American expat escapes Thai jail time for scathing hotel review

[snoop1130]

 

An American expat living in Thailand faced a nightmare scenario when his negative TripAdvisor review landed him in hot water with the law.

 

Wesley Barnes found himself in a legal tussle after leaving a less-than-flattering review of Sea View Resort on Koh Chang. Barnes’ brush with the law began after he described the hotel’s staff as unfriendly and likened their behaviour to modern-day slavery.

 

However, the incident took an unexpected turn when the resort decided to take legal action against Barnes, leading to his brief stint in custody and the looming threat of a two-year prison sentence.

 

Following a gripping mediation session overseen by local authorities, Barnes and the resort settled, sparing him from a potential prison stay. Koh Chang Police Station Superintendent Colonel Kitti Maleehuan disclosed that Barnes had agreed to the hotel’s terms, which included issuing an apology to the establishment and its staff.

 

The deal also requires Barnes to extend apologies to Thailand’s Tourism Authority and the US embassy, securing his freedom in exchange for compliance. Should Barnes uphold his end of the bargain, the hotel has pledged to withdraw its complaint, reported the Times of Malta.

 

But amidst the drama, Thailand’s tourism industry continues to navigate the pandemic’s aftermath, with locals and expats seizing the opportunity to explore deserted resorts as international travel remains restricted.

 

In related news, southern provinces of Thailand are experiencing a boost in room revenue in the first quarter, thanks to extended stays by European visitors. This increase has occurred despite the lesser number of tourists from China. Room rates have reached a new high, setting a record.

 

Hotels in the province, particularly in Khao Lak, are charging higher room rates, between 6,000 and 10,000 baht per night, surpassing the average of 5,000 baht in 2019, a peak tourism year for Thailand.

 

In other news, despite the extended Songkran holiday, a surge in outbound trips is not anticipated, mainly due to high airfares and deflation risk concerns. This perspective comes from travel agents who predict that the 21-day Water Festival campaign is more likely to entice foreign tourists than the local market.

 

By Puntid Tantivangphaisal

Caption: Photo courtesy of Pinterest

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-02-22

 

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[stoner]

But amidst the drama, Thailand’s tourism industry continues to navigate the pandemic’s aftermath, with locals and expats seizing the opportunity to explore deserted resorts as international travel remains restricted. 

 

what ? 

[worgeordie]

No comment  ....the only sure way not to be sued 

 

 

regards Worgeodie

[sammieuk1]

Land of litigation for the most trivial nonsense whilst the country sinks in a swamp of corruption said one anonymous poster🤔

[Sigmund]

Always give out on such bad services, only once out of thailand and use an account that you do not touch when back in Land of Scams. Consumers are fed up with bad service all over Thailand and the firms who take foreigners for cash cows.

[AlexRich]

It’s true that some people abuse the Trustpilot system but taking someone to Court defeats the purpose. They might save face but they also garner much wider publicity worldwide … as a place to avoid. 

[smedly]

they can't admit to anything and take it on the chin, this is outrageous 

 

if I ran a business I would welcome negative feedback so that I knew were to improve 

[Elkski]

Is rhis the old case where the guy not happy they charged him a cork fee? 

 

Negative and true reviews should not have any risk of a lawsuit.  Its hard to imagine the twisted mind of a manager or hotel owner who would sue.  Its scary to realize they think like dis. 

[NoDisplayName]

Will the newspaper that ran the article publishing the name of the resort face charges when this gets picked up by the western press?

[steven100]

you can't tell the truth here ...  If your hotel is dirty,  or the service isn't good ... you can't say anything. ...

if you go to a restaurant and the meal was well below what should have been provided, or the table waiter is rude or the service is non-existent ....  you can't say anything. 

 

you must lie .... 😂

[josephbloggs]

On 2/22/2024 at 8:19 PM, stoner said:

But amidst the drama, Thailand’s tourism industry continues to navigate the pandemic’s aftermath, with locals and expats seizing the opportunity to explore deserted resorts as international travel remains restricted. 

 

what ? 

More Thaigar nonsense - they have no standards. The pandemic, empty resorts and restricted international travel ended two years ago - how can a "reporter" even write that? And how did it get past editorial? When I read that the first thing I did was check the date of the article in case it was a couple of years old, but alas it is not. Really really poor.

[JackGats]

Old story. Tripadvisor ended up publishing a warning about the resort. The sueing backfired spectacularly.

[josephbloggs]

32 minutes ago, smedly said:

they can't admit to anything and take it on the chin, this is outrageous 

 

if I ran a business I would welcome negative feedback so that I knew were to improve 

It wasn't just a bad review though, was it. I have left bad reviews (including at that same resort) but haven't been sued. In fact that resort even replied to thank me for the feedback and they would improve on my points.

The guy was rowdy and didn't want to pay corkage for bringing his own drinks to the restaurant (200 baht if I remember). He then went on to multiple sites to post falsehoods, accused the hotel of being guilty of slavery and other slanderous things. They asked him to take them down but he doubled down and posted more - it was very personal and vindictive. 

I agree the hotel was stupid to sue, Thailand's libel laws are hugely flawed and abused, and the whole story gets forgotten along the way (as evidenced in this thread) and it becomes "you can go to jail for posting a negative review in Thailand" which is not the case. He posted slander and wouldn't take it down when asked.

