[TripAdvisor slaps warning on Thailand's 'Sea View Resort & Spa' review page]

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After the warning notice was posted, the hotel said it was “deeply disappointed” 

I have no pity, it was self inflicted by their own stupidity. They won the battle but lost the war.
 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/asia/thailand-hotel-tripadvisor-jail.html

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Mr. Barnes was arrested in September and spent two nights in jail as he tried to make bail. He faced two years in prison.

Tripadvisor began paying his legal fees and helped bring the parties together to negotiate.

 

 

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in a statement that resembled a forced confession, he apologized and thanked the hotel for forgiving him.

 

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The fine print of the settlement also required Mr. Barnes to obtain an agreement from Tripadvisor, and he asked the company for a commitment that it would not post a “red badge” warning — Tripadvisor’s most dreaded notice — on the hotel’s page.

 

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“That was problematic for us,” Mr. Young said. “The settlement agreement basically required Mr. Barnes to convince Tripadvisor to stop acting like Tripadvisor.”

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With that, the charges were dismissed last week and the police returned his passport and bail money.

 

In the meantime, Tripadvisor began drafting a new type of warning that it posted on Wednesday, after Mr. Barnes had reached his destination outside Thailand. The warning comes with a penalty: a substantial drop in the hotel’s ranking on the website.

 

In its statement, the Sea View accused Tripadvisor of reneging on its commitment by posting the new notice. “We fail to understand how Tripadvisor going back on their word, and not being impartial, is helpful to any of the parties involved in this case,” the hotel said.

 

Tripadvisor countered that the company was not a party to the settlement and that its commitment was to Mr. Barnes to keep him out of prison. “We have no agreement with the hotel,” Mr. Young said. “We sent a letter to Mr. Barnes taking steps to ensure his safety. We told the hotel the letter was accurate when they asked. We also have not violated any terms of the letter.”

 

 

 

[Chula virologist unravels mystery of global Covid death tolls]

The journalist is dramatizing the headlines for clicks, or more kindly, something has been lost in translation. He may also be as others suggest, premature.
This virus has baffled our best epidemiologists. It will take years before the dust settles and we really understand it. Probably from a settled statistical perspective.

 

[Make Thailand a "hub" for digital nomads, suggests influential Thai politician]

Due to covid, 'work from home' or 'remote work' (previously a privilege offered to only very high skilled workers) has become more acceptable in the workplace.
That has laid some groundwork for those skilled workers, who are in stable employment, to potentially negotiate with their employer - to essentially offer services as a remote contracter / consultant.

Effectively, work would be outsourced to Thailand.

 

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

7 hours ago, Prince77 said:

As far as I know, this guy was employed as a teacher although his criminal past would not have allowed him to be in Thailand in addition to the rumor that his documents were not in order - does anybody have knowledge if he is / will be deported on this ground?

It will be easier for immigration to review/reject any visa extensions at renewal time.

It's hard to imagine them going to all the effort of deporting him - can you imagine the next wave of embarrasing news headlines ? "English teacher posts 1 star review, jailed for 2 nights and then deported after forced confessional".

Nevertheless, his teaching career probably has been given quite a boost. He has taught the hotel quite a lesson. And he obviously has a special talent for schooling children (and their derivatives, man-childs).

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

Tourism contributes about 15% to the GDP.

It appears that the hotel and local Ko Chang police department have made a unilateral, feudal decision, without considering the negative impact to the tourism industry (and bizarrely, to the hotel itself), and without influence by presumably more level headed decision makers higher up the food chain (stepping in to wake them up from whatever egotistical or childish fit came over them).

The hotel must be very well connected to the Ko Chang police department. Whatever credits they have earned over the years are probably now exhausted by this stunt.

So the hotels reputation is in tatters, it's previous good and influencial relationship with the local police department is probably now strained, there will be fewer customers as a result of this fiasco, and it's going to have a negative impact on Thailands tourism industry. On the other hand, the customer has 2 days in jail and has to write some forced confessional.

