200,000 baht fine.

Earlier this year, a local journalist was sentenced to two years in prison for posting a tweet referencing a dispute over working conditions at a chicken farm owned by the Thammakaset company.