Man Jailed In Thailand For Negative Hotel Review

I've lived in Thailand close to a decade. The service is almost universally horrible. Staff are almost universally rude. Police are stupendously corrupt (they stole my Iphone and then sold it back to me!). Products are just beyond ludicrous they are so badly made and there is NO recourse to go back to the seller for refunds, except for farang-run international retail chains. The reason this horrible situation persists generation after generation is because no one is allowed to name and shame the offenders. We just had an electrical contractor blatantly steal my wife's Ipad from our home while he was working. WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EVEN SPEAK ABOUT WHAT THE GUY DID! That means he will continue to go from job to job, home to home, and no one is allowed to tell anyo0ne what happened. Maybe he'll steal YOUR TV next. But if there was a way to warn others, as in virtually every country around the world, the guy would be shut down and the country would be a little safer and nicer. Thai laws are beyond insane and that is to the detriment of the Thai people.

@Cher Conner

LOL - Those Thai taxi drivers are all budding Lewis Hamiltons :)

If they ain't trying to scam tourists they are trying to kill them in a road accident.

My Koh Chang Seaview Resort Restaurant Review.

My wife and i had lunch at the Koh Chang Sea View back in January this year, we had some fried fish and a pork dish with some vegetables off the menu.

Just 1 hour after eating we both had acute diarrhea and vomiting, lucky for us after a few hours we were fine.

It must have been the food from the Koh Chang Seaview Resort as we did not have any breakfast at the hotel that we were staying at.

The local pharmacy who gave us some meds said that food poisoning was very common on Koh Chang from many of the restaurants. She said food that has expired and goes bad never gets thrown away, restaurants just throw in more MSG to bring the food back to life - WTF!

I cannot comment first hand on the hotel accommodation, but if the restaurant food quality is a indicator of the business standards then the reviews this American guy left were probably quite true about the Koh Chang Seaview Resort.

That is not strictly correct. There are good and bad taxi drivers. Talk to many ordinary taxi drivers and they struggle - even more so as a result of the pandemic - to make 300 Thai Baht per day. Such a comment reflects the readers inability or unwillingness to acknowledge such an issue. As for Chinese tourists, so what? Of course the Thai ruling classes want to encourage them. Why not? They live close by and like to spend CNY some of whicu incidentally does not simply go into the hands of "big corrupt people" but also to other Thais who provide a diverse range of "goods-and-services" and who this significantly dependent tourist economy have been severely impacted upon. So, being "ripped"off by a taxi driver or two - well now you can hail GRAB at least in Bangkok - if you have the time and financial resources to acquire the status of a Special Tourist Visa holder you can also take advantage of.

If you leave a bad review about a Thai hotel you may just get a visit from the police if they can track you down. Normally this is all that happens, the police and the hotel operator can make a lot of money from tourists who leave a bad review about their crappy business.

To resolve the problem of the bad review the tourist provides Thai police with 100 000 to 200 000 baht - USD 6500 with no receipts given, the bad review is removed by the tourist and everyone is happy (well except for the tourist). This hotel review scam is becoming a common practice but is not mentioned in the media that much.

If you stay in a brand name hotel like Marriott, Accor, Ibis, Holiday Inn etc you will never have a problem when leaving a bad review if required. It's only the local Thai owned hotels where you will have problems if you leave a bad review, even if it's the truth just don't review them or safer still only stay in a brand name hotel when in Thailand.

Many scams are quite common in high tourist areas like Pattaya, Phuket Phi Phi and Samui. Normally tourists get scammed for things like not having the correct motor bike license, or bars / shops will give the wrong change on purpose or Thai police plant drugs in the pockets of tourists and then arrest them.

Don't just take my word for it read about Thailand scams here from the USA embassy.....https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/common-scams/

Having seen the nasty side of the locals towards tourists first hand and nothing would surprise me about what really happened at the Sea View Ko Chang resort.

Our story....I visited Ko Chang in June 2018 and this was our horrible experience.

We ordered 2 drinks at a small bar and the bill come to 340 Baht’s, I put a 1000 baht’s note in the bill folder when we were finished, the staff took the bill folder and did not return with any change.

I asked about my change politely as I thought he must have just forgotten; he said rudely “we no change today, that tip for us”.

I said that’s dishonest, he said back loudly “you go complain police if you no happy”, “who you think police best friends with on island, you farang want have big problem? you go now!”

What could we do, it was just me and my girlfriend at the bar and we felt we could have a physical threat from him and / or his local police “friends”. if we wanted to take this further we would obviously not win.

