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Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

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Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

#131

Post by zymhan »

kjs3 wrote: post #81
JusticeJuice wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I feel like if leaving a one-star review of Google Maps can put you in jail in Thailand, it is highly irresponsible and unethical of Google to allow leaving reviews in Thailand. What? No. You can defame yourself in literally any public media forum where what you say could affect the other party. That means literally any public website with a comment feature. Singling out just google maps with a solution like that ma…

Short of threats of physical violence, you can't be put in jail for a comment in the US. That you think an opinion, no matter how dickish, warrants incarceration is ethically bankrupt.

> American’s are THE WORST overseas because we think ‘Merica way of life is world wide.

Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

#132

Post by Gigablah »

dehrmann wrote: post #70
gabereiser wrote: post #2

Pro Tip: leave your reviews after the stay. Another pro tip: know the local laws. American’s are THE WORST overseas because we think ‘Merica way of life is world wide. No, it isn’t, and you’d to well to humble yourself, learn the local laws, conduct yourself as if you were at Nana’s house. Wheaton’s law: “Don’t be a dick”. But Thailand’s defamation laws, online laws, and more kinda turn me off from visiting. Granted…

> know the local laws I've been to Singapore. There's the ones everyone knows about like the drug laws, not spitting, littering, or chewing gum. The one people don't mention is that cars also have the right of way over pedestrians, so be extra careful when crossing the street.

On the other hand, one of the laws that nobody bothers to enforce in Singapore is jaywalking.

Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

#133

Post by eric4smith »

I'm actually in Koh Chang right now and this gave me a chuckle.

You have no idea how entitled some "farang" (foreigners) here are and how low of an opinion many of them have of Thailand and the Thai people. Sometimes it's really sickening to see the posts of this certain bloc of expats. They expect the government to just overlook the rules when it comes to immigration, local customs and local laws.

Recently because of Covid, the government gave around 60 days notice of them needing to go and get their visa extension and would you know it, most of them waited until the last minute with huge lines to do it. Then they complained that the immigration department was "incompetent" and "this is Thailand for you lol".

Generally they are American, Australian or the worse... the guys from the UK.

As someone who travels quite a bit in Thailand, the Thai people already bend over backwards to accommodate most of them, but to no avail.

Go ahead, start reading posts online from these guys explaining how the Thai government is inept, don't realize how "important farang are" to the country. They want to enter the country without having to go through the quarantine!

They are the same guys who approach local girls and ask them "how much" and then spend their days with only other foreigners.

They are the guys who only eat "European" food while on their vacation.

They are the guys who sit at the bar and drink all day and then go to the walking streets to assume every girl they see is a prosti*ute.

They are the guys who make very small attempt to make friends with local Thai people.

They are the guys who bring their drunken western ways here and expect the local culture which is very different, to accept it without complaint.

So for this guy, I don't know the whole story, but I'm almost sure that he was in the wrong. Believe me, the hotels here don't want any trouble and are EXTREMELY sensitive to online reviews as they can make or break them -- mafia run or not.

It takes quite a LOT to make Thai people upset with you, and its clear this guy did it.

Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

#134

Post by [deleted] »

pier25 wrote: post #121
CyberDildonics wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says he said "modern day slavery", but the point here is not that there wasn't any defamation. It is that police came to his work and put him in jail based off of a complaint by the hotel. Does that seem reasonable to you?

The review said the owners treat the staff like slaves [1] and that was just one of many bad reviews. It's not exactly simply writing a bad review. Regardless, I do agree it's excessive, but each country has its fair share of strange laws and regulations. For example, as a European everything related to firearms in the US is just as incomprehensible to me. [1] https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/1309817382559391…

[deleted]

Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

#137

Post by ShorsHammer »

narag wrote: post #55
AmericanChopper wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The defamation laws in Thailand are pretty terrible. For starters, they have both civil and criminal defamation statutes (and criminal defamation statutes are already pretty bad). The thing that makes it really bad though, is that truth is not always a defence for criminal defamation offences. The law is something to the effect of "disclosing private matters can be defamation even if it's true". I've read a few of ar…

The law is something to the effect of "disclosing private matters can be defamation even if it's true". That's common in many countries. "It's true" is only a valid defense if you're accusing someone of a crime.

Australian defamation laws are horrendously bad, it needs to be in "public interest", doesn't matter in the slightest if it's the truth. Say a fact in public, and then you go bankrupt in court arguing over the semantics of whether it's in "public interest" for it to be said.

At least local journalists are waking up to how bad it is with the wealthy suddenly throwing their weight around and taking every paper in the nation to court over a few words.

A terrible import from the UK. Despite all the nastiness and bad words, protected free speech is what the US really did get right.

All laws can be used in a multitude of unintended ways, something lawmakers never really consider.

Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

#138

Post by ufmace »

kjs3 wrote: post #92
JusticeJuice wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a difference between being a dick, and trying to negatively affect a business's revenue with multiple, fabricated negative reviews posted over several weeks. Over the fact you didn't want to pay corkage for bringing in outside alcohol (a pretty normal thing).

Is that really the level of being a dick that should land you in a foreign prison?

"Should" is a dubious word to use here. That's what the law is there, and what you or I think "should" happen isn't relevant.

Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

#139

Post by ashtonkem »

gruez wrote: post #29

The part near the end of the article is confusing. >While this reaction by the hotel does sound excessive I’d give them the benefit of the doubt that this guest behaved like a total idiot while at the property and then turned around with very unflattering descriptions and manufactured truths aka lies about this resort. He then refused to discuss the matter with the hotel and instead of stopping even accelerated his o…

Sounds like a good reason to never go there as a tourist, actually.

And no, that is clearly not what they’re trying to communicate (although the actual goal remains unclear). If the premise was “don’t write a review, they’re corrupt and will spuriously jail you”, then they wouldn’t offer the hotel chain the benefit of the doubt.

Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews

#140

Post by ashtonkem »

AmericanChopper wrote: post #44
gruez wrote: post #29

The part near the end of the article is confusing. >While this reaction by the hotel does sound excessive I’d give them the benefit of the doubt that this guest behaved like a total idiot while at the property and then turned around with very unflattering descriptions and manufactured truths aka lies about this resort. He then refused to discuss the matter with the hotel and instead of stopping even accelerated his o…

The defamation laws in Thailand are pretty terrible. For starters, they have both civil and criminal defamation statutes (and criminal defamation statutes are already pretty bad). The thing that makes it really bad though, is that truth is not always a defence for criminal defamation offences. The law is something to the effect of "disclosing private matters can be defamation even if it's true". I've read a few of ar…

That’s not unique to Thailand, a sizable portion of the American population appear to be very confused about how defamation law works here too.
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