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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

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I'm watching to some Italians communicating with each other, sometimes I think that they're going to start a fight, while they're just merely chit-chatting. Cultures are very different around the world.

Do Italians appreciate tourists in Italy angrily raising their voices and waving their arms around at them because the tourist didn't bother learning the language? That's what the other poster seems to be describing, rather than lively chit chat among friends.

How many places can a person reasonably travel to if they have to be conversational in the local language first?

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

#162
post #61

Link to the resort’s response from twitter https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VZCwyULmkLpZ7y5nT5wsaX0mn8w... Seems like a messed up situation and i would like to side with the guest, but given I don’t have a culture frame of reference I wouldn’t be too fast to judge the resort.

"There are 3 main reasons that forced us to file a complaint – We are not suing him for just a single bad review: 1. He left fabricated stories on his reviews on TripAdvisor and Google that included xenophobic connotations, accusations of slavery and even comments that could mislead readers to associate our property with the Coronavirus. 2. He had been posting reviews roughly 1-2 weeks apart with obvious defamatory i…

Yet the worldwide spread of this news story has done a million times more damage than a few reviews could have. Smart, now people are talking about avoiding Thailand all together.

If you want to be a tourist destination and at the same time threaten the freedom of your guests with such draconian laws, then you got a problem.

I read years ago that an American woman in Pakistan was arrested for walking on the street wearing short pants (wasn't modest enough). Tourists should know these things to be able to adapt or avoid.

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

#163
post #51
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What's he trying to say? That even if you're right, you shouldn't write a bad review because the justice system is corrupt and you're going to end up in jail anyways? Yes, even if you're right, you shouldn't write a bad review because the justice system is corrupt.

Just wait until you're home to write the review

Perhaps this is an effect of a new rise in "local tourism" necessitated by Covid-19. Locals reviewing tourism industry businesses instead of international tourists.

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

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I’m unsure why you’re being downvoted. But it’s true. Unless you’re jaywalking in a busy area and causing distribution to traffic. The police don’t really mind if you jaywalk providing it’s safe for you to do so. Edit: I guess the truth doesn’t matter on HN.

It's especially funny considering I'm a Singaporean citizen.

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

#165
I’m curious if there will be any repercussions for listings of this hotel (and the inevitable “rebrandings” to follow) on platforms where these reviews were left.

I imagine either the listing has to go, or a platform can be sued. I bet none of them show any notice a la “by leaving a bad review you are rolling the dice on some jail time”.

(Personally I prefer to leave a good review or none at all, save for extreme cases.)

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

#166
post #34
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people you’re dealing with and owning these places are not necessarily poor. There are many poor people in Thailand but many very, very wealthy people and you might not be able to recognise which is which. The wealth divide is very big.

> There are many poor people in Thailand but many very, very wealthy people and you might not be able to recognise which is which. The wealth divide is very big. Of course - this is true of most countries in the global south since the 80/90s.

Maybe it's because I've only just run across it, but this 'global north' / 'global south' thing is super weird. If you mean 'rich countries' / 'poor countries' why not say that, rather than link it to something like latitude which is only nebulously related to what you're actually trying to say?

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

#167

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…

> learn the local laws

I'm local to America, and I can assure you no human being is capable of learning my local laws. How many federal laws are there? No one even knows!

http://kowal.com/?q=How-Many-Federal-Laws-Are-There%3F

What hope do I have of learning local laws somewhere else? What hope does a foreigner have in America? The best you can hope for is to get a cheatsheet of some big common differences and then keep a low profile.

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

#168
post #8

I'm not surprised. I had some crazy experiences in Thailand. Once the floor dropped out in our bungalow, as I was stepping on it. Sheer luck that I didn't fall through and cut myself open on the exposed building material. Trying to explain this to the owner and they accused us of breaking the floor and wanted to charge for it. Another time we wanted them to order a cab for us but they insisted we use their limo servi…

> raising your voice and gesticulating in their culture is really frowned upon. Where do people not frown upon that? Would you like someone raising their voice and waving their arms around in front of you? > It can get pretty frustrating communicating with someone who doesn't understand. Did you try speaking their language?

New York? Boston?

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

#169

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.

There's a blind corner near the Smithsonian in Washington DC. Giant "no crossing" signs. Pedestrians get hit all the time. It used to be standard for the police to write tickets to the person who got hit if they lacked life threatening injuries.

Then one time the person who got hit died in the hospital from a pre-existing condition, so they stopped writing the tickets.

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

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Pedestrians have right of way at pedestrian crossings. Cars have right of way elsewhere. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL/RTA1961-R24?DocDate=20190131#pr4- This is pretty standard, and Singapore is way safer for pedestrians than virtually any Asian country outside Japan.

In many states of the US, cars are never granted right of way over pedestrians. Instead pedestrians are required to yield the right of way to cars outside of crosswalks.

It's an important distinction because it places a legal burden on the driver to attempt to avoid hitting a pedestrian.

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