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American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

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Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#31

Post by kwhitefoot »

tinus_hn wrote: post #30
unnameduser1 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about? Your statement has no connection to reality: - foreign tourists can currently not enter the country. - the defendant is NOT a tourist but works in the country. - the police station is not on other side of the planet but just 3h away from his place of work. - I’m not local but in most countries I have lived the local law matters, applies and has to be observed. Nothing difficult about that

I’m not sure who you’re astroturfing for but nowhere did I talk about following Thai laws. I didn’t even actually specify my comment was about this person. Did the law change when the borders closed? Is there something that prevents this ridiculous chain of events unfolding for someone who is not in the country? If I post an unfavorable review about a Thai business from across the world, can they just summon me to a…

> can they just summon me to a Thai court?

Of course, but they cannot make it effective until you enter Thailand.

Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#32

Post by metadatabad »

unnameduser1 wrote: post #17
metadatabad wrote: post #11

I find it insulting that a manager at a resort would treat their customers this way and I hope people think twice before patronizing this establishment in future. The customer is always right.

Which part? The manager charging the corkage fee or taking legal action as per law? I see every day negative reviews of places in Thailand rarely heard of anyone who got sued about it. Edit: typo NB. If you don’t break the law you can leave negative reviews in Thailand

Taking legal action. It is so absurd that it would be comical if the poor person didn't suffer an arrest/jail. Over a fucking review.

Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#33

Post by unnameduser1 »

msh wrote: post #29
unnameduser1 wrote: post #24

There is more to this case. And I’m just summarizing from the statement published by the resort: - customer argued about corkage fee for beverages brought from outside. - customer left and drank beverages outside without needing to pay corkage - customer made inappropriate and defamatory comments on online platforms. - Some of the comments were taken down by the platforms as they clearly violated terms - resort manag…

No matter if there is more, how is being arrested by the police and risking 2 years in prison appropriate for libel in a review? I think it is good warning people not to be tourists in countries with draconian laws.

Nobody forced the guy to come and work in Thailand. He isn’t a tourist though. If he works here he should know about the laws. Ignorance is not protection against the laws.

We see the same with many foreign tourists who come and assume they can ride motorcycles without valid driving license and experience. Lots of them injured and asking for money in gofundme pages to pay hospital bills since insurance won’t cover illegal behavior.

If I were to take your way of thinking then USA should be also on travel warning list. A (Canadian) foreigner living there was killed when she called police to report someone breaking into her house. However she was killed by police. I think that’s a bit more drastic than being arrested for (allegedly) not showing up in person to the police station as per report.

The law is sometimes abused by people but it’s not draconian.

Defendants are usually called and asked to appear at police station to make their own statement. Very civilized way of handling.

Then you have most likely two times there to negotiate with the person who filed report.

If nothing comes out of it, and only then, criminal charges are filed and investigated.

A judge has to write an arrest warrant and does it if the defendant didn’t answer to calls by police to appear.

Then and only then they can arrest him. He would have been brought to the station, went to jail for not following proceeding and he got out on bail.

So far this seems like a very appropriate handling.

Also I’m sure that before the case starts the judge usually ask both parties if this can be negotiated first. They have more critical cases than to deal with stupid posts on social media.

If no agreement can be reached then there is a trial and it’s not guaranteed that defendant would get 2y in prison unless is unreasonable. He has a lot of influence there. His reaction will determine the proceedings and he will get a fair trial.

You’re inventing things and twisting reality. People are less likely to get in trouble with the law in Thailand than to get shot by police in the US.

So please let me know how reasonable it is for foreigners in USA to get killed by police when calling 911 and reporting a break in.

Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#34

Post by unnameduser1 »

unnameduser1 wrote: post #14
mumblerino wrote: post #2

What a ridiculous situation. The guy was arrested and brought to the minuscole island because of a defamation suit. Imagine that. The article is quite light on details, so here’s another one that also links to the full response by the hotel owners: https://mothership.sg/2020/09/sea-view-resort-defamation-law...

Yeah imagine police doing their job. The accused has to be read the charges and has the opportunity to make a formal statement. Does the size of the island matter in that legal case?

Not sure why this was downvoted. Police proceedings seemed to be reasonable and if one were to trust reports about the defendants posts the charges are justified.

If the defendant were in his home country he would have been arrested all the same for not following procedures and appearing when asked. Please check the whole story before you just downvote.

