Earlier quoted context omitted.
I get that some people are entitled idiots who seem completely incapable of thinking through the consequences of their actions, but I’ve never heard Thailand described in a way that sounds terribly interesting to me as a vacation spot. Then again, I typically describe any place with more than a few dozen people as overly crowded for the purposes of vacationing, so maybe I’m not the right person to ask.
Bangkok is arguably the foodiest city in the world, and has the best contemporary art scene in South-East Asia. Just to name a couple things I find interesting there; your interests presumably differ.
Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
231–240 of 294 posts
Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
What happened? I’m convinced my girlfriend almost got abducted at the airport by w fake cab.
In Bangkok it was mainly tuk-tuks taking me to places I didn't want to go and many attempted scams (magicians, dealers in jewels, someone pretending to be police). In Chiangmai I had my worst couchsurfing experience, really unpleasant guy who I went to town with and was dependent on (he took me half an hour or so on the back of his motorcycle) and who got really drunk after I asked him to please stop drinking (becaus…
You will know what to avoid and what to expect
Tuk tuks are always bad deal/tourist attraction, make sure Taxis use meter, don't take any of their suggestions (girls, jewelery, etc) or accept detours
To be safe, use Grab application, - no wasting time trying to speak to the driver asking where you want to go, - no tips (from rounding up the payment), - no taking you places you don't want to go.
Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#233I'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 o…
Regardless of what you said about “those guys,” which is barely relevant to the story, if we are to believe the business owners, they’re right in suing for defamation (the guy left 3 reviews out of spite) However the problem is that the police considers this a good enough reason to jail someone working there legally after picking him up from his workplace. I don’t think that’s fair.
But it’s the law in Thailand. And sometimes “those guys” believe that the laws in other countries don’t apply to them because they think it’s “not fair” and not the same as the laws in their countries.
Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the most visited countries in the world. We are all well aware of the reputation they have for sex tourism so anyone going there really needs to embrace the idea that Thailand isn’t quite the same as a typical western country. I have no great interest in going (I live in Taiwan and the average review I hear for a family vacation isn’t very flattering) but if I were I would be really careful. Most people woeful…
> Most people aren’t stupid like this so going on vacation to Thailand has a 99.99% likelihood of being ok. You don’t need to be an idiot for you trip to go bad. I used a local transportation. When getting off a Chinese tourist had lost is wallet in it. A local just took it for himself while the tourist was still in sight. The scene went too fast for me to do anything but I felt bad for the guy who will likely get ch…
It sucks that it happens but if you take proper precaution it shouldn't ruin the vacation besides a slight annoyance...
It's also bad luck, as a counterpoint, I forgot my bag with my computer at a restaurant in Bangkok, I noticed 30 minutes later, came back and the restaurant staff had kept it for me.
Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honest question.. why do you go to countries like these ? To me it looks like the risk is not worth at all.. Is being in danger part of the attraction or people really underestimate the dangers of third world countries ?
Thailand is actually quite safe. You are going to find a few horror stories but generally, as long as you stay away from the most common scams (which you can find in all travel guides), you will not be more at risk than in first world countries. One reason Thailand is safer than most "third world" countries is that tourism is taken very seriously by the government. Most notably, they have a "tourist police" that can…
One year later still feeling sad for not able to protect us from it. Have become extremely suspicious of helpful people/sellers. Had issues with buying stuff since the trip. Not the price/money that is/has been the issue. I wished I never visited Bangkok.
Similar as this one, but for suits instead. (Did not plan to buy it, in fact earlier that day I wonder why/laugh at people that did it, just a few hours later I was one of them. Now I understand them an why it works and will continue to work for 20 more years) https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/asia-thailand/...
TLDR; Thailand suppose to be me an my partners dream trip. Was our worst trip, lead to us splitting up and started to have trust issue. Feeling depressed about it, still sad about it one year later.
Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Bangkok it was mainly tuk-tuks taking me to places I didn't want to go and many attempted scams (magicians, dealers in jewels, someone pretending to be police). In Chiangmai I had my worst couchsurfing experience, really unpleasant guy who I went to town with and was dependent on (he took me half an hour or so on the back of his motorcycle) and who got really drunk after I asked him to please stop drinking (becaus…
Honest question.. why do you go to countries like these ? To me it looks like the risk is not worth at all.. Is being in danger part of the attraction or people really underestimate the dangers of third world countries ?
Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#237Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#238The 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…
Maybe that you should wait until you're safely home before you write your negative review. Well, it's not what he says, but it's probably the best advice in these cases.
Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Bangkok it was mainly tuk-tuks taking me to places I didn't want to go and many attempted scams (magicians, dealers in jewels, someone pretending to be police). In Chiangmai I had my worst couchsurfing experience, really unpleasant guy who I went to town with and was dependent on (he took me half an hour or so on the back of his motorcycle) and who got really drunk after I asked him to please stop drinking (becaus…
Honest question.. why do you go to countries like these ? To me it looks like the risk is not worth at all.. Is being in danger part of the attraction or people really underestimate the dangers of third world countries ?
My reason for going to Thailand was that I had an internship in Australia (I'm from the Netherlands) and I was going to change planes there anyway, so I figured I might as well spend a month in the area. While I didn't like the cities, there were many other nice and beautiful places.
People have different levels of risk tolerance and different interests. I have traveled in a number of poor or somewhat conflicted countries and while it's definitely not always enjoyable, I don't think everything in life is about enjoyment and they were really valuable experiences that shaped my view on the world in other ways. (Not to sound like a disaster tourist - in all cases I was either passing through or working in the area, it's not like I went to watch poverty or conflict.)
Re: Hotel guest in Thailand jailed for defamation after posting bad online reviews
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the most visited countries in the world. We are all well aware of the reputation they have for sex tourism so anyone going there really needs to embrace the idea that Thailand isn’t quite the same as a typical western country. I have no great interest in going (I live in Taiwan and the average review I hear for a family vacation isn’t very flattering) but if I were I would be really careful. Most people woeful…
> Most people aren’t stupid like this so going on vacation to Thailand has a 99.99% likelihood of being ok. You don’t need to be an idiot for you trip to go bad. I used a local transportation. When getting off a Chinese tourist had lost is wallet in it. A local just took it for himself while the tourist was still in sight. The scene went too fast for me to do anything but I felt bad for the guy who will likely get ch…