Opinion: Bad review of Koh Chang hotel: The only real loser is Thai tourism

[Fex Bluse]

10 hours ago, camble said:

This resort owes the customer a free weekend in their finest suite for having to spend a weekend in jail, and with no corkage fees.

One of the staff or owners would probably poison him. Vindictive bunch. Elephant memories and all that. 

[rumak]

10 hours ago, Skallywag said:

The guy was a jerk.  Deport all American jerks I say. (just not me - haha)

Over fifteen years we have rented our small houses out.  Most tenants have been american . We choose carefully but i would still say that 80% would definitely go in the "entitled" category.   Three nightmare tenants were all american  (to be fair, 2 have been very nice ! )

     

I definitely do not like stereotyping...  but damn if one can refrain from my experiences.

Three best tenants :   Canadian          even the guy my daughter married is really nice.  (Canadian)

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by rumak

[Venom]

10 hours ago, ChipButty said:

English tabloids it even got the name "Death Island" did it stop people going there?

Yes. 

[Fex Bluse]

5 minutes ago, rumak said:

Over fifteen years we have rented our small houses out.  Most tenants have been american . We choose carefully but i would still say that 80% would definitely go in the "entitled" category.   Three nightmare tenants were all american  (to be fair, 2 have been very nice ! )

     

I definitely do not like stereotyping...  but damn if one can refrain from my experiences.

Three best tenants :   Canadian          even the guy my daughter married is really nice.  (Canadian)

 

It's not about entitlement I reckon. America has very strong consumer rights culture and is very litigious. It is one of the reasons the country has been so economically successful over the last century. They demand a certain level of service where many other nationalities don't. 

[Miami007]

A tornado in a teacup. There is no tourism to Thailand to speak of at the moment. Nobody will remember this story in 2 or 3 months - and by the time borders are open for Europeans and Americans it won't have an impact at all.  

[cardinalblue]

Swag,

 

haven’t you ever heard that the customer is always right?...then you proceed from there....

tells you how behind thailand is when they have the police intervene on their behalf about perceived customer service...

 

what about setting up a system thru a trained customer relations Dept?

 

When I was an administrative resident  and had to rotate thru our Patient Relations dept, not once did I think about calling the police b/c because they couldn’t get an appointment, a rude physician or Inferior hospital food.....

 

You resolve the issue as best you can thru negotiations and empathy....you keep the issue in house and de-escalate the situation...you bend policies and rules if need be...you start from the customer is always right and soon you usually find the root cause was something else like a family issue at home....Most people are eventually reasonable but you got to work at it...

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by cardinalblue

[CM Dad]

Thirty years ago, when I first came to live in Thailand, I operated a restaurant.  The restaurant was enclosed and air-conditioned, had comfortable seating, and served both Thai and Western food.   One evening a German tourist came in with a group of his friends.  His friends all ordered food and beverages, but this one individual did not.  He was carrying a plastic bag containing Paht Thai that he had purchased at a street-side stall down the street from my restaurant.  The only dish they served was Paht Thai.  They did have tables and stools along the side of the street for customers.  Even though he did not wish to order anything, he did ask for a plate, a spoon, a fork, and a glass for the water which he also had brought with him.  He seemed surprised when I told him that I would be happy to provide what he had requested, but the charge would be 200 baht.  He asked why, and I explained that I had to buy the dishes and cutlery that he requested, along with the comfortable cushioned chair and nice table.  I also had to pay the staff that would have to serve him and wash the dishes after he used them.  I also had to pay for the air-conditioning, the electricity, the water and the dish soap.

 

He then simply said "okay".  I think it was because his friends laughed and teased him, saying I was right. 

 

The customer at the hotel was wrong.  He sounds like a total jerk who thought he was somehow privileged.  Even after the hotel said they would waive the corkage charge, the guy continued to act like a jerk.  The article said he worked as a teacher.  In my opinion, his school should terminate him and his visa and work permit should be revoked.

[camble]

12 minutes ago, CM Dad said:

Thirty years ago, when I first came to live in Thailand, I operated a restaurant.  The restaurant was enclosed and air-conditioned, had comfortable seating, and served both Thai and Western food.   One evening a German tourist came in with a group of his friends.  His friends all ordered food and beverages, but this one individual did not.  He was carrying a plastic bag containing Paht Thai that he had purchased at a street-side stall down the street from my restaurant.  The only dish they served was Paht Thai.  They did have tables and stools along the side of the street for customers.  Even though he did not wish to order anything, he did ask for a plate, a spoon, a fork, and a glass for the water which he also had brought with him.  He seemed surprised when I told him that I would be happy to provide what he had requested, but the charge would be 200 baht.  He asked why, and I explained that I had to buy the dishes and cutlery that he requested, along with the comfortable cushioned chair and nice table.  I also had to pay the staff that would have to serve him and wash the dishes after he used them.  I also had to pay for the air-conditioning, the electricity, the water and the dish soap.

