Tourists face prison time for a Thailand hotel trip advisor review

An American man is confronted two years after writing negative online reviews about a Thai hotel – including accusing him of “modern-day slavery.”

Wesley Barnes, who works in Thailand, was arrested for damaging the reputation of the Sea View Resort on Ko Chang Island. Telegraph report.

During a recent visit to a popular resort destination, Burns wrote reviews on several sites that he was behaving “with unfriendly staff” who “act like they don’t like anyone here”.

At least one TripAdvisor reviewer accused of “modern-day slavery” for violating the site’s guidelines has been removed, the report said.

The owner of the Sea View Resort complained that the defendant had posted unreasonable criticism of his hotel on the TripAdvisor website, ”said Ko Chang Police Colonel Dhanban Thaimsara. Agencies told Frances-Press.

The hotel said it had taken legal action against the former guest to prevent further reviews from being published.

“We chose to file a complaint because we understand he may continue to write negative reviews weekly in the near future,” the hotel said.

In addition to valuable reviews, Barnes was also accused of quarreling with staff over not paying a garage fee to the bar.

Barnes was taken into custody and returned to Koh Sang, where he was briefly detained before being released on bail, the store reported.

If convicted, Barnes could face up to two years in prison and a $ 6,329 (or $ 200,000) fine, the report said.

The AFP reported that he had not responded to a request for comment.

Thailand is notorious for anti-defamation laws that have long been criticized by human rights groups.

A Thai journalist was sentenced in December 2019 to two years in prison for criticizing a poultry farm on Twitter.