People often criticize the police in Thailand when they are doing their job (issuing tickets, lol) and also when they aren’t doing their job (when it’s not their jurisdiction or position). Thailand is not much different than other countries and has laws that need to be followed. Many foreigners including me live in Thailand for decades and manage it just fine to not get into trouble while posting harsh negative reviews online. :)

Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#36

Post by hechang1997 »

_b8kh wrote: post #13

Most people here are not familiar with laws in Thailand and should not assume that every country has exactly same laws. I’m not taking a side here on purpose, because certain laws would apply to me then. a) yahoo article is biased and incomplete. Don’t take it as the truth. b) if a official report (complaint) was filed at police station then the person who complaint was about must appear at that station so they can m…

The law is unjust. The anti-defammation law was used to stifle press freedom and suppress journalists. It doesn't matter whether it's lawful in Thailand or not, freedom of speech without the fear of persecution is a part of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (Whether you think it has a legal basis or not, it's the only thing we can look up to when authoritarian governments can pass whatever stipulation they want and call it legal.) In this case, I believe the owner of the resort has no ill intention, however, it is using an unjust instrument to inflict a questionable punishment on other people.

Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#37

Post by ratww »

listenallyall wrote: post #9
justinclift wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read the article. It sounded like he had a really bad experience at the Sea View Resort (on Wesley Barnes), so left reviews at lots of places warning people. That's literally the whole point of writing reviews. To let others know what places are good, bad, etc. Hopefully more people find out about the stupid treatment of this guy by the resort, as taking legal action against an ex-customer for giving bad reviews is…

This is opposite of Streisand effect. It's turning out to be terrific free publicity for this island resort with 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor, and actually portrays the resort as victim of a loser guest who was asked to pay a standard corkage fee, refused, then went off and accused the resort of slavery. I mean, just the top image on the Yahoo link, of a gorgeous beachfront, looks pretty great right now. Here's a tip, w…

I don't know. The only thing I knew about Thailand is that it's a beautiful country.

Now that I know about this case, I wouldn't consider setting foot there out of principle... and fear.

And as someone who's in this field: this is going to have deep repercussions in the traveling industry and people will definitely rethink how reviews work for Thailand. Some friends from travel-related startups already posted the link in private chat.

That was a bad idea both for the hotel and for Thailand's travel industry.

Also: Sites like TripAdvisor also don't want to risk having potentially libellous accusations in their reviews, so they would certainly try to work together with the hotel (as they did, since they removed a previous review).

Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#38

Post by justinclift »

hechang1997 wrote: post #35

https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/Hotel_Review-g580110-d594766-R... Here's the resort in question.

Going there, it has:

  Message from Tripadvisor:
  Due to a recent event that has attracted media attention
  and has caused an influx of review submissions that do not 
  describe a first-hand experience, we have temporarily
  suspended publishing new reviews for this listing. If
  you’ve had a firsthand experience at this property, please 
  check back soon - we’re looking forward to receiving your
  review!
So not only are TripAdvisor not warning people of the danger of going to this place, they also blocking anyone else who does.

That doesn't seem helpful at all.

Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#39

Post by justinclift »

unnameduser1 wrote: post #24

There is more to this case. And I’m just summarizing from the statement published by the resort: - customer argued about corkage fee for beverages brought from outside. - customer left and drank beverages outside without needing to pay corkage - customer made inappropriate and defamatory comments on online platforms. - Some of the comments were taken down by the platforms as they clearly violated terms - resort manag…

> There is more to this case.

That is completely irrelevant. They took legal action against someone who posted negative reviews, warning others away from this place.

That is something people are going to be concerned about.

What happens when other people have a bad experience... should they be too scared to write a review until they've left the country?

Seems like yes.

Much safer to choose any other resort for doing business.

That you've responded to every negative comment, trying to spin this as "nothing to see here" doesn't change that.

Re: American sued in Thailand over negative Tripadvisor review

#40

Post by justinclift »

unnameduser1 wrote: post #33
msh wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No matter if there is more, how is being arrested by the police and risking 2 years in prison appropriate for libel in a review? I think it is good warning people not to be tourists in countries with draconian laws.

Nobody forced the guy to come and work in Thailand. He isn’t a tourist though. If he works here he should know about the laws. Ignorance is not protection against the laws. We see the same with many foreign tourists who come and assume they can ride motorcycles without valid driving license and experience. Lots of them injured and asking for money in gofundme pages to pay hospital bills since insurance won’t cover il…

> So please let me know how reasonable it is for foreigners in USA to get killed by police when calling 911 and reporting a break in.

It's completely unreasonable. As is getting someone thrown in jail for writing negative reviews. ;)

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