American hotel guest in legal trouble in Thailand over negative hotel reviews
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 4 years ago • 12 commentsBy: Janhvi Bhojwani and Rima Abdelkader
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Sept. 30, 2020,
An American hotel guest may be facing a prison sentence in Thailand after posting negative reviews about his stay in late June.
Wesley Barnes, an American working in Thailand, could face seven years in prison for both defamation and in violation of the Computer Crime Act for allegedly posting falsified claims online, according to The Associated Press.
The Sea View Koh Chang hotel said that Barnes left "slanderous" reviews on several platforms, including TripAdvisor, and that public harassment because of the reviews escalated, prompting hotel officials to seek help from police and authorities.
"First, we initiated numerous attempts to discuss with the guest to stop his series of fabricated, recurrent and damaging public reviews to our staff and our hotel," the hotel said in a statement to NBC News.
It said that Barnes' reviews made references to the hotel practicing "modern slavery" and "xenophobic" claims against a hotel manager. "He also left comments that could mislead readers to associate our property with the Coronavirus," the statement read.
The hotel, which is on Koh Chang island in southwest Thailand, claimed that Barnes had a dispute with the hotel staff over a corkage fee for alcoholic beverages brought into the hotel's restaurant. Hotel officials said that after discussions with Barnes, the hotel waived the fee. "However, in his reviews, the guest claimed that he was forced to pay the corkage fee," the statement added.
In one review on TripAdvisor, Barnes posted about "unfriendly staff" and singled out a hotel manager.
He said Tuesday that he hopes to resolve the matter with the hotel soon.
"I will delete my review and never speak about them again," he said by email. "I just want to forget this ever happened."
TripAdvisor removed Barnes' initial review of the hotel because it did not meet the travel site's review guidelines, Brian Hoyt, TripAdvisor's head of global communications and industry affairs, said. Barnes then submitted another review that did meet the requirements.
"TripAdvisor is opposed to the idea that a traveler can be prosecuted for expressing opinions," the company said. "Thankfully, on a global basis, prosecutions like this are rare, and hundreds of millions of travelers are able to express themselves freely without facing criminal charges.
"We are continuing our investigation into this incident and are in the process of reaching out to the U.S. Embassy in Thailand," the website said.
NBC News has reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, Thai police and the State Department for more information regarding this case.
Thailand's defamation law and criminal charges that can be applied to public comments have been called out by activists and critics, according to the AP.
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Well at least he did not say anything bad about the king. Then he'd really be in hot water!
Because over the years distant travel has become more common and available, people who insist on practising the rights and freedoms that they have in their own countries, and stubbornly do as the Romans do NOT do where they travel to, are only going to get themselves in deep trouble. That story does not surprise me at all.
I remember that during my 20 years of Naval service I went to great lengths to try to pay attention to and learn as much of the local customs of the countries I visited. In addition, when I had my family with me, my wife and I made sure that our two children did the same. Too many stories about ugly Americans. My kids thanked me for it later in life.
Good man.
This Barnes guy sounds like a real tool. I see his type in my travels all the time ..... bitching and moaning about every little thing. Treating the help like shit ..... it's disgusting behavior to say the least. The definition of "Ugly American" but the exception to the rule for the most part from what i've seen.
I hope they throw the book at him as he sounds like he deserves it.
This guy was definitely deplorable and doesn't represent the majority of Americans who reject xenophobia.
I know the type well but i've seen worse.
We let a group of Brazilians on our dive boat once to be nice and regretted it immediately. They were so bad we ended having the operator turn the boat around before we did our dives. Which the operator did gladly as poorly as those pricks were treating them.
We dove for free the next day ..... sans ugly Brazilians.
Sounds like a very bad day for some gal at the salon...
The guy sounds like a complete asshole.
I stayed in Thailand many times. My favorite hotels were the Oriental and the Dusit Thani on Rama IV Rd in Bangkok.
I have as well.
The service was so good sometimes it was almost annoying ..... i love Thailand!
The Oriental Hotel is one if not the greatest hotel in the world. Built in the 1870s it is one of a kind and it's ''authors wing'' contains visits from some of the great writers of all time.
I especially enjoyed sitting on the veranda overlooking the Chao Phraya River having coffee and a roll knowing that some of the great writers had sat here and penned notes, some of them on the wall encased in glass.
Hemingway, Kipling, Conrad, Hugo, Michener, Dostoyevsky, Shaw, Maugham and Tolstoy to name a few.
The Dusit Thani was a traditional Thai hotel with magnificent teakwood decor and cut glass. The bar in the hotel was truly an example of the finest craftmanship known.
Our company had access to rooms at both hotels. We had a very large operation in Bangkok and our relationship with both hotels was excellent. We hosted a ''party'' at the Dusit Thani for well over 150 people and the service was something to remember (excellent)
Many wonderful memories of Bangkok and Thailand. The north, especially Chiang Mai (Rose of the North) were always on my agenda when I was in country.
As the saying goes Don't be a dick and know the rules of where you are