Some off topic posts, troll posts, baiting posts and the replies have been removed. 

5 hours ago, 4evermaat said:

The issue never should have gone this far in the first place.....from either side.    Glad to see the matter can be settled amicably though

It should not have been settled like this.

Not only one side at fault.

 

Arresting and threatening with jail is too far over the top. He should have got a high compensation (then he might apologize)

 

The issue never should have gone this far in the first place..

because of the hotel and

 

Edited October 9, 20205 yr by sweatalot

When my wife had her restaurant in Chiang Mai, she would charge corkage for people bringing in their own booze.  A nominal 100 baht for a bottle of wine and 200 baht for hard liquor.  Farangs rarely brought their own as we had a good selection of wines and imported beers.  However Thai customers would almost always bring their own whiskey.  Nothing wrong with that apart from a few that came in four at a time, ordered one green curry and four glasses and sat there all night enjoying the music and air conditioning. 

 

This would wind the wife up no end as they got louder and more drunk as time passed.  So she increased the corkage charge to 500 baht for bottles of spirits.  It cut down the gangs of drinkers by about 90%.

I would like someone to write to Booking, hotel or TripAdvisor and ask them why they haven't closed the abilities to make reviews on hotels in Thailand. Clearly you can't make a bad review and that should come up as a reminder when booking a hotel in  Thailand. Or at least a reminder to wait until you're out of Thailand.. 

51 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

But the twerp re-posted it on Tripadvisor and also popped it on a few more travel sites that DID NOT remove his own "Thai child-like" hissy fit over corkage, his aberrant distaste for Czech nationals, a bizarre notion on slavery and (possibly) the room being outside his budget in the first place.

None of which warrants the kind of actions the hotel took in any way shape or form. The vast majority of people reading the reviews and comments would have seen that the reviewer in question was not a reliable source of information, especially when other reviews were taken into account.

 

Again, 'tis the internet, no room for fragility, face or ego here. 

 

Only a petulant child would seek jailing someone over something so trivial and petty. 

6 hours ago, Seismic said:

You can bring in your own drink, but like establishments all over the world they charge a corkage fee. This is a common and well accepted practice.

Yes it is a common practice.

But in this case i believe I read that the amount charged was 350 Baht .

Pretty steep "corkage" for washing 2 glasses !

I believe I read that they were drinking from an open bottle of Gin that they started drinking at the beach.

6 hours ago, Shuya said:

Damn it, I had 20 bucks on "big misunderstanding"

Damn it, I had a round of beers for the boys on "big wai to everyone" and "thank you for my <deleted>". Well, we'll have the beers anyway, which I'll pay without posting anything on anywhere ???? 

The American boy does not care as long as he can get away over this incident. What really happened we'll never know but certainly there was a story which was ....... well, let's not get there, do we? 

The hotel is toast - for good - and I, for one, cannot hide chuckling 8-) 

1 minute ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

None of which warrants the kind of actions the hotel took in any way shape or form. The vast majority of people reading the reviews and comments would have seen that the reviewer in question was not a reliable source of information, especially when other reviews were taken into account.

 

Again, 'tis the internet, no room for fragility, face or ego here. 

 

Only a petulant child would seek jailing someone over something so trivial and petty. 

A hotel already facing challenges due to the collapse of tourism doesn't need a vindictive twerp repeatedly posting lies though. A hotel already facing challenges due to the collapse of tourism can't count on every travel advisory website surfer being as savvy as you suggest they need to be. The Thai-bash is strangely enough a very rewarding activity for some as the 11 pages (so far) on this thread can attest.

 

The internet is also no place for idiots. My opinion of Tripadvisor isn't the best since most 'advisors' aren't regular travelers. I take this from a review by some earnest but ultimately clueless western visitors to a US-owned burger and Tex-Mex place in Nha Trang, Vietnam. They slated it for it's limited choice, authenticity and comparative cost but rounded out their review with the admission that they weren't actually looking for a burger or Tex-Mex after all.  They were after some classic Vietnamese Phở but, having risen too late, found it wasn't readily available.... so they slagged off a place that they never intended to eat in anyway.

 

As for jailing as punishment, as totally disproportionate as it is, Thai law allows it.

No worries, they won’t see many Americans coming now.  Baht up 2% in two weeks.  Amazing Thailand.