 

He then simply said "okay".  I think it was because his friends laughed and teased him, saying I was right. 

 

The customer at the hotel was wrong.  He sounds like a total jerk who thought he was somehow privileged.  Even after the hotel said they would waive the corkage charge, the guy continued to act like a jerk.  The article said he worked as a teacher.  In my opinion, his school should terminate him and his visa and work permit should be revoked.

Sure the guy’s a jerk, but he’s not a freeloader.  He paid 6,000 baht for a room as a walk-in, and he ends up in jail for it.  That’s great customer service, wouldn’t you say?

[Peterphuket]

4 hours ago, hellohello123 said:

What on earth?

 

So just becuase they don't stock the drink you brought,  you are entitled to drink it without surcharge??

 

No wonder thais think farangs  are idiots

 

Is your first name Wesley by any chance?

It is already ridiculous when you offer the option of corkage.

Accept what we offer, if you don't like...please go to another restaurant.

This are the rules of our restaurant.

Simple as that.

[David T Pike]

I suppose when you have only 10-20% occupancy you need to squeeze as much $ as you can out of guests just to be able to pay your employees. I have never heard of a corkage fee at a Hotel unless you brought it into their lounge/bar...

[tomauasia]

11 hours ago, YetAnother said:

thais consider being criticized as loss of face; not allowable in their culture

And what culture is that LOL 

[tomauasia]

As I said in a previous story relating to this. No good family's will travel to a corrupt anti white destination. Thailand was good for beaches booze and girls. End..

[Mayhem11]

It is without a doubt an extremely disturbing story. The usual approach to a bad review is to respond on the site where it is made. I can only hope that the tourist does not settle by paying this hotel some money, or that the Judge throws it out. It is clearly a waste of the Court’s time. I will follow this case with great interest.

 

i also think that this Koh Chang hotel needs to be named and shamed. 

Edited October 1, 2020 by Mayhem11

[DirtyHarry55]

13 hours ago, 2long said:

From what I can gather, the guy appeared to be set on writing a barrage of reviews, both on TA and on Google, using new/fake accounts, and maybe help from friends. That (not a couple of negative reviews) and the words slavery and coronavirus are what worried the resort and inspired them to reach out, as well as replying to his TA review. IMO if he had left just one bad review on each platform, nothing would have happened. It was the threat of continuous bad reviews that worried them.

So a Barrage of 4 reviews with one removed lol.

[David Garden]

The story is not about the corkage fee anymore it is all about losing face when there is a bad review. They should have avoided to go to far, they will regret more than 100  times.

[SomchaiCNX]

Can business owners go to an online site where they can report bad customers? That would be fun. Can employers go to an online site and report their employees if they don't work correctly? Labor unions would sue them right away. Would you be happy if your boss would put your bad working days online? No, yet he has to fire you if somebody complains about you on trip tripadvisor? Some people don't realise that it can take years and many long working days to build up a business. Owners make double or triple the hours employees do during the week. And then one day any A hole is allowed to judge them online. This person just crossed the line.

[PremiumLane]

18 minutes ago, SomchaiCNX said:

Can business owners go to an online site where they can report bad customers? That would be fun. Can employers go to an online site and report their employees if they don't work correctly? Labor unions would sue them right away. Would you be happy if your boss would put your bad working days online? No, yet he has to fire you if somebody complains about you on trip tripadvisor? Some people don't realise that it can take years and many long working days to build up a business. Owners make double or triple the hours employees do during the week. And then one day any A hole is allowed to judge them online. This person just crossed the line.

The fact that you can't tell the difference between a review of a business and giving more power to a boss to treat underpaid staff like <deleted>, is telling

[Sumarianson]

Thailand is finished as a tourist resort causing much hardship for those in the tourism business. This is just one more nail in the self inflicted coffin. The government is willing to destroy lives and businesses for a virus ( not a pandemic) that has a far less effect than the flu. This economic turndown which will be seen as the worst to hit Thailand for a generation was caused by an overzelous clampdown without seeing the evidence and assessing the potential damage and death toll through a clampdown. Idiot and over zelous medical advisors eager to make a nsme for themselves have certainly done that but the names they are called is not publishable in Thailand for fear of another stupid defamation claim. 

[Thaivisa2006]

the land of smile....

and tourists damn better smile also!

????

[whaleboneman]

12 hours ago, Flying Saucage said:

The hotel is owned by one of the most influential Thais on the island, and who is also quite controversial as many say. It is quite obvious that he is the one behind the prosecution. I assume he owns 100% of the hotel. The Czech guy is only an employee, who does what he is told.

Well in that case, the American will be lucky if he only gets a jail sentence.

[DogNo1]

Did the hotel attempt to apologize to the guest and make things right?  I am reminded of the divers jailed for handling sea creatures.  I sometimes lose my temper about poor service or other mistakes but not very often.  It is sobering to realize that I could be arrested or jailed for doing so.  Thailand seems to have changed, perhaps due to an excessive number of tourists.  Too many tourists cause stress to a society.  Perhaps it's time for me to go home.

