Thai hotel seeks deal with guest facing jail over bad reviews

[snoop1130]

Thai hotel seeks deal with guest facing jail over bad reviews

By Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat

 

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai island hotel will go into mediation with an American guest who faces up to five years in jail after it filed a criminal complaint against him over negative online reviews, both parties said on Thursday.

 

The case involving the Sea View Koh Chang hotel and American teacher Wesley Barnes has drawn new scrutiny to Thailand's criminal defamation and computer crimes laws, which rights activists say are far too harsh.

 

The Sea View Koh Chang said in an e-mail that mediation had been set for Oct. 8 with Barnes, who works in Thailand.

 

"It seems like the hotel is ready to settle," Barnes said in a message to Reuters. "I will meet them next week to hopefully end this case once and for all. It would be wonderful to have this behind us."

 

Police said Sea View Koh Chang had filed a complaint in August after Barnes posted what the hotel described as "false and defamatory reviews" on TripAdvisor and Google after a row over a 500 baht ($16) corkage fee.

 

The hotel said it had reported the reviews to Tripadvisor and that some of them were deleted by the site administrator.

 

Barnes was detained on Sept. 12 and released two days later after posting bail, the island's police said.

 

Under Thailand's criminal defamation and computer crimes acts, he could be fined up to 100,000 baht ($3,200) as well as facing jail time.

 

Barnes has defended reviews he had posted, saying the service had been bad and the restaurant manager was aggressive. He said Tripadvisor did not publish some of his comments.

 

Tripadvisor has temporarily suspended submissions of reviews of the hotel.

 

The site said it was investigating the incident with the U.S. Embassy in Thailand.

 

"Tripadvisor is opposed to the idea that a traveller can be prosecuted for expressing opinions," it said in an e-mail to Reuters.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-01

 

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[YetAnother]

6 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

has drawn new scrutiny to Thailand's criminal defamation and computer crimes laws, which rights activists say are far too harsh.

whole thing is a tempest in a teapot; thailand is what it is, including a sea of foolish, irrational laws; they need settle this with a couple wais; damage already done to thai tourism and that hotel;

he gets jailed then even worse

[mr mr]

are any of these people adults ? 

 

to all involved. please let go of your egos. offer the man a free stay. provide a service worth reviewing and everyone is happy. 

 

i am 100 % sure mr barnes is totally without any fault..... right mr barnes ? 

[misterjames]

Seems like the hotel owner is one of those "I know the cops" types that tried to silence the man for leaving a review but now that the news has spread to the world newspapers he realises he could be about to lose face and business I mean who wants to stay somewhere where you can't leave your honest opinion on tripadvisor for fear of going to jail?

[scubascuba3]

Will be interesting how much they want, for PR they should agree a low amount and give to a charity. I doubt we'll find out unless it is a PR amount

[sammieuk1]

Looks like the hotel has opened a can of worms and can't get the lid back on with these asylum laws ????

[seajae]

its in aussie papers and the hotel doesnt look good, they really need to save face now, appologies all round is the best bet for them

 

[ThailandRyan]

After the meeting I see two possible outcomes:

 

If it is a Thai style of an apology that is wanted, then he will be giving them a basket of goodies, prostrating himself on the floor in front of the owner, and making a profuse apology for ruining there reputation. 

 

However, in the real world, the hotel should be the one apologizing to him for having him arrested and ensuring he is comped the next time he decides to visit, and he should be apologetic for being such a careless tool and insulting the hotel without ever truly meeting with the upper management to discuss his stay.  

 

If the 1st version I listed plays out then there will be more bad media worldwide, while inside Thailand Face would have been saved. 

 

If the second version plays out, then it is a win win for the Hotel as people/tourists will see that the hotel put the other foot forward, bent a knee and is trying to keep the customer, while the customer is also meeting them in the middle and apologizing for his boorish behavior.  

 

Just my view as a former business owner, not sarcasm.

