Why you should never leave a negative hotel review in Thailand

[CecilM]

Book under one name. Review under another name?

And I’m curious how a google maps review can be traced back to a specific person.

[h90]

11 minutes ago, tomacht8 said:

It is time that one or the other Thai business manager learns how to deal constructively with legitimate criticism. The concept of possible loss of face prevents progress and improvement.

yes but on the platforms it is not about progress it is you need the 4.9 rating by any means possible. Of course going into a fight after a bad rating makes things only worse....

[sqwakvfr]

How does one say “Constructive Criticism” in Thai?  

[RocketDog]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Never, ever allow yourself to be cowed into submission by cowards and fools. 

 

The defamation laws were written by sold out cowards, to protect rotten players from reprisals, due to bad service, faulty products and bad business. They have no place in today's world. They represent a heinous over reach of toxic power. 

Thailand deserves whatever comes its way as a result of this. Those insane and cowardly defamation laws have been around way too long. They were written and passed by sold out politicians, for men who sell inferior products, offer inferior services, and steal alot of money. And do not intend to be answerable to anyone. Perhaps some of that will change. 

 

For those of us who have been here a awhile, we know that positive change only happens here through utter embarrassment, humiliation, and a loss of face. It never happens because it is the right thing to do, or due to fairness or equity. So, it must be thrust upon them, such as in this incident. 

 

The lack of vision prevents them from seeing it coming. Egg on the face can be a cure for many diseases and weaknesses. 

 

Thanks, but no thanks.

 

I got out of the martyr business after being hung on a cross a few times in my younger days.

 

I don't care as much about helping strangers now as I do keeping myself out of conflict in a foreign country.

 

Leaving negative reviews on hotels here is as foolish as getting involved on brawls between Thai nationals.

 

There is no clear benefit to myself or the strangers in such idealistic pursuits. When was the last time anybody heeded the advice given them by friends or parents, much less some idiot on social media?

 

I quit trying to save the world a few years ago when I realized that we can never save us from ourselves, and really don't deserve to be saved anyway.

 

[Millcx]

Looks like TAT should be projecting 100’s and 1000’s not returning because they can’t be sure of quality … why should any tourist come for low quality chance … just another nail if you ask me and self inflicted 

[oustaristocrats]

4 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

In the last year I have sent lengthy emails to the General Managers of high end hotels in Chiang Mai with a list of complaints.  Both responded with lengthy emails.  I have never left a hotel review on google or TripAdvisor.   Better to ask to speak to a manager upon checkout.  As usual if the manager is not available then start typing.  If the hotel is part of corporate chain then most will respond.  I doubt a stand alone hotel in LOS will ever respond to an email complaint. 

Yes, but the problem of this approach is that the problem is solved for you only. What is the motivation of the General Manager to do better for his hotel, since nothing negative was publicized, nobody else knows what you experienced, the General Manager will be very happy you kept it out of the public. For me, as a new customer I won't have the chance to know what are the real pros and cons of this hotel. 

[Justanotherone]

Let's hope move forward change this ridiculous law that is perfect for thais never have to improve in anything and cannot take criticism even for bad service

 

Together with that other law which gives you 15 years

[ChipButty]

Some guest are just out right liars it's well known tactic to get refunds especially on Airbnb and also if you can prove the review is a pack of lies you can appeal to get it removed.

 

 

[twizzian]

I post lots of reviews on Google, some good, some not so. 
Never had a problem, or am I walking on thin ice in the UK or dirty sea and beach in Pattaya.. Oops!

[Lacessit]

I don't post reviews. I never go back anywhere I have had a bad experience. I go back to businesses that treat me well.

I may be negative with friends about a business, defamation by word of mouth is much less likely to give rise to defamation lawsuits.

[tomacht8]

Sometimes it is also the case that the hotel descriptions on the booking platforms (booking, agoda, etc.) are wrong or misleading.

 

- free parking, yes but 300 meters away from the hotel.

- Rooms with balcony, yes but only subject to availability.

- Hotel in a quiet side street, yes hardly any traffic, but on the neighboring property there is a chicken farm where the roosters start crackling around at 4 am.

 

If somebody is afraid of writing a public review in such cases, you can also write directly to the booking platforms. 

[stoner]

1 hour ago, Joe32 said:

Jesus Christ, bad experiences here? 

huh ? 

 

you are aware of the defamation laws here right ? 

 

wwjd. 

[novacova]

There’s a lot of negative reviews of businesses here in TH on google left by Thais and foreigners with no repercussions. I’m sure it’s the same in most countries, false accusations and defamation is a no no.
 

[JackGats]

I've seen people on hotel sites leave 5 stars, then go on sharply to criticise all the same. So it's up to the discerning reader to know what's going on.

[4MyEgo]

I haven't had any negative reviews to give in all of these years except for one hotel.

 

It went something like this, couldn't sleep all night as the toilet smell from the downstairs lobby all the way to the bedroom was so strong.

 

The kids ended up being bitten by bed bugs.

 

Nice hotel, but due to the above we won't be staying again, as for the return part of our journey paid for room, that's on me as I will drive the extra 5 hours to get home also without the above.

 

Nothing negative to state about the hotel, just stating what transpired during our stay ????

 

[OJAS]

3 hours ago, itsari said:

Yet there seems plenty of people around that do not care and give negative reviews often.

Many of whom are, I strongly suspect, fully paid up members of the Thai bashing brigade on here.