[whaleboneman]

7 hours ago, randy723 said:

Thanks to the resort and their actions my 4 friends who were coming here and going to go into quarantine  for 14 days, then stay here for 3 months have now cancelled their trip and going to Vietnam. Thanks to the Thai court and police, keep up helping the resort and helping your pockets, now I will not get to see my friends.

Isn't Vietnam closed?

[P100]

Idiot Thai hotel management. Need a fight with a paying customer? Can not just smile and be nice? Or find a compromise to make the customer happy? What f**king hospitality is that if you let escalate a dispute like this. Incompetwnt hotel manager. Idiot Thai style. Nothing more. Yes there are many difficult customers but if you run a hotel i expect you to be professional enough in your actions! Take the hit and bleed for your Thai stupidity! Unfortunately lits of damage has been done to to entire tourism by this, and just wait for court decisions, than it all will go once ahain thru all media, this time reporting about lack of justice in a military state. Well done idiot Thai hero... you kept your face and damaged the industry.

[EricTh]

I don't think it will affect tourism in Thailand at all just because of one hotel. That news is exaggerating.

 

There are so many people who still think that Thailand is heaven and think of many ways to legally and illegally extend their stay in Thailand.

Edited October 1, 2020 by EricTh

[alyx]

7 minutes ago, whaleboneman said:

Well in that case, the American will be lucky if he only gets a jail sentence.

It is not anymore about what the guest gets. That has become irrelevant. As I have mentioned in another thread about that matter, the saying "there is no bad publicity" does not apply to this case. The hotel has shot itself down and will not recover from it (even though they would advertise "under new management"). I am not sure if Thailand will suffer from this as it is an isolated case, and definitely unheard off, which will land in the "mishaps" but it does not look good.

What I do not understand is why the hotel did not keep replying to the comments as it is their rights. I have personally wrote negative comments on a few venues in the past, (a lot of comments were positive though:))  and will continue to do so if needs to be, but the hotels/restaurants always replied politely apologising (usually 4/5 stars) or denying/enquiring by stating their side of the story. By definition biased comments are the name of the game whether it is positive or negative: it is the personal opinion and personal view of the poster and that cannot be changed. Full stop.

[alyx]

1 minute ago, EricTh said:

I don't think it will affect tourism in Thailand at all just because of one hotel. That news is exaggerating.

 

There are so many people who still think that Thailand is heaven and think of many ways to illegally stay in Thailand.

 

 

 

 

I agree,  but...it did make the headlines throughout the world. People have a short memory but...comments remain and they will remember when they are looking at a choice of hotels at Kho Chang, and hopefully this will only be the problem of that specific hotel.

[P100]

15 hours ago, pkrv said:

There's definitely fault on both sides of this situation, but I do think that Thai tourism will come off the worst, at least for now while this issue is in people's minds. Of course the tourism sector is currently reeling with Covid-19 anyway.

 

For me, the thing to take away from the whole debacle is the severity of the draconian defamation laws here and how they can be used (misused). I'll be pausing my Tripadvisor reviews in Thailand for now.

Rather pause your stay in Thailand. If they can't or refuse to make it right, you need to stand up and say it.

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, ReLo said:

We all know that if they could do it easily ALL THAI would like to sue foreigners for a bad review, this is the way they are and the way they (can't) think.

 

Our only chance is that it's not so easy for them to sue and we are smarter than them when using fake names and VPNs.

You think you are smarter than Thai’s ???  The fact that you announce that highlights that you aren’t and nullifies the rest of your post such that it squanders only in the realms of idiocy. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Onrai]

20 hours ago, rkidlad said:

As for people who think the actions of the hotel were justified, here are some headlines from big news publications about the story:

 

"American faces prison in Thailand over bad hotel review" - the Guardian

 

"US man faces jail in Thailand over hotel review" - BBC news

 

"American could face prison in Thailand over negative reviews of a resort" - The New York Times

 

And it goes on. I wonder how bad these headlines will be for all of tourism in Thailand compared to the three published comments the American made?

The international spin on this incident is that Thailand has Draconian defamation laws. There is just so much inherent hypocrisy and enthnocenthric bias in this reporting. President Trump is involved in multiple libel lawsuits.  So, yes it happens all the time in the USA. Posting a bad review is one thing but this guy clearly stepped over the line, used multiple emails to post negative reviews. Trip Advisor and Google and every other social media company have rules to prevent exactly this kind of abuse. ThaiVisa Forum has rules about “flaming”. Clearly the media skewed the story to make it more salacious instead of presenting a clear unbias facts.

[madisongy]

You can please all of the people, some of the time, and some of the people, all of the time.  But you can't please all the people all of the time.  

Hotel should let it go.   Guy is a moron for complaining about idiotic things while he was drunk, but if your resort is a good one, the positive reviews should outweigh the negative.