1 hour ago, GeilGeilertzen said:

This is exactly the riff raff that should never have entered Thailand it being a tourist country or not.  
Big mouth screamers always out to make thais feel like a lower class or criticizing Thai culture in many aspects. Sadly to say but very often from they are from the UK. 
Just leave, just go home is the the preferred action.

But... he's not a tourist, he's a teacher (or was).

2 hours ago, Flying Saucage said:

People in the West and the newspapers there understand quite well how dictatorships and corrupt totalitarian banana republics work, whereas some Western expats in Thailand obviously tend to forget these things after living in Thailand too long already. 

OMG you are SO right!

 

I had completely forgotten I was living in some parochial, backward, myopic and xenophobic far eastern backwater until you just reminded me. You're a Godsend!

 

Thanks!

NL

1 minute ago, NanLaew said:

OMG you are SO right!

 

I had completely forgotten I was living in some parochial, backward, myopic and xenophobic far eastern backwater until you just reminded me. You're a Godsend!

 

Thanks!

NL

I said some, not all, my friend ????

I am genuinely afraid to make any comment for fear of being tracked down and slapped with an defamation suit.

This should be a lesson to all who respond on this blog. Be very careful what you say. You are a guest in someone else's country.

They make the laws as is their right. If you think that you have anonymity on this blog be using some clever profile name... well you might just be mistaken.

 

As someone who has visited in over 70 countries and lived for longer than 6 months in at least a dozen of those, here is my best advise.

Mind your tongue. You are here at the pleasure of the country of Thailand. You do not have to agree with their laws but you must follow them. 

to steal a line from the "Wizard of Oz" , "You aren't in Kansas anymore Dorothy". 

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Wrong. He is a tourist that will be quickly forgotten. This extremely tone deaf, incompetent and arrogant administration, will have egg on their faces for a long time, over this foolishness and very poorly timed pettiness. And the hotel will lose an enormous amount of business over this lack of goodwill. As far as the local franchisees go (the cops), their reputation could not be any worse, so no real loss there.

 

Horrible judgment all the way around. 

I would wager that a whole slew of "tourists" will have run out of amnesties, packed their bags and slunk off home before this hotel experiences any sort of backlash. If the Thai bashers among us who cling firmly to the "they don't like us here" mantra are to be believed, the domestic Thai tourist (that is Thai people) will be beating a path to this hotel's lobby just because it stuck a big dry one up the arrogant ass of a gobby farang.

This whole farce lays solely in the hands of the Hotel Manager, whether Wesley Barnes was lying or not.

What should have happened is the Hotel Manger could have simply ignored the bad reviews and let it blow over or even better turned this into a PR success for the hotel. He should have written to Mr.Barnes saying something like 'We are sorry you were dissatisfied with your recent stay with us and it was not up our usual standard and we would like to rectify this by offering you a complimentary weekend stay in one of our best rooms, where I feel sure you will be thoroughly taken aback by our hospitality etc'. Then take some pictures of the Hotel Manager and Mr.Barnes shaking hands. It would cost the Hotel hardly anything, but think of the good publicity.

Instead the guy was in jail for a few days and threatened with 5 years jail and a fine. Not only that this was in every international newspaper and broadcast media.

What most people will take away from this is 1.) Don't stay in this hotel. 2.) Never write a bad review about a hotel in Thailand and maybe don't go to Thailand.

What has happened could have so easily been a big plus for the hotel, but in reality its a huge disaster.

Now what has come out of this is laughable. Mr. Barnes was offered,  you either apologize, grovel a lot or you will go to jail. Anyone in their right mind would take this offer, even if he thought he was in the right.

5 hours ago, steven100 said:

I just don't get your thinking on a lack of common sense and practicality sometimes.  

The guy did wrong but you try to turn it around. 

Try doing what he did in Australia and see if you get off with an apology.  Try posting in any country with lies on many websites and see what happens, i'm sure you be sued in most of them and especially in the US.   LOL

As for your other question on army tweets, I don't follow twitter or army tweets so I cannot comment.

 

In Australia would you be arrested and jailed?..or in any country you mention? They can sue if they think they have a case but they’d have to put their money betting on that ,and they could lose. I’ll remind you that Thailand’s defamation laws don’t require the accusation to be untrue to be prosecuted. Are you unable to understand those two very important differences? 