[itsari]

5 minutes ago, OJAS said:

Many of whom are, I strongly suspect, fully paid up members of the Thai bashing brigade on here.

Could well be correct Sir

[jerrymahoney]

1 hour ago, RocketDog said:

I quit trying to save the world a few years ago when I realized that we can never save us from ourselves, and really don't deserve to be saved anyway.

I agree. In LOS -- where someone can be shot close range over a parking dispute -- I try not to cause ill will to anyone.

[sqwakvfr]

1 hour ago, oustaristocrats said:

Yes, but the problem of this approach is that the problem is solved for you only. What is the motivation of the General Manager to do better for his hotel, since nothing negative was publicized, nobody else knows what you experienced, the General Manager will be very happy you kept it out of the public. For me, as a new customer I won't have the chance to know what are the real pros and cons of this hotel. 

I just tell everyone that i know to never go to that XXXX hotel.  Sometimes word of mouth has an impact on a business.  Also, one of the GM’s was a foreigner  (not too many Thai’s are named Carol?) and sounded like she actually heard what I was saying.  In the end I told her the biggest problem was her employees who were lazy and rude.  I think this is her biggest battle:  How to motivate a person from the Sa Bai, Sa Bai culture  to have a sense of urgency or simply give a dam about  Customer service and satisfaction.   

 

“The Truth is usually painful and most in LOS can’t handle it”. 

[Kwasaki]

I don't do reviews anymore.

We mostly only do 1 night stays so just check out the room if it's OK we stay.

Drink and eat out I don't see the problem.

 

If more than one night and we find ok stay, if not find somewhere else simple.

[dunroaming]

8 hours ago, stoner said:

when you are as thin skinned as thai are you need ridiculous laws like this to protect your fragile ego. 

 

losers. 

Lot of truth in that.  We all know in Thailand that making someone lose face is not advisable. Especially for those of us with Thai partners. I remember having to stop my wife taking out a contract on Alexa!

[chalawaan]

Never leave a negative review. IED the managers Mercedes instead. 

[chalawaan]

3 hours ago, CecilM said:

Book under one name. Review under another name?

And I’m curious how a google maps review can be traced back to a specific person.

All Google products link to your Gmail. And your account. It's not that hard to find you with that one bit of info. 

[itsari]

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Never, ever allow yourself to be cowed into submission by cowards and fools. 

 

The defamation laws were written by sold out cowards, to protect rotten players from reprisals, due to bad service, faulty products and bad business. They have no place in today's world. They represent a heinous over reach of toxic power. 

Thailand deserves whatever comes its way as a result of this. Those insane and cowardly defamation laws have been around way too long. They were written and passed by sold out politicians, for men who sell inferior products, offer inferior services, and steal alot of money. And do not intend to be answerable to anyone. Perhaps some of that will change. 

 

For those of us who have been here a awhile, we know that positive change only happens here through utter embarrassment, humiliation, and a loss of face. It never happens because it is the right thing to do, or due to fairness or equity. So, it must be thrust upon them, such as in this incident. 

 

The lack of vision prevents them from seeing it coming. Egg on the face can be a cure for many diseases and weaknesses. 

 

Wast of the world's food resource by wanting to throw eggs at a business.

Most bad reviews are coming from US citizens as they are more accustomed to the internet .

[CecilM]

26 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

All Google products link to your Gmail. And your account. It's not that hard to find you with that one bit of info. 

That’s true. But I can’t even remember if I used my real name when I set up my account. (I’m thinking I didn’t. And I’m thinking most people wouldn’t.)

[chalawaan]

I'm so glad mine is only addicted to candy crush and endless MFP rants on you tube.

[spidermike007]

46 minutes ago, itsari said:

Wast of the world's food resource by wanting to throw eggs at a business.

Most bad reviews are coming from US citizens as they are more accustomed to the internet .

Huh? Please, please, start making sense. We are talking hotels, restaurants, etc. Plenty of room for improvement. And if we are denied the ability to comment and post online, then the worst of the worst can get away with anything they like. 

 

Public forums are our right. And I won't let anyone take that away from us. Defamation laws are for extreme cowards. 

[itsari]

3 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Huh? Please, please, start making sense. We are talking hotels, restaurants, etc. Plenty of room for improvement. And if we are denied the ability to comment and post online, then the worst of the worst can get away with anything they like. 

 

Public forums are our right. And I won't let anyone take that away from us. Defamation laws are for extreme cowards. 

Defamation laws are for the customer and the business .

Many reviews from customers are just pure spite what i see.

Perhaps you can see both sides of you can .

[chalawaan]

14 minutes ago, CecilM said:

That’s true. But I can’t even remember if I used my real name when I set up my account. (I’m thinking I didn’t. And I’m thinking most people wouldn’t.)

You can use aliases on You Tube etc and they encourage it. YT is owned by Alphabet, the Google parent company. 

The thing is, the vast data they collect. 

It's often not clear how much data these companies agree to share with Thailand for the right to operate here. 

I use a VPN rigged so if it goes offline, I can't even use the internet. 

That at least hides my device IP. Also, do take a look at your Google account and make sure you have alternative ways to log back in, that they're all up to date. 

I had some Chinese jackass somehow log in to my Google account from Central Thailand. Luckily I have login alerts switched on. 

After that, I used 2FA or biometric logins as well.

Getting locked out of your Google account without up to date email addresses and phone numbers can really ruin your week. 

[save the frogs]

I'm guessing there are a lot of fake bad reviews.

Possibly from competitors.