The hotel should close and they should replace it with some type of historical local museum, with wax statues etc. This level of stupidity should be enshrined and on show as a cautionary tale for all.

 

 

 

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

5 hours ago, Silencer said:

I see today....the New York Times, when contacted by him about his "apology", can see through the fog. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/world/asia/thailand-review-american-apology.html

 

That's hilarious. The news report have painted the hotels management team as absolute fools.

The customer has issued an apology

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in a statement filled with stilted official language reminiscent of a forced confession.

 

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“The hotel has forgiven me and agreed to withdraw the complaint,” the statement said. “I would like to sincerely thank the hotel and its staff and take this opportunity to announce this news to the general public.”

 

 

[Thai army denies Twitter disinformation campaign after takedowns]

Sounds like their IT department is underfunded or their team are lacking some relatively basic skills.

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

Some things will have been settled in private.
Obviously some non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreements.
I think there would have been some negotiations about compensation payment made from the hotel to the customer.
However, judging by the tone of the public settlement terms offered by the hotel, I assume they couldn't come to agreement.

 

 

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

8 minutes ago, Steve Mepham said:

The fact that this guy decided to continue to post negative reviews over several days suggests he was being vindictive and spiteful. it would seem this was a big mistake.

In terms of final outcomes, no.
Most damage, by an order of several magnitudes, was done by the hotel to themselves by their man-child response to the situation.

 

 

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

Apparently foriegn embassies have reported that this is not uncommon.
They will now probably have to give their citizens some travel warnings about Thailand, it's going to hurt tourism.

Given what was at stake, i'm suprised the TAT didn't flex their muscles and allowed the man-child hotel manager to even propose a settlement on those terms.
 

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

21 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

I seem to recall a couple of days ago you posted you expected him to receive a massive payout from the Hotel what happen

I underestimated the stupidity of the hotel.

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

This crazy story is starting to break internationally.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-09/us-man-wesley-barnes-avoid-jail-thailand-over-bad-resort-review/12748666

It's completely backfired on the hotel. A settlement consisting of grovelling apologies ? Who are the children making these terrible business decisions ? Heads should roll.

 

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

3 minutes ago, DualSportBiker said:

I don't believe anyone who says that they would not respond to a false accusation that damages their income.

I get your point but the story dramatically changed trajectory once news went international.  It's exposed the ugly underbelly of Thailands draconian, sledgehammer-to-swat-a-fly defemation laws.

The interesting part is the settlement details.
The hotel had a chance here minimise damage to themselves and Thailands tourism industry by coming to a smooth, mature settlement.
 

Instead it has demanded a set of pathetic, grovelling apologies. The hotel comes accross as immature, a bully, and vindictive. In the bigger scheme of things, it's a terrible business decision, a self-inflicted 1 star review.

 

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

It's pointless bickering about who is right and wrong. It's a "he said, she said" story, and the customer, with threats of jailtime over him, has been unable to fully defend or explain his position.

But we can look at the outcomes, and it's a lose-lose-lose scenario. The biggest losers are the hotel (the hotel shot themselves) and Thailands tourism industry (collateral damage via the stupidity of the hotel).

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

6 minutes ago, DualSportBiker said:

The only breathtaking stupidity is from people who think accusing a person or a business of criminal and immoral activity is a subjective review of a service or good.

You are being over dramatic.

A 1 star review from a disgruntled customer is not even in the same ballpark of stupidity as a kamikaze business decision.

 

[American expat avoids jail for negative review - reaches settlement with Koh Chang hotel]

Amazing Thailand, enjoy your stay or go to jail.

 

The hotel owner/management, in their breathtaking stupidity, has written, by itself, on the international stage, the worst 1 star review possible.

It's like using a shotgun to kill a mosquito biting your face.

 

[Perfectly legal but can't return: Retiree expat voices frustrations to Thaivisa]

This case is not unique to Thailand.