[Shuya]

I hope the guy sues them for a few millions. Legal costs should be payed by tripadvisor and google, it's their business modell who is at stake.

[Dumbastheycome]

My prediction of outcome will be that the offender in question will withdraw his and other  solicited  protracted vendetta style comments or agree to have them removed in return for the  Hotel  owner withdrawing  charges as a result.

 

[Justgrazing]

I'd accept a month long freebie in the place .. 

and tell em' not to thank me for for displaying such mercy .. 

Edited October 1, 2020 by Justgrazing
Sp

[FarFlungFalang]

46 minutes ago, misterjames said:

Seems like the hotel owner is one of those "I know the cops" types that tried to silence the man for leaving a review but now that the news has spread to the world newspapers he realises he could be about to lose face and business I mean who wants to stay somewhere where you can't leave your honest opinion on tripadvisor for fear of going to jail?

I think the owner has had a serious talking to by those way above his pay grade about how the customer is alway right.

[mark131v]

I wonder how high up this came from, I reckon pressure has been applied onto the hotel to try and make this go away, problem is damage has been done and the world has now become privy to Thailand's little man control laws!!

 

Reckon they deserve whatever they get, any hotel that get's a guest jailed for posting 4 negative review's of which the main one they are whining about was never published don't deserve to stay in the hospitality business, complete knobs all around...

[FarFlungFalang]

53 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Will be interesting how much they want, for PR they should agree a low amount and give to a charity. I doubt we'll find out unless it is a PR amount

I would have thought it would be the hotel making an offer of payment as it's they who had him thrown in gaol for posting a review on a hotel review site.

[fishtank]

20 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

I'd accept a month long freebie in the place .. 

and tell em' not to thank me for for displaying such mercy .. 

Why would he want to stay in that dump?

Even if it was free.

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, mr mr said:

are any of these people adults ? 

 

to all involved. please let go of your egos. offer the man a free stay. provide a service worth reviewing and everyone is happy. 

 

i am 100 % sure mr barnes is totally without any fault..... right mr barnes ? 

The same Mr Barnes who went to gaol in the US for 5 years for shooting at people in public.

Some of his posts were outright lies. He refused to talk to the hotel - until he was arrested.

Mr innocent? Not.

[Mayhem11]

20 minutes ago, mark131v said:

I wonder how high up this came from, I reckon pressure has been applied onto the hotel to try and make this go away, problem is damage has been done and the world has now become privy to Thailand's little man control laws!!

 

Reckon they deserve whatever they get, any hotel that get's a guest jailed for posting 4 negative review's of which the main one they are whining about was never published don't deserve to stay in the hospitality business, complete knobs all around...

Hear hear. 

[Flying Saucage]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thai hotel seeks deal with guest facing jail over bad reviews

Only thanks to Richard Barrow and this not to be named Andrew, who made this case public around the world. It's the public pressure now which make the owner of the hotel (again, it's a Thai guy, the Czech guy is only an employee) willing to negociate.

 

Without that, the American guy would face years of jail and deportation, based on a facsist law created by the Thai elite to curb freedom of speech and to suppress telling the truth about shady businesses. I don't say this hotel is shady, and i don't defend this American. But I critize this facsist law and the Thais who use it.

 

Good job, Richard and Andrew! 

Edited October 1, 2020 by Flying Saucage

[vinny41]

49 minutes ago, mark131v said:

I wonder how high up this came from, I reckon pressure has been applied onto the hotel to try and make this go away, problem is damage has been done and the world has now become privy to Thailand's little man control laws!!

 

Reckon they deserve whatever they get, any hotel that get's a guest jailed for posting 4 negative review's of which the main one they are whining about was never published don't deserve to stay in the hospitality business, complete knobs all around...

According to both the hotel and Tripadvisor the main one was published and it was online for 5 days before it was removed 

Since the review was against TripAdvisor’s review guidelines, it was removed after a week of being displayed.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VZCwyULmkLpZ7y5nT5wsaX0mn8waPd4H/view

 

The BBC reported two days ago that Mr Barnes was quoted as saying "He still hopes to resolve the case with the hotel directly."

