American expat charged with defamation after leaving multiple negative reviews online

[Don Mega]

5 minutes ago, Susco said:

Do you know which room he had, as they have rooms as high as 7600 Baht per night, booked online

 

Maybe he didn't want to go for the cheapest, unlike you?

Nice, so the junior suite is Bt.2880 per night and the Deluxe Family room is Bt.4050 per night.

Thanks for proving my point.

 

I cheaped out on the Grand Deluxe Sea View room at Bt.2380 per night.

 

[Older and Wiser]

16 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

the article alluded to comments concerning health measures/covid. IMO this is the main impetus for the pursuit of charges, not the few dollars involved..  

Seems he said you should avoid the place like COVID-19. Seems the manager didn't understand the meaning.

[Elayaam]

5 hours ago, DLock said:

 

No they are not. Interesting first post...is there something?

Sort reviews by most recent 

[ChrisY1]

One person complains about a negative report on their property, the Thai cops pounce and press charges! 

The stupidity of Thailand that astounds!

[Tchooptip]

16 minutes ago, John Drake said:

He didn't say it "is" slavery. He said "The foreigners treat the staff like slaves." That is a simile, in the same manner that "my love is like a red, red rose." My love is not actually a rose. It is a figure of speech, a comparison. Similarly read what the earlier term, "modern day slavery" means. The US State Department says: "Forced labor, sometimes also referred to as labor trafficking, encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining—involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion, abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work."  https://www.state.gov/what-is-modern-slavery/ . I certainly cannot claim that is the case in this instance. I have no knowledge about the resort whatsoever and would never make a judgment on the rightness or wrongness of their complaint. 

   https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/1309817382559391745/photo/1

That is not an honest revue IMO. This man wrote in plain English "PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT MODERN DAY SLAVERY" which did not have anything to do with the quality of the service, moreover after discussion he had not had to pay the 500 Bahts requested at the beginning to have brought his own bottle of Gin. I say that this guy is a bad guy who loves trouble and is in bad faith

Edited September 27, 2020 by Tchooptip

[camble]

I've stayed at the Sea View before and I don't think I'll stay there again. 

[jomtienisgood]

17 hours ago, 4evermaat said:

appx $17 USD .  It is to discourage people from bringing in outside drinks to their restaurant.   Of course you could probably consume it in the hotel room (or anywhere outside of that particular restaurant) without any problems.

 

Just go to a different restaurant if it really bothers you.

Who brings his own food to a restaurant????? Who brings girls to a gogo bar????

[hotchilli]

17 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Mr Barnes now faces up to 2 years in jail and/or a fine of up to 200,000 baht.

Welcome to Thailand, enjoy your 14 days in quarantine, spend lots of money and don't post any bad reviews.

[tonysilly]

I'm not saying nothing 555 

 

[sscc]

16 hours ago, EricTh said:

I doubt the resort is bad as the recent comments said, I might go there for a holiday if the rate is good.

 

The manager's response seems like he's a matured guy.

 

Has anybody here been there before?

 

 

 

Yes, I have stayed in this hotel, Sea View Resort in Koh Chang for four nights. 

This very big resort occupies massive land on a hill,  restaurant and morning breakfast are served top floor of a building. 

Going to beach-side a swimming pool ( they have two pools ) and beach will require hill climbing/descending cable car. 

 

Staff service was OK during my stay.   Breakfast and dinner were fine as well.   

But location of the resort is not that  convenience. 

 

[John Drake]

34 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

And you can't fire guns in bars in Kansas.

Shocking that this guy fled the US and got a job teaching kids. He'll never work again in Thailand.

https://www.kmbc.com/article/kc-man-charged-with-firing-shots-outside-waldo-bar-2nd-business/13054510?fbclid=IwAR2bT1klWHEV4yDRyb8eACRoMBElI_p3NShVduxVz13nH28WqoV2j02xk4o#

He wasn't put in jail for acting like Billy the Kid. They threw him in the slammer for posting a negative hotel review to a website.

[jerolamo]

17 hours ago, Damual Travesty said:

Well, this is going to really help kick off the rapid return of tourists to Thailand.

because of one story time ?