We left the next day from the island as we felt this was not a safe place to be in, especially for two girls traveling together. We would not ever visit Thailand again due to this experience. I have read many other reports of scams being pulled on tourists and some that had physical harm upon them when they would not just walk away and forget it with the local Thai men.

Ok so I don't usually post here, but I thought I would share some info in support of Lucky here, and the hotel. I have worked in hospitality at the front desk of a hotel, and while bad reviews were few and far between they do hurt a hotel's bottom line. Sounds like there is also mote to the story than we knew. The man in question also has a criminal record in the U.S. for firing firearms in crowded public areas, and in my mind may not be a character that you would want to confront. See full news video from Thaiger here: (wait till the end: https://youtu.be/ckcQL8S-Cg0)

As someone who has visited thailand, I can attest that the hospitality industry there goes above and beyond to make guests happy in a way that is not that common in the U.S. and respect and kindness are expected of both guests and employees. I have even had to kindly complain about something, and was offered a different room to suit my needs, which was unexpected but appreciated. Most hotels in Thailand would do that same, and it sounds like in the situation with this guest the hotel was more than accommodating.

Ben, thank you for your thoughts and I support your mission to deliver important news and updates about the travel industry! Stay safe in Germany!

The criminal defamation charge brought against this guy for the review of the Koh Chang Sea View Hotel Resort is a precedent (to my knowledge) against a foreigner or in fact anyone, not even a local Thai has not faced similar libel charges for a hotel review in Thailand.

Thanks to this law free speech does not exist in Thailand anymore. The media in Thailand these days are a lame duck, they dare not speak out badly about the corrupt politicians or any of the wealthy elite who run Thailand from the shadows.

Any foreigner who leaves a bad review or a comment on any platform about a Thai business or an individual person could end up in the exact same situation. Should you have had a terrible experience in Thailand, well writing about it just may get you some jail time.

Goes like this - You write a factual negative review about say a hotel:
Owner of reviewed hotel does not agree > hotel owner goes to police makes complaint > police create a defamation charge (no investigation needed as it’s Thai vs foreigners word) > you get arrested, they confiscate your passport, you spend a few nights in jail until you can post bail money > you post bail money and are released > you await trail which could be 6 months or more > you hire Thai lawyer costing you a small fortune > you go to trial and most likely you lose > you get a huge fine and/or jail time up to 2 years. Thanks for visiting Thailand :)

No matter how truthful your review may be, it will not matter in the Thai legal system which is corrupt and biased to the core. It’s going to be your word against a Thai’s word so who do you think is going to win? Regardless of any facts, you have already lost your case from the day that you are charged by the police.

Some Thais like the owner of the Sea View Hotel Koh Chang seem to get pleasure in punishing foreigners severely any chance they get, it gives them this power trip of superiority of sorts.

The owner of this resort knew exactly what this would lead too when he made this defamation complaint to the police over this review. He has “cut off his own nose to spite his face” with these actions against this American.

Should you intend to visit Thailand in the future you should understand the many dangers to your personal safety. Seems like Thai's don't need to beat up complaining customers anymore, just use this law to silence them.

With the present state of the country run by the military army generals, If you value the wellbeing and safety of yourself and your family you should seriously think twice about taking a vacation to Thailand.

Amazing Thailand – One day you can be a paying guest at the Sea View Beach Resort on Koh Chang and the next day the hotel owner will have you put in jail.

I feel sorry for this guy, he has possibly made a mistake in some things that he may have said in the review on TripAdvisor but he does not deserve to be in jail thanks to the Sea View Resort Koh Chang.

Without stating the obvious, this is exactly not the PR that the destroyed Thailand tourism industry needs at the moment. But at least we know now that this criminal law can be used against any foreigners in Thailand for such trivial things.

Well at least with this case, it’s clear on what you should expect if you leave a bad review about any Thai business like the Sea View Beach Resort on Koh Chang if they do not agree with your comments.

It does not matter where you post a negative comment about a Thai business be it on any hotel supplier website, FB, Lazada Thailand, Shopee Thailand, twitter or other platform you could be in big trouble in the not so “Land of Smiles” if someone gets upset with your rating.

If you are charged for defamation, even if your posted review is 100% accurate, the onus will be on you “the reviewer” to prove that the review or comments posted were truthful if the business has a different opinion to yours.

You will need to prove your case in a Thai court of law where no one can understand any English. The law is already very biased in Thailand towards the rich and powerful and never in the favor of a foreigner or the average Thai in fact.

No matter if you have been scammed at one of the thousands of Thailand tourist traps, been served a Pad Thai that gave you food poisoning, have been transported by a dangerous crack head bus driver or stayed at a hotel room with bed bugs, well you better not tell anyone about your poor experience.