[darksidedog]

You have to wonder how much global coverage of this which is absolutely crucifying Thailand impacts the issue. I would be stunned if the hotel has not been quietly told to sort this out, save face and come to a happy arrangement.

They have shot themselves and the country in the foot. I mean after all, who out of any of us would now go to this place after they did what they did, and how many first time travelers would not want to set foot in a country where you could be jailed for simply commenting about poor service?

I don't even know why the hotel moaned. <deleted> service and poor attitude are after all, in many places the norm.

[mark131v]

1 minute ago, vinny41 said:

According to both the hotel and Tripadvisor the main one was published and it was online for 5 days before it was removed 

Since the review was against TripAdvisor’s review guidelines, it was removed after a week of being displayed.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VZCwyULmkLpZ7y5nT5wsaX0mn8waPd4H/view

 

The BBC reported two days ago that Mr Barnes was quoted as saying "He still hopes to resolve the case with the hotel directly."

And according to the Yank it wasn't!

 

What do we know to be fact, a person put four negative reviews on a website, thin skinned person throws a hissy fit and gets guest jailed under a draconian control law

 

Makes headlines around the world and shines a light on stuff Thailand would rather keep out of the spotlight

 

Thai hotel realises they have opened a can of worms and cannot get the lid back on and the loss of face becomes epic

 

Hotel then tries to make it go away by trying to appear magnanimous by offering mediation to the guest they had jailed

 

Conclusion: The whole lot are idiots but a hotel catering to international customers has shown they have no idea how to deal with any loss of face, their overreaction has resulted in news all over the world that reflects very poorly on Thailand in general and the hotel in particular!!

 

Epic Thai foot in mouth... 

 

 

[JeffersLos]

Has a Koh Chang taxi or songteow driver found 3 million baht left on the backseat and returned it to its owner yet? 

[mark131v]

1 minute ago, JeffersLos said:

Has a Koh Chang taxi or songteow driver found 3 million baht left on the backseat and returned it to its owner yet? 

That will be tomorrow's headline!!!

[vinny41]

5 minutes ago, mark131v said:

And according to the Yank it wasn't!

 

What do we know to be fact, a person put four negative reviews on a website, thin skinned person throws a hissy fit and gets guest jailed under a draconian control law

 

Makes headlines around the world and shines a light on stuff Thailand would rather keep out of the spotlight

 

Thai hotel realises they have opened a can of worms and cannot get the lid back on and the loss of face becomes epic

 

Hotel then tries to make it go away by trying to appear magnanimous by offering mediation to the guest they had jailed

 

Conclusion: The whole lot are idiots but a hotel catering to international customers has shown they have no idea how to deal with any loss of face, their overreaction has resulted in news all over the world that reflects very poorly on Thailand in general and the hotel in particular!!

 

Epic Thai foot in mouth... 

 

 

As the hotel explained

As for the legal process after the filing of police charges, the police informed us that the guest
would be requested to present himself at the police station to negotiate a settlement twice. If
The guest does not show up or fail to report to the authorities, then it’s up to the discretion of
the police on how to proceed. We are not involved in the process of the law and as such have
no say as to when and where the guest would be arrested

as for the days in jail that was as a result of being unable to raise funds to post bail

 

As far as I know if someone breaks into your property and you call the police when that person is arrested the police don't give you the option as to what happens to that person next

That is down to the police and law courts

[Rookiescot]

What we got here is over reaction.

The guys staying there over reacted.

The manager over reacted.

The police over reacted.

The courts have over reacted.

 

So there is only one thing that will fix this.

 

There needs to be a dance off.

 

Whoever commands the dancefloor this Saturday night is the winner.

 

This is one of these dumb, pointless, stupid and frankly counter productive stories about Thailand that really ticks me off. WHO cares who was right and who was wrong. All of them need to stop being such drama queens.

