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

Post by stephenr » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 3:37 PM UTC

mumblerino wrote: post #184

eric4smith wrote: post #133

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 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.

Post by MiroF » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 3:42 PM UTC

taneq wrote: post #166

MiroF wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

Post by pmachinery » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 4:15 PM UTC

gridlockd wrote: post #242

pmachinery wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't visit a country without shouting at the locals in your own language and waving your hands at them, while acting like it's their problem you're just another dime a dozen ignorant asshole tourist, and not the VIP you think you are, then you shouldn't be visiting anywhere. And to save any more missing the point stereotypes about Italians or New Yorkers waving their hands at each other in completely differen…

Having the floor collapse under you and then being expected to pay for it seems like a situation where angry shouting and waving would not be considered inappropriate in many cultures. On the other hand, some cultures may suppress even severe anger.

Post by MiroF » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 4:57 PM UTC

shadowprofile77 wrote: post #230

Fnoord wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rich and poor country is relative, too. Compared to 50 years ago, there are almost no third world countries anymore. I believe Hans Rosling shared some data about this in his book Factfulness.

I would say almost no completely third world countries, but there are large parts of many, if not most countries that are very much severely underdeveloped or riddled with systemic corruption (third world by the classical definition), This is sometimes even found in the middle of some of the worlds most highly developed nations (cough, cough, Baltimore, New Orleans, etc). To what percentage of a country's human-inhab…

Post by xfz » Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 5:22 PM UTC

rendall wrote: post #202

I'm going to stand up on a soapbox and use this incident to flog my pet issue, here. It may not be obvious to everyone how it relates, so bear with me. Many people wonder how a "free speech absolutist", such as myself, can hold the point of view that we do: how can we advocate for absolute free speech when it allows anti-vaxxers or bullies or holocaust deniers or racists or fake news purveyors to freely promote their…