Unless you are safely back in your own country it may be ok to blow the whistle on a crappy experience but you could face arrest also on you return to Thailand if the review has pissed off someone enough.

Don’t forget, hotels in Thailand always take a copy of your passport when you check-in, you may not be able to leave the country if the shit hits the fan when you post a review that some Thai does not like.

This defamation law may probably become another popular way to extract a few bucks from foreigners by the Thai police who are useless but are “shakedown / extortion experts”.

The owner of the Sea View Resort Koh Chang appears not to like foreigners - but he does like taking their money!

Is this a good hotel to stay at on Koh Chang? NO.........

You are posting a negative review of the guest. In the mindset of Thailand, you could be arrested for defamation. Like you, I travel all over the world. Last year, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone, Ireland, England, France, Costa Rica, and Colombia. I depend on guest reviews. Customers like me don't base our decision on one review. Let the review process work itself out. Based on this article, I would never go to this resort. Neither should any other person who expects good service without fear. As they say in Mexico, "no way Jose." Smile

It seems like everyone in the comments is taking the resort's statement as literal gospel. Whether the customer was rude or not, whether he posted a misleading review or not, we don't really know. We should ALL be able to agree that being thrown in jail for an online review is draconian, and I am disgusted by every one of you that is advocating that without knowing both sides of the story.

Also, shame on Ben Schlepp (aka Lucky) for posting his opinion as straight fact.

Thai tourists that has been visiting Phuket do post negative reviews sometime.... and if the owner of that particular business was stained with untrue reviews, they can take it up for clarification in the police station. I believed few incidents was solved and settled by filing the proceeding.
If the reviewer has gone hiding or avoiding to face the truth, then they should face the consequences. This to prevent people from posting fake reviews on the media.
My little bar was a victim of such incident in the past too. A foreigner was having a happy mood and buying everybody drinks but when paying time, he was drunk and denied he didn’t buy people drinks. He paid only his drinks and a day later post a remark that we cheat him on the media. You see, these are the type of people who’s giving the foreigner a bad name.

Gawd. One swallow does not mean summer has arrived nor do the actions of the hotel guest - who appears to be a bit of a prat - or the hotel management means it is like this everywhere in Thailand or indeed in most places in Thailand. This experience could have occurred anywhere in the world and I am not sure what the complainant has to gain by posting this particular complaint online. Still, notwithstanding Thailand's "archaic" libel laws locking the complainant up for 2 nights and then extracting THB100,000 is a bit rich. Good wine in Thailand is grossly over-priced but at Wine Connection I could order over 5 dozen quaffable wines for that price. I am afraid to say that I hope my 14-year-old son is not taught by the complainant.

Honestly, some people in the resort service industry have poor confrontation skills. They are fine until they encounter a customer who doesn't adhere to their rules to the tee. I've seen one employee who was monitoring hand washing before entering the buffet area. This one kid didn't wash his hands and proceeded to the buffet area, the female employee grabbed him. She only let go when the kid called for his dad who yelled at the employee who then reminded the father that his son had to wash his hands. He intimidated the employed by yelling in her face that he already washed his hands when he clearly didn't because i saw the kid behind me and somehow warped his way ahead of me bypassing all the wash stations. Regardless, she should not have put her hands on the kid. Another time, I saw a man ahead of me waiting in the customer service line where he was next in line when he was stopped by a middle man employee who asked him a series of questions before he approached customer service. The way the employee just stepped in front of him like border patrol with his hand 6 inches from his face would have been more than enough for me to yell at him entering my personal space but not this customer. His face turned pink then more reddish at the series of questions being asked of him like stupid ones like "How do you like your stay so far? Is this your first time addressing your problem with customer service?" Eventually, the customer reached his melting pot, and calmly ending the interrogation questions with something like " You can either move outta my way or I will make you move." I couldn't stop laughing , all the toughness out of the employee drained from him instantly. The employee stepped back and his eyes were looking all around the room like he wanted to find a place to hide. Immediately before things got worse, the customer service agent shouted "Next!" and the customer proceeded to the agent. He just wanted some type of upgrade for a beach excursion. The middle man agent didn't ask me as many questions as the customer before me. I could hear previous customer complaining to the agent that his vacation was going great until that guy, then he pointed to the agent. At this point, the middle man agent took his break and I didn't see him again in the customer service area. Again, here clearly he had a hostile presence and his monotone voice didn't help much. And , I'm really surprised that he was so oblivious to the fact that the customer's flesh tone was turning into a tomato. Things could have went really south if that agent didn't yell "Next!"
Okay, back to this story, given my experience. I believe that the resort was doing everything in their corrupt power to make themselves look good by saying they did this this this for the customer. Maybe they did, but probably in a derogatory hostile manner. They also were really adamant about removing a negative review from a public web site to the extent that they got the police involved which makes me think they probably used this technique before against all bad reviewers that they can detain. The only difference here was that it was news worthy because it involved an American who wrote multiple reviews. Congratulations to the hotel for succeeding in removing the negative review by jailing the customer. Oh yeah, good luck with trying to remove all the news articles that clearly state customer jailed from negative review at Sea View Resort in Thailand. You not only damaged your hotel but now all potential customers who read those articles are fully aware what could happen if you go to a hotel resort anywhere in Thailand and don't like the service. Eghhh. That's too bad. I really had no ill will towards travelling to Thailand until i read this article. Now, I have to second guess it.