[mark131v]

10 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

As the hotel explained

As for the legal process after the filing of police charges, the police informed us that the guest
would be requested to present himself at the police station to negotiate a settlement twice. If
The guest does not show up or fail to report to the authorities, then it’s up to the discretion of
the police on how to proceed. We are not involved in the process of the law and as such have
no say as to when and where the guest would be arrested

as for the days in jail that was as a result of being unable to raise funds to post bail

 

As far as I know if someone breaks into your property and you call the police when that person is arrested the police don't give you the option as to what happens to that person next

That is down to the police and law courts

Nonsense, it's all about face, pure and simple!!

 

The inability to accept that they could not intimidate the Yank meant a hissy fit of massive proportions was thrown along with the dummy being spat, zero forethought was used now they must accept the consequences

 

Cannot believe anybody is so naïve as to not be able to see this!

 

There are no winners in this but trying to defend the hotels action speaks volumes...

 

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by mark131v

[impulse]

8 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

This is one of these dumb, pointless, stupid and frankly counter productive stories about Thailand that really ticks me off. WHO cares who was right and who was wrong. All of them need to stop being such drama queens.

 

If only it were that simple.  The Elite are patting each other on the back that they've put the word out yet again that you can't get between us and our revenue, and get away with it. 

 

They don't give a rat what the world thinks.  As long as their underlings fall in line.

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by impulse

[vinny41]

6 minutes ago, mark131v said:

Nonsense, it's all about face, pure and simple!!

 

The inability to accept that they could not intimidate the Yank meant a hissy fit of massive proportions was thrown along with the dummy being spat, zero forethought was used now they must accept the consequences

 

Cannot believe anybody is so naïve as to not be able to see this!

 

There are no winners in this but trying to defend the hotels action speaks volumes...

 

and has was stated earlier the fact the report was timed for a Friday means he was not able to post bail until Monday 

intimidate the yank have you read the timeline its seems the hotel has the patience of a saint although I do know that tripadvisor takes some time to investigate postings

Before filing a complaint with the authorities, we attempted to contact the guest multiple times
via emails, TripAdvisor and phone calls in order to settle this dispute amicably. None of our
communications were successful, with the guest only responding to our messages after his
arrest.

29 Jun First TripAdvisor Review

3 July Second TripAdvisor Review

21 July Email (He later replied 11 Sep after he got arrested)

Roughly between 21-9 Aug First Google Review

A week after the first G- review Second Google Review

9 Aug TripAdvisor message sent (He later replied 11 Sep after

he got arrested)

3 Sep Phone call (He picked up but refused to discuss the

matter.

So 18 days elaped between 2nd Tripadvisor review and 1st email which was ignored until 11th September

It does seem that he had a serious beef with the restaurant manager even to the point of mentioning his nationality

 

 

 

 

[orchis]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

The same Mr Barnes who went to gaol in the US for 5 years for shooting at people in public.

Do you have a link for that?

[mark131v]

27 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

As the hotel explained

As for the legal process after the filing of police charges, the police informed us that the guest
would be requested to present himself at the police station to negotiate a settlement twice. If
The guest does not show up or fail to report to the authorities, then it’s up to the discretion of
the police on how to proceed. We are not involved in the process of the law and as such have
no say as to when and where the guest would be arrested

as for the days in jail that was as a result of being unable to raise funds to post bail

You do realise we are talking about 'thai police' not real police, they are without doubt the biggest gang in town and the best money can buy!!

 

Lets get it in context in the Blue corner we have a gobby yank tourist and in the Red corner we have an entitled Hi So hotel owner who is a big man on a small island

 

You wanna bet that the Red corner has all the power and is used to getting whatever he wants with lots of waiing and prostrating, if he want's the Yank nicked at a specific time in order to get maximum revenge he is well able to, again if you believe otherwise I have a bridge for sale...