Tripadvisor slaps warning on Thai hotel that sued expat over bad review

[rooster59]

Tripadvisor slaps warning on Thai hotel that sued expat over bad review

By THE NATION

 

 

TripAdvisor has slapped a warning on a Thai hotel whose legal action over a review posted by an American expat landed him in jail.

 

In July, US citizen Wesley Barnes accused the Sea View hotel and spa on Koh Chang in Trat province of “modern slavery”. He also warned Tripadvisor users to “avoid this place as if it was the coronavirus”.

 

The negative review stemmed from Barnes’ stay at the hotel on June 27, when he got into an argument with its foreign restaurant manager over a Bt500 corkage fee.

 

The hotel sued for defamation and Barnes spent two days in jail.

 

Thailand’s tough criminal defamation law carries punishment of up to two years in prison and a Bt200,000 fine.

 

The dispute was finally resolved in October when the Sea View agreed to drop the charge in exchange for an apology from Barnes.

 

 

However, TripAdvisor has now hit back at the hotel.

 

Users who click on its listing will find the following warning:

 

“This hotel or individuals associated with this hotel filed criminal charges against a Tripadvisor user in relation to the traveler writing and posting online reviews. The reviewer spent time in jail as a result. Tripadvisor serves its users best when travelers are free to share their opinions and experiences on our platform – both positive and negative. The hotel may have been exercising its legal rights under local law, however, it is our role to inform you so you may take this into consideration when researching your travel plans.”

 

 

The Sea View told AFP it was “deeply disappointed” with the move, which would “create further confusion and reinitiate a closed case”.

 

Human Rights Watch’s Asia deputy director, Phil Robertson, said Thailand’s defamation laws were a “time-tested tool” to suppress critical opinions, and some businesses were willing to “sue at the drop of a hat”.

 

Barnes, an English teacher, has since left the country.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30397919?utm_source=category&utm_medium=internal_referral

 

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[Bobobirdiebuddy]

From what I have read, it was the police who pushed this - the hotel was trying to deal with the disgruntled guest.  And one got the feeling the disgruntled guest was being difficult to deal with.  It seemed the hotel was being unfairly targeted by this lad.  

[ezzra]

Really a storm in a tea cup over inflated corkage charge, this thing has blown out of proportion and it shouldn't have, misguided pride and stupidity have no bounds sometimes not knowing when to stop...

[RotBenz8888]

41 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Thailand’s defamation laws

A great tool for the elite, but a brake block for Thailand's developmemt

[Don Chance]

I don't understand, did this person use his real name as user name when he left the review? Did TA provide the IP address? Does the Thai government record every internet activity in Thailand like the NSA?

 

How did they prove it was him who left the review and not someone else?

 

Seems like Trip advisor is the problem here. Why doesn't TA ban this hotel? It should be in their terms and conditions that a hotel or business can not take legal action against any reviewer on their platform. This would be a good legal defense for anyone in this guys position.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Don Chance

[rkidlad]

2 hours ago, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

From what I have read, it was the police who pushed this - the hotel was trying to deal with the disgruntled guest.  And one got the feeling the disgruntled guest was being difficult to deal with.  It seemed the hotel was being unfairly targeted by this lad.  

Yes, I heard the hotel didn’t even ask the police to file charges against the guest. The police read the reviews online and decided to do this of their own volition. Once the hotel got wind of this they pleaded with the police and the disgruntled guest to make peace and stop this madness. 
 

For the love for god, people. Do you not care about this hotel and its feelings? 

[Misterwhisper]

Yes, the American guest acted like a "tosser", as the British say.

 

Raising a ruckus over a (admittedly grossly inflated) corkage charge so he could bring his own cheap plonk into a hotel restaurant was the action of a jacka**. In his own home country the corkage charge would've been at least three times as much.

 

As the American refused paying the corkage fee, the restaurant and hotel managers acted well within their rights to prevent him from consuming his booze on the premises.

 

When the American subsequently posted what has since been described as "untrue" and "falsified" accusations against the hotel on TA, the hotel management should have simply posted rebuttals, setting the record straight of what had really happened. As far as I am aware, this option is available to all accommodation providers listed on TA.

 

But instead, the hotel resorted to what I can only describe as a "retaliatory revenge measure" by filing a defamation complaint with the local police -- although they must've known how overly draconian Thailand's defamation laws are.

