Pattaya expat threatened with jail after posting negative restaurant review online

[Mattd]

3 minutes ago, manarak said:

[manarak]

2 minutes ago, Mattd said:

so facebook is lying to at least one of us

[Easy Come Easy Go]

2 hours ago, Anythingleft? said:

Defamation, which is a criminal offence in Thailand, is punishable by up to two years in jail.

Commentators have said previously that Thailand’s strict defamation laws have been used as a weapon by the powerful to silence critics.



This law in its current presentation is crippling Thailand from moving forward...

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 

good point 

Edited March 27, 2018 by Easy Come Easy Go

[Mattd]

8 minutes ago, manarak said:

so facebook is lying to at least one of us

They announced reaching over 40,000 members on 23rd March 2018.

 

It is immaterial in this context anyway, as it doesn't change the OP, most members do not review in any case, probably less than 20% actually live here.

 

Just seen that this thread is being hotly discussed in the group!!

Edited March 27, 2018 by Mattd

[CLUBBER]

I guess this is why Thailand doesn't have yelp . Then again yelp isn't available in most  third world countries so why should Thailand be any different ?

[flyingdoc]

The defamation laws in Thailand are indeed truly archaic !  A corrupt lawyer who was caught red handed with forging documents and stealing property, replied by slapping a defamation suit on the plaintiff, and refusing to hand over any relevant documents.  Rather than face a long trial and confrontation, the plaintiff gave in, and only then had the accusation of defamation removed, losing many millions of baht in the process !!  Such is Thailand  and the Law!

[Benmart]

 

I don't patronize threatening establishments. Looking forward to the disclosure of same.

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

The restaurant owner must be an idiot. Pattaya is a small town so it is not going to be difficult for those of us who live here to find out which one it was. One wonders how bad the review was and if the restaurant is actually doing anything other than making threats to solve the problem, i.e. improving their apparently fairly crap 

[Anythingleft?]

It was quite probably just a meaningless threat with nothing to be concerned about .
   Its very unlikely that legal action will be taken , just a empty threat

Unfortunately the threat can end up costing you a lot financially here, mostly depending upon who is the most influential or wealthy of the parties involved.
Hence the reason so many people are scared to get involved with things in the first instance and offer new or differing opinions in all fields.
Like the OP statement says it is often used or waved around as an effective tool for oppression. Used correctly it is a great benefit to all, abused and it is very regressive...

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[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Seems to me the restaurant owner has succeeded in spreading this review far and wide when, if he'd left it alone, the article would have only been viewed by a few hundreds maybe. Now thousands will seek it out and thousands will avoid the place.  Gun. Foot.

[nev]

The owner of the restaurant should have handled the situation better, I can see his point as he probably invested a lot of money and time in this establishment and can lose custom because of this review, but to take the action he has taken he will lose more custom and most importantly in Thailand lose face.

He should come out and apologize and offer to make amends, maybe share a bottle of wine with the alleged bad reviewer.

[mok199]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Was that a restaurant review???

was that a troll ???

 

[DeeMak9]

1 hour ago, manarak said:

so facebook is lying to at least one of us

1 star for facebook

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, wedders said:

Interestingly I'm eating in the very same restaurant right now....

Great!

Could you or someone else PM me the name of this restaurant. I won't publicize it. I just want to avoid reviewing them! Intimidation works!

[seancbk]

2 hours ago, ostyan said:

I absolutely agree with the restaurant owner. We should treat this case seriously. At the end of the day, it is not just killing a policeman or killing a hubby. I would vote for arresting the traitor, waterboard him, should learn his connections, etc. 

It is necessary, 'cos he mustn't be Thai, Thais don't do like this , it is a farang.  How dares he say or write his opinion? In Thailand? A lifetime jail sentence is a minimum. 

 

My money would be on the restaurant owner being a Farang, not a Thai.

[Mattd]

10 minutes ago, nev said:

The owner of the restaurant should have handled the situation better, I can see his point as he probably invested a lot of money and time in this establishment and can lose custom because of this review, but to take the action he has taken he will lose more custom and most importantly in Thailand lose face.

He should come out and apologize and offer to make amends, maybe share a bottle of wine with the alleged bad reviewer.

From what I can gather from the admin of the Breakfast Club Pattaya group, the guy that made the review is a well respected and known member of the expat community in Pattaya, who has posted hundreds of reviews in the past and this particular review he posted was not that bad at all.

The restaurant owner should, like all others, take onboard these reviews, good or bad and use them to a positive advantage, they should realise by now that social media ain't going away any time soon.

When bad, then the owner should acknowledge the fact and what, if anything can be done about it.

No business is perfect and they should use the bad feedback as a way to improve, if everybody posted good reviews all the time, then there is no way to improve and everybody can improve.