So if i find one criminal in a country, all the country people are criminals ?

This is your way to think the world ? So everybody is criminal then ? With this kind of very very low and dirty practice you will become quickly xenophobic.

Please, test your IQ and stop to speak.

[Don Mega]

5 minutes ago, jomtienisgood said:

Who brings his own food to a restaurant????? Who brings girls to a gogo bar????

I take my missus out to bars and gogo's so she can select the lady that will be coming home with us for the night.

[Banana7]

17 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

For goodness sake. Taking outside alcohol into a restaurant anywhere in the world is a no no unless you ask for permission.

That is not true at all! Go to the luxurious new Grande Center Point hotel in Pattaya - absolutely zero corkage fee in their roof top restaurant.

[polpott]

1 minute ago, John Drake said:

He wasn't put in jail for acting like Billy the Kid. They threw him in the slammer for posting a negative hotel review to a website.

The latter being the more serious in Thailand.

[jomtienisgood]

3 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

I take my missus out to bars and gogo's so she can select the lady that will be coming home with us for the night.

good attitude. 55555555555 But I was more referring to the restaurant & food. 55555555

[peterdarby]

17 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Little bit advice to any business in any sector: don’t have your customers imprisoned. It isn’t a good look. 
 

People leave bad reviews. This is life. Explain why the review is wrong or at least try to settle it with the guest. This has now just made it much worse for the hotel. 
 

And before people say it’s the law or the police did it, etc, once you go to the police to file charges for someone writing bad reviews, you can safely assume they’ll be arrested if the case is accepted. That’s how filing complaints with the police works. 

Did you read the hotel's response? On balance it looks like the hotel is in the right, and for me this does not leave a bad impression of the hotel at all. I have to deal with customer service every day. Some complaints are genuine and fair, and have to be dealt with fairly. They are good because they help you improve the service. Others are just malicious, sometimes with the intention of cheating you, and some people seem to delight in doing this. 

The hotel tried to contact the customer to deal with the issue responsibly, but he was having none of it, presumably feeling safe behind his keyboard. Whether you agree with the defamation laws in this country or not, those are the laws.

Edited September 27, 2020 by peterdarby
typo

[CorpusChristie]

23 minutes ago, tomauasia said:

He has every right to his opinion. I don't even bother myself. But l wouldn't invest 5 baht there. This law needs to abolished with a civilian gov. It's used for corrupt bullying. This is why good family's won't go to Thailand. They fear and my brother in law is one. A quick Google sends fear into some.

He wasnt giving his opinion,. he was making things up, lying , writing untruths , he waged a one man war on a business, all because they wouldnt let him bring 7/11 beers in .

  People should not be allowed to attack businesses, just because they feel upset about having to adhere to the rules of the establishment 

[CorpusChristie]

12 minutes ago, John Drake said:

He wasn't put in jail for acting like Billy the Kid. They threw him in the slammer for posting a negative hotel review to a website.

No, he went on the rampage posting many false reviews to attack a business 

[Susco]

27 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

Nice, so the junior suite is Bt.2880 per night and the Deluxe Family room is Bt.4050 per night.

Thanks for proving my point.

 

I cheaped out on the Grand Deluxe Sea View room at Bt.2380 per night.

 

I didn't proof any of your usual troll points.

 

Do you know which room the American booked?

[peterdarby]

9 minutes ago, Banana7 said:

That is not true at all! Go to the luxurious new Grande Center Point hotel in Pattaya - absolutely zero corkage fee in their roof top restaurant.

There are some places that do that, but the vast majority of hotel restaurants do not allow food or drink to be brought in from outside. Corkage is a standard treatment and I, for one, would always ask if it is OK to bring in a bottle from outside before even sitting down. If I did not like the answer, I would go to a different restaurant, not sit there and argue about it and give negative reviews.

[Banana7]

Just don't go to the Sea View Resort in Koh Chang. You don't need the threat of being sued if you post a review that the resort doesn't like.