6 hours ago, rkidlad said:

What could one take away from this? Write a bad review, get arrested and put in jail, and then apologise and say you were lying. It's still the same message; write a bad review and we'll send you to prison. 

 

 

did it not occur to you that maybe he was lying ?

1 minute ago, Steve Mepham said:

did it not occur to you that maybe he was lying ?

What's your point?

He Must be stupid to know that Thais do not allow to lose face . Now he knows the cost . i bet the lawyer was not free. 

5 minutes ago, nchuckle said:

In Australia would you be arrested and jailed?..or in any country you mention? They can sue if they think they have a case but they’d have to put their money betting on that ,and they could lose. I’ll remind you that Thailand’s defamation laws don’t require the accusation to be untrue to be prosecuted. Are you unable to understand those two very important differences? 

The fact that this guy decided to continue to post negative reviews over several days suggests he was being vindictive and spiteful. it would seem this was a big mistake.

 

i take customer service calls and am constantly told at the start of calls that unless the caller gets what they want they will slaughter us on Trust Pilot or other sites. and it is now nearly impossible to remove malicious reviews.

8 hours ago, petermik said:

Lying toe rag lucky to get off so lightly....mouth bigger than his brain....som nom na....

To avoid Thai jail, so many would admit lying gif they didn't lie. <deleted> What a Joke!

13 minutes ago, mikeymike100 said:

This whole farce lays solely in the hands of the Hotel Manager, whether Wesley Barnes was lying or not.

What should have happened is the Hotel Manger could have simply ignored the bad reviews and let it blow over or even better turned this into a PR success for the hotel. He should have written to Mr.Barnes saying something like 'We are sorry you were dissatisfied with your recent stay with us and it was not up our usual standard and we would like to rectify this by offering you a complimentary weekend stay in one of our best rooms, where I feel sure you will be thoroughly taken aback by our hospitality etc'. Then take some pictures of the Hotel Manager and Mr.Barnes shaking hands. It would cost the Hotel hardly anything, but think of the good publicity.

Instead the guy was in jail for a few days and threatened with 5 years jail and a fine. Not only that this was in every international newspaper and broadcast media.

What most people will take away from this is 1.) Don't stay in this hotel. 2.) Never write a bad review about a hotel in Thailand and maybe don't go to Thailand.

What has happened could have so easily been a big plus for the hotel, but in reality its a huge disaster.

Now what has come out of this is laughable. Mr. Barnes was offered,  you either apologize, grovel a lot or you will go to jail. Anyone in their right mind would take this offer, even if he thought he was in the right.

Firstly a negative review WILL hurt your business, I rely on reviews all the time when booking hotels or restaurants.

 

To give everybody with a perceived beef a free stay would probably put you out of business quicker than bad reviews. 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Now Mr Barnes, who reportedly lives and works in Thailand

Maybe not for much longer

As someone else has already mentioned, what's the point of having a website like Trip Advisor in Thailand when negative reviews can land you with defamation charges and possible jail time? 

The Thai dog & pony face show in all it's glory. Pathetic.

7 hours ago, Seismic said:

You can bring in your own drink, but like establishments all over the world they charge a corkage fee. This is a common and well accepted practice.

Believe me, not in the Netherlands.

....but maybe that's not part of your world.

8 minutes ago, Steve Mepham said:

The fact that this guy decided to continue to post negative reviews over several days suggests he was being vindictive and spiteful. it would seem this was a big mistake.

In terms of final outcomes, no.
Most damage, by an order of several magnitudes, was done by the hotel to themselves by their man-child response to the situation.

 

 

All this can be settled without going through any big drama in first place.

7 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The regime has once again decided to protect the bigger guy, over the smaller guy. This will not go over well, internationally. Everyone will see right through this badly engineered PR stunt. When faced with jail, and who knows what else, many of us would prefer to "apologize". 

Internationally, it will be ignored. Although the American has agreed to make a grovelling apology to all those listed media outlets, I can't imagine that any of them will publish it. Partly because, as you say, they will see through it, partly because the apology isn't as big a story as jailing someone for writing a negative review and partly because the world has moved on. Now, it's only about saving face for the hotel.