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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

#31

Post by tshaddox »

smnrchrds wrote: post #6
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…

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. They should remove review feature entirely for Thailand, or disable lower ratings, or show a giant flashing warning explaining what you are risking by leaving the review.

It sounds like it was the specific text of the review that led to the arrest. It doesn’t sound like all 1-star reviews would qualify as defamation. Of course it’s possible in any country to post certain text that is illegal. Fraud, threats of violence, and defamation are three obvious examples that are probably illegal to post online in nearly every country. I’m not sure why Google would need to post a specific warning about this.

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

#32

Post by cnst »

watwut wrote: post #10
smnrchrds wrote: post #6

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. They should remove review feature entirely for Thailand, or disable lower ratings, or show a giant flashing warning explaining what you are risking by leaving the review.

The issue was not so much rating as content of comment. In particular they took offence over his claim they engaged on modern day slavery. That particular comment was taken down cause it broke site guidelines.

It's just a figure of speech. What's so gravely offensive about it?

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

#33

Post by plantain »

INTPenis wrote: 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…

It goes both ways...

I had similar experiences in Thailand, but I also saw a lot of terrible behaviour from tourists - trashing rooms, causing disturbances late at night, trying to trick/scam or just nickle-and-dime the locals . Thailand seems to attract a particularly hard-partying demographic from Australia, UK and Germany in particular that gives other tourists a bad reputation - who are then treated with a lot of suspicion.

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

#34

Post by MiroF »

altacc wrote: post #30
MiroF wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems like just classic poorer country trying to milk money out of rich westerner (well minus the floor dropping out that sounds awful)

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.

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

#35

Post by indy »

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…

>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.

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

#36

Post by KaoruAoiShiho »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #26
dhruvrrp wrote: post #23

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.

In what way would you ever rationalize putting someone in prison for a bad review?

I'm not convinced that defamation laws are absolutely abhorrent. It's possible to ruin someone's life with verbal harassment, especially when given amplified powers via social media.

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

#37

Post by nullsense »

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 practical warning on how to stay out of trouble.

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

#38

Post by bardworx »

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…

In the article it states that the hotel guest violated the hotel policy of bringing alcohol on premise. So the guest seems to have broken the rules and then lied about it, which in Thailand is a serious crime.

Yes, the punishment is excessive but not sure how the guest is “right”.

Your comment is cherry picking the later section while ignoring the beginning, it seems.

> According to media reports the whole drama initially started as the guest brought outside alcohol into the hotels dining outlets which wasn’t permitted. It then resulted in a verbal row between the management and this particular individual who then posted bad reviews across several review boards.

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

#39

Post by pmachinery »

INTPenis wrote: 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?

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