International and domestic border control authorities around the world just can't keep up with the influx of desparate, urgent and often legitimate entry requests. Priority goes to those with urgent medical needs. Otherwise join the queue.

 

 

[There's no fixing stupid! Woman wore earphones in the shower then DRIED them in the microwave!]

In emergencies, microwave ovens can be used to dry some things, eg some types of clothes.
It requires lowest settings for short durations (10 seconds), then take it out and fan it, then repeat until almost dry.

 

Anyhow I don't think she did this entirely out of stupidity, although I admit it makes a good headline.

Probably she knew they were beyond repair and nuked them out of frustration. I've gotten expensive electronics wet before and I know the feeling.

[Group to demand govt treat all disabled people equally]

It's not clear if they have a 2 tiered disability payment system, or there are 800,000 who claim disability don't meet the threshold.

 

[Thai hotel seeks deal with guest facing jail over bad reviews]

1 hour ago, vinny41 said:

In your dreams, they know when he gets drunk he will shoot his mouth off like when he said he was a federal agent when drunk in his words  he says stupid stuff when he is drunk

He will have to sign a non-disparagment agreement as part of the settlement.

Apart from protection against future potential lawsuits, the main benefit would be to protect them if investigative journalists from eg, 60 Minutes, approach him and invite him (and pay him thousands) to share his side of the story as part of some hypothetical investigation into the use and abuse of Thailands defamation laws.

If he is drunk, back home, and knows a bit about on-line anonymity, it won't matter, I doubt the hotel will care or can do anything anyhow, he will just appear to be another typical ranting expat.

[Thai hotel seeks deal with guest facing jail over bad reviews]

6 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

You reckon?

It has to be private because they don't want to give the impression they are rewarding 1 star reviews, or they have made a mistake. They have already done enough damage to themselves.

My guess is that, as this story continues to spread internationally, and during negotiations, the 1 star reviewer has called their bluff, and the hotel (and thailands tourism industry), are unwilling to accept further negative press headlines eg "Amazing Thailand, enjoy your stay or get jail time".

There is no doubt he gets a private payment as part of settlement, the only question is how much.

[Thai hotel seeks deal with guest facing jail over bad reviews]

34 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Lets see if the American is a man or a mouse, tell them you want your job back and your work permit 

He may not get those, but will probably get a nice compensation payment (private, obviously). That is the only reasonable explaination for the slow settlement, taking into account as each day passes, more bad international press against the hotel spreads.



 

[Thai hotel seeks deal with guest facing jail over bad reviews]

 

55 minutes ago, misterjames said:

Some kind of Stockholm syndrome mixed with denial? about the injustices put upon their expat community? it must be the stupid farrangs fault right? it couldn't be that it might happen to them one day surely? it must be that every other farrang is a piece of <deleted> and deserves no legal rights. Or is it just a coping mechanism to try to convince themselves everything is fine? and that they made the right choice and it will never be them in this kind of situation.

They have probably learned early on that rocking the boat is a useful safety and survival strategy as an expat (smart idea).

Unfortunately though (not unlike the Stockholm victim as you have noted), in some expats, this strategy hasn't been tempered, and appears to be fully unconsciously internalised. Outwardly they may relish taking on roles as "boat stabalising policemen". 

That's the repression side of things, which leads into the second main issue, that of projection (in this case, projecting onto the "vindictive" American 1 star reviewer).

[Poll shows majority of people disagree with pro-democracy protesters' methods]

Based on the other polls released by Super Poll Research, I don't necessarily think they are pushing an agenda.

It's just what news has become these days.... eg "what is the most dramatic polling question can we make up this time, that will lead to more clicks and revenue for our publisher ?" Actually, sounds like a fun job.

[Thai hotel seeks deal with guest facing jail over bad reviews]

Some expats seem to assume by default that if a foriegner has been arrested by the police then he must have been guilty, case closed.

Perhaps this is a useful default position to take when living as an expat in the community - a type of adaptive evolutionary trait, similar to how horses teeth might change to adapt over time to more easily digest a different type of diet in order to survive.