 

As a result of that heavy-handed and thoroughly unreasonable approach, the American "tosser" had to spend time in jail (and wasn't permitted to bring his own booze into the cell either, I assume).

 

So... looking at this entire scenario, the decision by TA to slap a warning message on the hotel's listing is entirely justified.

 

But that warning now also will cause the hotel considerably more potential booking losses than a few negative reviews could ever have enticed. Not that it matters much, because at the moment there are no foreign tourists getting into the country anyway.

 

But I am just looking at it from my perspective: If I wanted to book accommodation in Thailand and came across a prominent warning message like that, I certainly would give this hotel a miss and search for alternatives.

 

So in the end the hotel has shot itself into the foot big, big time. And slapping a guest with a defamation lawsuit in a country where defamation is tried as a criminal rather than a civil case was wrong from the beginning - and no matter what a deplorable a**h**e the may have been.

[BobBKK]

They have got this wrong. The reason he was sued was he kept posting reviews with racist overtones and would not reply to emails etc.  What was the business supposed to do?  this guy stayed there ONE night and was angry about being asked to pay a corkage fee for his bottle of gin he brought into the restaurant.  Trip Advisor are hypocrites as they renegaded on the agreement to end all this. 

[rkidlad]

7 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

They have got this wrong. The reason he was sued was he kept posting reviews with racist overtones and would not reply to emails etc.  What was the business supposed to do?  this guy stayed there ONE night and was angry about being asked to pay a corkage fee for his bottle of gin he brought into the restaurant.  Trip Advisor are hypocrites as they renegaded on the agreement to end all this. 

Trip Advisor are merely stating what happened in regards to this hotel and the guest. What people choose to do with this information is up to them. Maybe the hotel should proudly state what happened on their website so people read it and go, “yea, I think I’ll give that place a miss”.

 

As a person who reads reviews for products and services online, you often see the most insane and stupid things written. You learn that if most of the reviews are good, the product or service is good. I’ve read reviews here that were praising a service or product to the point where you know they were blatantly fake reviews. This to me is a telltale sign that this company isn’t to be trusted. 

[Airalee]

Didn’t we just have 30 or so pages of debate on this about 2 days ago?

 

 

[DirtyHarry55]

The Hotel should have dropped charges and apologized to the customer for the Jail time and this could have all been over quickly.
Instead they used the Criminal Charges as LEVERAGE to force a public appology and get Trip Advisor to remove the negative reviews.
Did they really think they would get away with it?
What next reopen Charges against him? Wouldn't surprise me!

[techietraveller84]

I just wish I could get to Thailand and stay in a hotel, any hotel.

[DirtyHarry55]

A quote from the Guardian article which I 100% agree with
 

Quote

Human Rights Watch’s Asia deputy director, Phil Robertson, said Thailand’s defamation laws were a “time-tested tool” to suppress critical opinions, and some businesses were willing to “sue at the drop of a hat”. He said: “It’s so very, very easy to file these cases with almost no evidence whatsoever.”

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/12/tripadvisor-warns-users-over-thai-hotel-that-sued-guest-for-bad-review
 

[sweatalot]

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

TripAdvisor has slapped a warning on a Thai hotel whose legal action over a review posted by an American expat landed him in jail.

 

well done - Now what about Koh Tao?

[ukrules]

4 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

 

But that warning now also will cause the hotel considerably more potential booking losses than a few negative reviews could ever have enticed. Not that it matters much, because at the moment there are no foreign tourists getting into the country anyway.

Oh it does matter.

 

The new case will be one of TripAdvisor defaming the hotel - that's a much more serious case and will be fought out in the courts.

 

[John Drake]

Unless this story is being circulated in Chinese through the PRC media, it will likely not have much effect on the Sea View.

[mrmicbkktxl]

4 hours ago, BobBKK said:

They have got this wrong. The reason he was sued was he kept posting reviews with racist overtones and would not reply to emails etc.  What was the business supposed to do?  this guy stayed there ONE night and was angry about being asked to pay a corkage fee for his bottle of gin he brought into the restaurant.  Trip Advisor are hypocrites as they renegaded on the agreement to end all this. 