If he had said "I didn't like the service and I was disappointed to be asked to pay corkage" nothing would have happened. But if you publicly accuse the management of slavery then it is a different thing.

 

[chickenslegs]

14 minutes ago, Elkski said:

Is rhis the old case where the guy not happy they charged him a cork fee? 

 

Negative and true reviews should not have any risk of a lawsuit.  Its hard to imagine the twisted mind of a manager or hotel owner who would sue.  Its scary to realize they think like dis. 

Yes. This is "news" from 2020. I believe that the hotel received a lot of negative publicity for their over-reaction and (IIRC) has since changed name.

Having said that, the guy who posted the bad review was (IMO) quite a dick. He brought a bottle of gin(?) from the 7/11 and expected to drink it in the hotel restaurant (not in his room) - then he was upset when the management challenged him and asked for a corkage fee.

[fondue zoo]

1 hour ago, josephbloggs said:

More Thaigar nonsense - they have no standards. The pandemic, empty resorts and restricted international travel ended two years ago - how can a "reporter" even write that? And how did it get past editorial? When I read that the first thing I did was check the date of the article in case it was a couple of years old, but alas it is not. Really really poor.

 

they have an editorial dept?

 

[fondue zoo]

49 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Yes. This is "news" from 2020. I believe that the hotel received a lot of negative publicity for their over-reaction and (IIRC) has since changed name.

Having said that, the guy who posted the bad review was (IMO) quite a dick. He brought a bottle of gin(?) from the 7/11 and expected to drink it in the hotel restaurant (not in his room) - then he was upset when the management challenged him and asked for a corkage fee.

 

If this was only over a corkage fee, which I assume is a fairly common fee in many countries, then yeah my review is 1 star dick.

 

 

[Banana7]

One can write a critical review but just craft the review carefully. He could have said the service did not meet his expectations and is the worst he has ever experienced and did not have a happy enjoyable experience. Just talk about your own feels and not say the staff did a XXXX job.

 

 

[Ralf001]

2 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

Will the newspaper that ran the article publishing the name of the resort face charges when this gets picked up by the western press?

Sea View Koh Chang Resort.

[Nick Carter icp]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

you can't tell the truth here ...  If your hotel is dirty,  or the service isn't good ... you can't say anything. ...

if you go to a restaurant and the meal was well below what should have been provided, or the table waiter is rude or the service is non-existent ....  you can't say anything. 

 

you must lie .... 😂

 

  That isnt true .

The America guy launched a long running campaign posting untrue things about the resort using various different names  , the resort asked him to stop his campaign but he refused, so the resort took legal action to make him stop posting untrue accusations about the resort

[PingRoundTheWorld]

This happened at least 2-3 years ago. "News".

[arick]

It was koh chang a few years back did the same to a guest over his own bottle at the table.  Is this the same hotel ?

[Ralf001]

6 minutes ago, arick said:

It was koh chang a few years back did the same to a guest over his own bottle at the table.  Is this the same hotel ?

same person same incident same island same hotel.

[Scouse123]

He sounds like a five-star dick if he attempted to bring his own booze and not pay any corkage in the restaurant.

 

Some places charge you corkage for the total value of the bottle, not just a 200 baht opening charge.

 

He must have posted under his own name for all to see, for them to trace him. So, not only was he being malicious in his reviews (posting multiple under different names) he was also challenging them to take him on.

 

I, as a former hotelier, have posted a few negative reviews on trip advisor, but not nasty or untrue ones.

 

I usually give the benefit of the doubt if it's borderline. People shouldn't trash other peoples businesses just for vindictiveness, which is what we seem to be seeing in this instance.

 

[Pdavies99]

It's about time Thailand started to act honestly and allowed complaints etc.

 

Acting like pissy children!

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

However, the incident took an unexpected turn when the resort decided to take legal action against Barnes, leading to his brief stint in custody and the looming threat of a two-year prison sentence.

Absolutely ridiculous.

[RobU]

Surely this is rehashing of old news. Exactly the same story was published last year. The American in question in that article had a police arrest warrant out in his home county for firing a handgun at a bar he had been ejected from for his abusive manner. 

[Scouse123]

3 minutes ago, RobU said:

Surely this is rehashing of old news. Exactly the same story was published last year. The American in question in that article had a police arrest warrant out in his home county for firing a handgun at a bar he had been ejected from for his abusive manner. 

 

 

Really?

 

If true, it about sums up what we are dealing with here.

[RobU]

31 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

He sounds like a five-star dick if he attempted to bring his own booze and not pay any corkage in the restaurant.

 

Some places charge you corkage for the total value of the bottle, not just a 200 baht opening charge.

 

He must have posted under his own name for all to see, for them to trace him. So, not only was he being malicious in his reviews (posting multiple under different names) he was also challenging them to take him on.

 

I, as a former hotelier, have posted a few negative reviews on trip advisor, but not nasty or untrue ones.

 

I usually give the benefit of the doubt if it's borderline. People shouldn't trash other peoples businesses just for vindictiveness, which is what we seem to be seeing in this instance.

 

This story is nearly one year old and has already been discussed in this forum. The Thaiger is dredging up old news and publishing it as new. The man in question also had an arrest warrant in place in his home county USA for firing a weapon at a bar he had been ejected from for unruly behaviour

[RobU]

2 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

 

 

Really?

 

If true, it about sums up what we are dealing with here.

Yup we are dealing with the Thaiger

[Bangkok Barry]

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