 

Seems to me like the owner needs to grow a pair and run a business, instead of wasting their energy and money on stupid legal action.

[lelapin]

Pattaya Mail have a weekly Dining Out column which reviews restaurants. Are they only allowed to publish those that get a good review. 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, lelapin said:

Pattaya Mail have a weekly Dining Out column which reviews restaurants. Are they only allowed to publish those that get a good review. 

Basically, the answer is YES.

They wouldn't use the word allowed.

They've written about this several times.

What they say is that if they visit a place and it's awful, they won't review it.

They also indicated that people can read between the lines to figure out that they're not excited about a place.

That is true.

But they still won't say anything strongly negative.

 

[TKDfella]

3 hours ago, chuang said:

The restaurant is only taking a cue from the army...

A true word said in jest? This is the problem, certain parts of the community cannot and don't how to handle rejection, insults and most of all the truth. So what happens instead they scrape up some law and hide behind it. Riddled with corruption from top to bottom, a lies reign supreme.

[wvavin]

4 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Telling the truth comes with a heavy price, as witnessed on numerous occasions.

This is the reason why one cannot be too honest on this shitty land!

[sahibji]

4 hours ago, Lamkyong said:

so where did the actual Jail THREAT come from  ??

and which authority is going to mete out the jail sentence.

[DeeMak9]

So has anyone the balls the post the name haha?

[Sprigger]

I walked past this very same restaurant last night and shouted your chicken is rubbery, owner replied thank you very much mister.

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, DeeMak9 said:

So has anyone the balls the post the name haha?

I don't think that is going to be OK considering the attitude of the owner.

[Nip]

4 hours ago, mcdiddly said:

The definition of defamation is; the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel. Slander and libel is based on the legal primis that the statement is false. An opinion is subjective. 

Your absolutely right. But this is Thailand and the courts consider ... "Be the accused innocent or guilty is immaterial the fact is the man has been defamed" The might of the BBC accepted this in Phuket Court and when there was an opportunity to expose the law they ran scared of a two bit corrupt back street lawyer.... The defamation laws are a tool for the corrupt and guilty . .  indeed a get out of jail card.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Nip

[PatOngo]

18 minutes ago, wvavin said:

This is the reason why one cannot be too honest on this shitty land!

Ain't that the truth! 

[Internatltraveler]

I do not read these articles on a daily basis because it seems we expats are full of outhouse attorneys, experts in the world of everything and quite often just full of crap with our complaining about living in Thailand. I am not going to defend or argue about what is said here but maybe an intelligent objective comment is called for when there are so many crazies out there who sit around and have nothing more to do than just to complain and bash wherever they live at the time.

 

We may not agree with our host country and we try to measure how it is in the countries where we hail from against the laws, standards, and beliefs in our host country. The huge issue that is obviously just passed over so often in these discussions is that every country (and I have lived in 10 countries now) has their own standards of conduct, their rules of society, their own laws to which people are expected to abide by. We cannot legitimately say they are wrong and we are right since this country has the perfectly legitimate right to establish laws and standards the government sees fit to establish.

 

Each of our countries has laws that are strange to foreigners and often even to the citizens of our countries, and often time they are not strictly enforced and subject to ridicule for being outdated, irrational and otherwise downright stupid. But they are still the laws that we are held accountable to. Comments defining legal terms by the definitions of our own countries mean nothing outside the boundaries of our countries in reality. Yes, they may be dated and even need to be changed, but to sit and quibble about these issues as a foreigner in a host country is not going to make things better. We have no voting rights here, we do not influence the laws here very much, even with our egotistical thinking that all the money we are spending as expats will make a difference in the government.

 

I suggest that we learn to abide by the laws and contribute answers to the issues facing this country (unless all you want to do is sit around, drink your beer and complain all the time). Most of us live here because we have gotten tired of our own cultures or maybe we are hiding from someone or just are undesirable nomads seeking hidden asylums in far away places. I love to travel and have never had conflict in any country anywhere in the world. I first become knowledgeable about the laws that are going to affect me in my new host country to make sure I can live there personally; that I feel relatively safe and secure and can experience the local culture close up and real. If you just sit around and complain you are not going to enjoy the wonders of Thailand and its beauty. But you certainly can find other expats that have nothing better to do then support your negativity.

 

You always have choices in life. A choice you have here, as you did in the country you came from, is to be positive and understand what is expected of you here, abide by the rules, honor the society and respect the differences in Thailand from your own country or quite honestly just move on to another place that you can complain about again. Do you really think all of your pissing and moaning is going to change things in a culture that is over 5000 years old? Come on and get real!!! All we do is to alienate more Thais who already don't want us here and sit other foreigners up as "rich people who think they can buy anything including the Thai culture with their pension checks."

