A tourist could face up to two years in prison over his negative online reviews of a Thai island hotel.

The Sea View Resort on Koh Chang claims American Wesley Barnes launched a barrage of complaints against them after his stay, forcing them to take legal action in a country renowned for strict criminal defamation laws.


Sea View Resort & Spa, Kah Chang, Thailand.

Barnes, who works in Thailand, penned multiple reviews on different sites, the hotel alleges. In one posted in July, he claimed to have encountered "unfriendly staff" who "act like they don't want anyone here".

Another post, which accused the hotel of "modern day slavery", was removed by TripAdvisor for violating its guidelines.

Barnes is accused of causing "damage to the reputation of the hotel". He was arrested and returned to Koh Chang for a brief detention, but is now out on bail.

Management at the Sea View said they took legal action to discourage further reviews from being posted, and had attempted to contact Barnes beforehand.

"We chose to file a complaint to serve as a deterrent, as we understood he may continue to write negative reviews week after week for the foreseeable future," they said.



Thailand's notorious anti-defamation laws have faced condemnation from human rights organisations, who say they can be used to stifle free expression.

Offenders can face two years imprisonment and a 200,000 baht ($9000) fine.

In December 2019, a Thai journalist was handed a two-year sentence for libelling a chicken farm on Twitter.

Suchanee Cloitre was convicted for a post she made about a legal dispute over working conditions at the Thammakaset farm.

"I'm shocked and did not think the sentence would be so harsh," Suchanee told Reuters after the sentencing.

The Telegraph, London

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/ameri ... 55zmu.html

He seems to be a bit of an ass. But I don't agree with something like that being a criminal matter in Thailand; that is obviously very wrong and has been abused countless times.

he is not a tourist but lives and works in thailand
....".....forcing them to take legal action " Hardly

Hotels post







his full reply




If he wasn't such an ass,all he had do was reply to the hotels email, call and that would have been the end of it.
BUT an asshole is an asshole

I’m puzzled by this guy’s resort review. Nothing about it was related to actual guest experience.

As a hotel guest, I’d be concerned if housekeeping didn’t clean the room. Bedbugs. No hot water for showers. Criminals stealing stuff. Danger of being robbed or stabbed or killed in the hotel.

Master slave relationship among staff?

Who cares!

It all seemed to be a fuss over a corkage fee

clutchcargo wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 8:28 am It all seemed to be a fuss over a corkage fee

Corkage fee only came out AFTER he was arrested an was mentioned by the hotel, NOT in the guests TA post
which started the whole thing

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 8:51 am

clutchcargo wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 8:28 am It all seemed to be a fuss over a corkage fee

Corkage fee only came out AFTER he was arrested an was mentioned by the hotel, NOT in the guests TA post
which started the whole thing

Of course he's not going to mention the corkage fee in the negative hotel reviews because he hasn't a leg to stand on on that specific issue given: 1. the hotel's policy is to charge corkage for outside liquor brought into the restaurant and he tried to get around that or would not accept it 2. despite that, and following his complaints, the hotel decided to relent on that regardless and didn't charge him for it (..presumably to appease him).

However, when you read his account of the story, it's pretty clear (to me anyway) that the issue of the corkage was the trigger. After he brought in a bottle of gin from the beach, he complained to the staff about the charge which then resulted in the supervisor and manager intervening. And despite getting his way and not being charged corkage, it seems to me that in the process he took exception to the manager's attitude and wanted revenge by posting negative reviews. Had they respected the hotel's policy, it seems none of this would have happened. That's my theory after reading his account.