What is the point of a hotel review website if people can't leave negative reviews and are in danger of imprisonment if they leave a negative review???Anyway I think TA should show a warning for all Thai businesses,not only for that specific hotel

[yellowboat]

44 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Unless this story is being circulated in Chinese through the PRC media, it will likely not have much effect on the Sea View.

The story is circulating in China.   Chinese reviews cannot be read by most Thais, so it is less likely the offending hotel will ever know it got a bad review.  That and the Chinese are not big drinkers.   

[Borzandy]

8 hours ago, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

From what I have read, it was the police who pushed this - the hotel was trying to deal with the disgruntled guest.  And one got the feeling the disgruntled guest was being difficult to deal with.  It seemed the hotel was being unfairly targeted by this lad.  

Maybe the police is the real owner of this hotel..

[DLock]

All businesses get negative reviews, some fair, some not so fair. The Internet giveth and the Internet taketh away...

 

People reading the reviews aren't stupid, and a reasonable digital media expert can bury negative reviews, even on Trip Advisor.

 

But to get all hot and bothered cost this hotel a whole lot more than 1 negative review, which they could have managed.

 

Fragile egos and online review sites are not a good mix.

 

I'm glad TA did this...send a message.

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

That and the Chinese are not big drinkers.

Lol ????

[Sujo]

7 hours ago, BobBKK said:

They have got this wrong. The reason he was sued was he kept posting reviews with racist overtones and would not reply to emails etc.  What was the business supposed to do?  this guy stayed there ONE night and was angry about being asked to pay a corkage fee for his bottle of gin he brought into the restaurant.  Trip Advisor are hypocrites as they renegaded on the agreement to end all this. 

Trip advisor did not renege, they had no contract or agreement with the resort.

They are correct to flag the resort, a review resulted in jail time. Fact.

[thaicookingchef]

Thank you Trip for doing the right thing !

 

[JulesMad]

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Barnes, an English teacher, has since left the country.

...and will not return soon... ????

[pacovl46]

Well, someone needs to slap a warning about TripAdvisor on TripAdvisor then! I can’t believe they sided with him after he admitted it was all BS! 

[tingtong]

He is American, the website is American, and freedom of speech exists.

 

As for the hotel, right or wrong, this will cost them a lot more in lost revenue than a corkage fee, or a silly review dispute can bring in.

 

I am sure many will shun this property, rightfully, for other similar grade/price hotels, without a risk for lawsuit if the guest review not comply to what to hotel censorship required.

[Don Chance]

4 hours ago, thaicookingchef said:

Thank you Trip for doing the right thing !

 

The right thing to do is ban this hotel from their site. Maybe mask all user ID's for review in Thailand.

 

I say to h ell with TA. It is all fake reviews anyways. Why should i pay 10-15% more for a room with booking or agoda? Nobody needs them or TA.

[CanadaSam]

I think many of you are missing the point.

 

NO future guest will base their decision on whether or not to stay at a hotel based on ONE (or a few) reviews for a hotel, which has hundreds, or thousands of reviews.

 

The hotel's review score is an aggregate of ALL the reviews posted, and a solitary bad review (or two) will not affect a hotel's great score.

 

For a hotel to file charges against a guest for defamation due to their posting a bad review (or even a few), sets a very dangerous precedent, which goes against the fundamental reason for TripAdvisor existing, and their basic policy, which is, basically, freedom of speech for hotel guests or tourists at various venues.

 

If everybody were too scared to post a negative review in Thailand due to this type of criminal action being taken against them, then TripAdvisor would basically be out of business (in Thailand).

 

TripAdvisor basically took on the Thai Government, and you can tell by the wording of the warning, that they have consulted their lawyers first, because they are very aware that this ridiculous law can be used against them at some future time.

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by CanadaSam
Spelling mistake.

[alyx]

13 hours ago, Airalee said:

Didn’t we just have 30 or so pages of debate on this about 2 days ago?

 

 

Just trying to make the headlines I guess ....some might think it is one of the parties involved who created this second same same thread ????

[Stargeezr]

Giving a negative review is one thing. Reading the content of this disgruntled guests comments

were way beyond negative.  This situation could have been handled privately if this English

teacher had communicated with the hotel directly.  The price of booze in Thailand hotels

are not ridiculous like it is in Canada or the USA, so I have to ask why did this visitor

insist on bringing his own booze to where he was eating?  Cheap Charlie is a phrase for

what caused this situation in the first place.

Geezer