I agree with the resort on this one. In a time where tourism in Thailand has declined significantly a 1 star review may sway the few travellers necessary to remain business. Having seen their comments I am more likely to consider staying there. I'm sure the content of the initial review likely shed a lot of light on the reviewers true intent to do harm to the manager and resort. A stay in jail seems harsh but I think appropriate as the bail is likely about 3 months of his salary will hopefully smarten him up to being more considerate in the land of smiles. If Thailand is smart they will take this into consideration in his next visa renewal.

I must pay however shocking this is certain individual had the option to negotiate directly with the hotel after they reached out him I personally think he thoroughly deserves everything that you got however some of the blame must lay with TripAdvisor as they're all too easy to allow nasty comments to be made about certain businesses without checking with the business First to see four went on a far better way would be to wait for a response from the business before negative comments were put on TripAdvisor bike cleaned health so even though I think the man clearly deserved what he got TripAdvisor should be there with him soldering some of the responsibility for the damage in stimulated on the hotel

Endless respect and regard to the owner of the hotel. There are too many people who travel searching for problems, who think everything is for free, complaining for absurde things and who write offensive or false and reviews. As owner of a hotel I saw too many times. No protection from booking.com (they publish even offensive reviews), some from Tripadvisor, but the damages for a hotel from these horrible people are huge. We even were forced to denounce two customers, but we couln't do anything as they live abroad and the review remained x 2 year in booking.com. Otherwise they risked to go in jail. To be offended in a booking.com (who responded to our protests saying it was a personal opinion by guests and menaced us to exclude from their hotels' list) review by people who made incredibly horrible things here was one of the worst experiences we had with customers, but sadly not the only one. So again big respect, solidarity, esteem to the owner of this hotel. Horrible customers and above all people like this deserve death sentence, not 1 day in jail. World would be better.

He should have read the fine print when checking in “Please note all guests that leave a poor review of the Sea View Resort Koh Chang will receive a complimentary 2 year stay in a Thai prison” :)

Koh Chang is full of Thai mafia types who own hotels and other Businesses and they do not like reviews that tell the truth.

The police are in their back pockets of all many of the big business on the island, this American was arrested very quickly without even a proper investigation of the facts.

Tourists who value their safety and rights to have an opinion should not visit Koh Chang and also be very careful in all parts of Thailand these days.

Amazing Thailand, The land of smiles it's NOT these days.

People's views of free speech expressed here are extremely disturbing. NOTHING in the review reported contained anything that was factually untrue. The hotel didn't like his opinion. Tough. Free speech means you get to have dumb and wrong opinions no matter how much damage they do. If you infringe on people's right to have wrong opinions you necessarily infringe on their rights to have righteous opinions. Even if he had written something factually wrong it's outrageous that defamation would be criminalized in any country.

I usually read comments. I eliminate the most negative comment and the most positive, I make my choices based on the remaining info. When I travel to different countries I strive to do a bit of research re the culture, traditions, policies that might impact tourists and to learn at least a few words/phrases. I feel such respect is important, I know it is important to me.

In one of the comments to this article JR blasted the FARANGS. I researched that slang. It is a slam against white people visiting or living in Thailand. He also suggested the 'shithole' return to his country. On behalf of who or what caused your obvious pain I am sorry. Such anger and borderline hatred is usually caused by a painful experience - maybe more than one. I am truly sorry. I wish you happiness and peace.

I was thought as a child to either say something nice or nothing at all. Furthermore all he should have posted is that the service did not meet his expectations.

What the article does not mention is that Thais face the same issues and it is not only non Thais that face very tough deformation laws. I live for over 10 years in Thailand and respect their laws,. Freedom of speech here does not mean that you willfully can present an alternet truth. If you misrepresent something you might face the law especially when given a chance to mitigate and ignore it because you are sitting on a high horse.