 

It sounds like the management is desperate for more profits because of the lack of tourists. A 500b corkage fee is just pure profit for an establishment. There are luxury hotels in Thailand that have no corkage fees. People bring their own booze because the resort doesn't have an adequate selection nor reasonable prices.

 

There are lots of other resorts more tourist friendly.

 

In fact, avoid Koh Chang altogether! This is not a singular issue. I have heard that other hotels and resorts on Koh Chang, if a customer complains, they threaten to sue, if the customer doesn't leave a good review.

 

 

[jerolamo]

14 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

One person complains about a negative report on their property, the Thai cops pounce and press charges! 

The stupidity of Thailand that astounds!

well, i don't see this as you said.

_First, it is not only one bad review posted, but many.

 

_Second, if the reputation of the resort/hotel is down because of aggressive bad reviews of one guy, think about many people can loose their job.

 

_Third, ok, the manager or the owner is not happy, he is thinking that it is excessive and their is point he is thinking to be xenophobic, he then push the "trail" button, the police does his job, the justice will do the same, it is not sure the customer will be condemn, maybe the owner will be ? If it is true that this one use his staff as slave, then i hope this one will have problem, the justice, if she does the job, will have a look on both side.

 

_I think then that it is important at this point that a judge look at the problem closer and hope the justice will act. I consider when i read his post that there is no xenophobic content but talk about a "modern slavery" is a huge miss-respectful attack, an insult, and because i don't like dictators so i would also attack to trail because of that. Police an justice is not a weapon to protect dictators, but to protect laws of the country. People are very free to post negative comment and it should be appreciate as something to help team to fix problem also, but post an insult is something it can not happen for free, freedom is not about to insult people.

The guy first is not happy because he was not able to bring back alcohol from outside. Well... if the law of the owner is like that, then don't do it. Simple as it is, if the owner want to charge him for that, he accept or he don't do it. If he doesn't want to paid the charge, he should leave the hotel/resort the same day. Easy !

I don't discuss about it is good or not to let people bring their own food and drink, i don't care because it should depend of each manager/owner to find his way to practice and see what is the best for them. I said that in your place, you are the boss as long as you respect the country law. That's it all over the world and i think it is nice.

 

Now hope the justice will go ahead and do a good job to search both side what is true or wrong and if there is an insult or if it is a signal about something very bad each side or one side.

[marinediscoking]

The hotel owner should be very concerned.  This is on google news main page now, which is not just the US but world wide. Trip advisor has gone to the extreme measure of putting a red notice at the top of its listing. Google Hotel reviews are more popular now and people are posting with outrage about the arrest.

 

The owner may be a big fish in his local waters but now he will have to answer to the TAT or other officials in Bangkok who don't want negative stories about Thailand, especially now.  I'm sure his phone is already blowing up. 

 

From my experience there are always 3 sides to every story. Also from my years here I have seen this arrest tactic used many times; arrest the person on Friday so by the time of processing, the court is closed already, so no bail until Monday. 

[rkidlad]

8 minutes ago, peterdarby said:

Did you read the hotel's response? On balance it looks like the hotel is in the right, and for me this does not leave a bad impression of the hotel at all. I have to deal with customer service every day. Some complaints are genuine and fair, and have to be dealt with fairly. They are good because they help you improve the service. Others are just malicious, sometimes with the intention of cheating you, and some people seem to delight in doing this. 

The hotel tried to contact the customer to deal with the issue responsibly, but he was having none of it, presumably feeling safe behind his keyboard. Whether you agree with the defamation laws in this country or not, those are the laws.

So sue him thorough a civil court. Prove he’s been lying and take his money. If you start locking tourists up for bad reviews, you’re going to be in a world of pain when it becomes public. People don’t like that and will avoid. 
 

They are the laws indeed. So let’s all show these laws the greatest of respect by informing potential tourists of them. 

[pentagara]

26 minutes ago, Dustdevil said:

The man may have been naïve about Thailand's fascist defamation laws. In the U.S. it's difficult to win a libel case, much more so than in Europe, let alone Asia, thanks to the First Amendment. It protects ordinary citizens from the wrath of the powerful. That's why Trump has spent a career threatening defamation suits but hasn't brought one yet. The plaintiff has to PROVE that the defendant outright lied and that damaging loss of reputation has in fact occurred. Maybe the arrogant Brits and Commonwealth people here wisecracking about "self-entitled Yanks"  think it's part of your empire and that two years in prison for defamation without the aforementioned evidence is just fine. But criminal penalties for tripadvisor posts?