 

I have found out in my long years of living that we have a choice to be negative about most everything or we can be positive. It seems to me that life is so much more worth living and our experiences become much more rewarding when we do things for others first of all, get away from our own narcissistic thinking, our holier than thou attitudes and learn about the country we are living in. Look to its good side, to the friendly people, those that will help us in our moment of emergency, those that are sincerely well meaning people who want to please and serve us the best they know how. Why not be thankful for this opportunity that we have been given to enjoy the remaining years of our lives rather than sit around and complain about every little ant that crawls across our thresholds?

 

I know these words will probably be ridiculed and more negative comments made, but I have developed a huge shield against negativity that the best of you cannot penetrate, so read, think, and maybe life could be so good if you really wanted it to be! I bet if I were to live in any country any of you have come from, I could sit and find so much to complain about that you would want me to exit out of the nearest border as fast as I could move. And I would hear the resounding comment, "well if you don't like it here, just move on."

Edited March 27, 2018 by Internatltraveler

[Media1]

yeah the food sucked and with a owner like that l wonder why lol

[PatOngo]

12 minutes ago, DeeMak9 said:

So has anyone the balls the post the name haha?

It's.................The Restaurant That Can't be Named.

[PatOngo]

1 minute ago, Internatltraveler said:

I do not read these articles on a daily basis because it seems we expats are full of outhouse attorneys, experts in the world of everything and quite often just full of crap with our complaining about living in Thailand. I am not going to defend or argue about what is said here but maybe an intelligent objective comment is called for when there are so many crazies out there who sit around and have nothing more to do than just to complain and bash wherever they live at the time.

 

We may not agree with our host country and we try to measure how it is in the countries where we hail from against the laws, standards, and beliefs in our host country. The huge issue that is obviously just passed over so often in these discussions is that every country (and I have lived in 10 countries now) has their own standards of conduct, their rules of society, their own laws to which people are expected to abide by. We cannot legitimately say they are wrong and we are right since this country has the perfectly legitimate right to establish laws and standards the government sees fit to establish.

 

Each of our countries has laws that are strange to foreigners and often even to the citizens of our countries, and often time they are not strictly enforced and subject to ridicule for being outdated, irrational and otherwise downright stupid. But they are still the laws that we are held accountable to. Comments defining legal terms by the definitions of our own countries mean nothing outside the boundaries of our countries in reality. Yes, they may be dated and even need to be changed, but to sit and quibble about these issues as a foreigner in a host country is not going to make things better. We have no voting rights here, we do not influence the laws here very much, even with our egotistical thinking that all the money we are spending as expats will make a difference in the government.

 

I suggest that we learn to abide by the laws and contribute answers to the issues facing this country (unless all you want to do is sit around, drink your beer and complain all the time). Most of us live here because we have gotten tired of our own cultures or maybe we are hiding from someone or just are undesirable nomads seeking hidden asylums in far away places. I love to travel and have never had conflict in any country anywhere in the world. I first become knowledgeable about the laws that are going to affect me in my new host country to make sure I can live there personally; that I feel relatively safe and secure and can experience the local culture close up and real. If you just sit around and complain you are not going to enjoy the wonders of Thailand and its beauty. But you certainly can find other expats that have nothing better to do then support your negativity.

 

You always have choices in life. A choice you have here, as you did in the country you came from, is to be positive and understand what is expected of you here, abide by the rules, honor the society and respect the differences in Thailand from your own country or quite honestly just move on to another place that you can complain about again. Do you really think all of your pissing and moaning is going to change things in a culture that is over 5000 years old? Come on and get real!!! All we di us to alienate more Thais who already don't want us here and sit other foreigners up as "rich people who think they can buy anything including the Thail culture with their pension checks."

 

I have found out in my long years of living that we have a choice to be negative about most everything or we can be positive. It seems to me that life is so much more worth living and our experiences become much more rewarding when we do things for others first of all, get away from our own narcissistic thinking, our holier than thou attitudes and learn about the country we are living in. Look to its good side, to the friendly people, those that will help us in our moment of emergency, those that are sincerely well meaning people who want to please and serve us the best they know how. Why not be thankful for this opportunity that we have been given to enjoy the remaining years of our lives rather than sit around and complain about every little ant that crawls across our thresholds?

 

I know these words will probably be ridiculed and more negative comments made, but I have developed a huge shield against negativity that the best of you cannot penetrate, so read, think, and maybe life could be so good if you really wanted it to be! I bet if I were to live in any country any of you have come from, I could sit and find so much to complain about that you would want me to exit out of the nearest border as fast as I could move. And I would hear the resounding comment, "well if you don't like it here, just move on."

Come on, tell us what's on your mind!

[Marley01]

And unfortunately that is the problem with the media in Thailand, too gutless to report the facts for fear of being sued. 

Grow a set and take it head on with these cretins and if you get sued, report that too.