And for all others always remember the ancient say: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"

All of us who travel frequently have some negative experiences including in Thailand where I live and work. But on the very limited number of occasions I have in my own mind reasons to be less than satisfied with what I think I have paid for I have decided to desist from complaining or at least in the public domain. Rather I move on instead of letting off steam. Now I am not suggesting that people don't post their comments online but in the case of Thailand one needs to remember those on a vendetta can use the libel laws to make life very difficult. A colleague of mine disparaged one of his clients - an American living in Thailand - who via his Thai lawyer took the colleague to court and while the case was eventually thrown out (it dragged on for 18 months) my colleague had firked out US$50,000 in legal fees. The only winner here was of course the Thai lawyer. So, my advice is not to go down the path this seemingly entitled complainant went down: at least not in Thailand.

Lock him up and throw away the key. An ugly American. There is no hotel restaurant in America where you can take your own booze. He knows that. After he was advised he was breaking the rules he became rude and abusive to hotel personnel. This behavior in a part of the world where respect is an important aspect of societal functioning. After someone in his party acted to calm the situation and the corkage fee was rescinded, thereafter he filed a false review of the hotel and then refused to respond to overtures from the hotel for him to apologize and let the matter be over. Now, it's a court matter and he has to deal with the consequences of acting like a jerk in a foreign nation.

Well first or 500 Baht is about 16 US dollars. Obviously both parties are at fault the man should have either pay the 16 bucks where would have some extra wine to make up for the difference he probably also didn't tip anybody anyting. The hotel and their stupidity made a mountain out of a molehill and that's probably lost several hundred guests from the ridiculist arrest and complained to the police. This goes to show if you going to a nice hotel and you don't get treated right just check out and go elsewhere

Easy as 1,2,3

Easy
1. The hotel should have replied to his review on the sites with their side of the story
2. If he didn't want the bottle service fee he should have left the restaurant.
3. The restaurant could have asked him to leave if he was as abusive as they say or he could have left if their behavior wasn't to his liking.

Truth; in a saving face culture this screamed of that.
Whit the many options available to the restaurant why this?
What is missing in this story?

If /when it goes to court, it would be the restaurant word vs his and who dinned with him, unless video of the table is available. This story seems very light on details. It will boil down to dose he have freedom of speech or not. There are many way to deal with a jerk if he was indeed one the harshest ban him from your restaurant.

What if you (the reader) one day give a bad review that is deserved in you opinion,the place take it down or we will call the police, are you ready to go to jail? The police being involved is very strange, more like someone who knows someone who's like " we'll teach him a lesson". This shows that any law can and will be abused or used not as intended. If a law was intended to be used like this, that would lead to uncertain of the country and hurt it economically.

However one review doesn't ruin a business (many do) but the reaction to it does. Hospitality industry is taking a beating as well as ppl due to this virus. But I assume all the ppl supporting this action of imprisonment for his review, "will" help keep this place going, I'm... sure... of... it. Nah, the reality, bad word of mouth travels a light speed.

This is the danger of over-criminalization which we face in western countries. Free speech in Europe doesn’t exist and people are jailed for expressing themselves or even questioning historical events. Even reading the Bible aloud in public can get you arrested for “hate” speech. Many European countries have the same laws as Thailand that criminalize libel. We do need tougher laws against libel but those should remain civil. A big problem with civil laws is judges commonly abuse their authority and can find someone in contempt of court serving as prosecutor, judge, and jury. In my book no civil charge should ever result in someone being put in jail for any reason. It’s one thing for money to be a stake but freedom should not be a stake in a civil case.

It’s refreshing how the right wing has become a big advocate for civil liberties and recognizing the danger of over-criminalization. Conservatives need to realize that 90% of laws, cops and the legal system are big government (which we hate).

For a man to be arrested and placed in jail for a negative comment about a hotel is completely, totally and fully wrong. Thank god I live in a country (the USA) where this would never ever ever ever happen.

I have been to Thailand twice and always felt it is a beautiful country. But in recent years, Thailand has become an authoritarian military dictatorship with a mentally deranged monarch who you can’t criticize. It is very sad that a country with such a proud history has declined so much.

While apparently it is legal to bring your own bottle of alcohol with you the guy was a jerk to do so. The establishment has a right to charge or deny anyone to enter their restaurant with their own beverage because the owner doesn't make money if the guest won't buy their alcohol. I can understand why the staff may have been a little unhappy and the critic probably offended the staff. I think the whole point when eating out is to experience the cuisine or specialties of the house.