 

1. "In the US": Thailand and many other countries are not in the US. I am aware of the concept of US exceptionalism and that Americans think their rules are best, but that's just an example for the term 'arrogance'. All in all, the US society including its legal system has many positive sides, but also negative ones, just like in any country.

 

2. "That's why Trump": Trump obviously has learned that in the US you can lie all day and don't risk to bear the consequences that adults in other societies would face. Luckily, the first amendment protects the US president "from the wrath of the powerful". Good for him and his cronies. Bad for everyone else.

 

3. If you're a guest in another country (paying or not), you should behave accordingly. This is admittedly my value and not necessarily yours, but if you don't like the rules of another society, go somewhere else. You have no say in that society, unless you give yourself an entitlement that you don't have (self-entitled) or unless you are awarded citizenship. I can't go to the US and vote Trump out of his office either, I'm not a US citizen. I'm actually not even sure I'd be allowed to state my opinion in the US, since that probably would be 'interference', something the US btw is constantly doing abroad. (Besides, even Trump has his pros: At least he's not fond of killing people abroad, in contrast to many of his predecessors including Obama).

 

4. "Many of the arrogant Brits and Commonwealth people here wise-cracking about self-entitled Yanks": I'm neither British nor Commonwealth (nor Thai for that matter), but they seem to have a point. I'm not fully ready to side with someone spreading lies about "slaves" (a bit US centric, no?) and Covid on rating platforms, just because he couldn't drink his 7-11 liquor on the public hotel premises (not that he would have been able to do so in the US). With this he hurts the hotel owner, the employees and also the reputation of the country as a whole, since most people will just read a headline like "American threatened with prison in Thailand for a bad tripadvisor review". Anyway, it would be very surprising if he ends up in prison, but it would be fair if he gets to feel some of the pain he inflicts.

[John Drake]

2 minutes ago, marinediscoking said:

The hotel owner should be very concerned.  This is on google news main page now, which is not just the US but world wide. Trip advisor has gone to the extreme measure of putting a red notice at the top of its listing. Google Hotel reviews are more popular now and people are posting with outrage about the arrest.

 

The owner may be a big fish in his local waters but now he will have to answer to the TAT or other officials in Bangkok who don't want negative stories about Thailand, especially now.  I'm sure his phone is already blowing up. 

 

From my experience there are always 3 sides to every story. Also from my years here I have seen this arrest tactic used many times; arrest the person on Friday so by the time of processing, the court is closed already, so no bail until Monday. 

Yes, Google News links it to this story in The Telegraph. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/26/american-faces-two-years-prison-posting-unflattering-tripadvisor/

[khunpa]

I am worried now. I just gave a girl 1 star on smooci ????

[CorpusChristie]

6 minutes ago, marinediscoking said:

The hotel owner should be very concerned.  This is on google news main page now, which is not just the US but world wide. Trip advisor has gone to the extreme measure of putting a red notice at the top of its listing. Google Hotel reviews are more popular now and people are posting with outrage about the arrest.

 

The owner may be a big fish in his local waters but now he will have to answer to the TAT or other officials in Bangkok who don't want negative stories about Thailand, especially now.  I'm sure his phone is already blowing up. 

 

From my experience there are always 3 sides to every story. Also from my years here I have seen this arrest tactic used many times; arrest the person on Friday so by the time of processing, the court is closed already, so no bail until Monday. 

Its appalling the way Americans treat other people , they think they are the master race and everyone else should be subordinate to then 

[jomtienisgood]

4 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Yes, Google News links it to this story in The Telegraph. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/26/american-faces-two-years-prison-posting-unflattering-tripadvisor/

Google is US property, therefor US citizens are the biggest and the best. I feel no sympathy for that guy.... His advantage being jailed, he doesn't need to apply for a Visa Extension. 555555555