Wesley Barnes wrote of his encounter with “hostile staff” at Sea View.
Bangkok, Thailand:
An American expat in Thailand will avoid legal action and potential jail time for posting a negative review on a TripAdvisor hotel after making a deal with the resort by suing him, police said Thursday.
Wesley Barnes said he encountered “unfriendly employees” who “act like they don’t want anyone here” after a stay at Sea View on the island of Koh Chang, famous for its sandy beaches and turquoise waters, in June .
In another review that was removed by the site for violating its guidelines, he accused the hotel of “modern slavery.”
The resort then sued Barnes and he spent two days in custody after being arrested and charged under Thailand’s strict libel laws.
The maximum penalty is two years in prison, with a fine of 200,000 baht ($ 6,300).
Barnes and the station reached an agreement on Thursday after a police-supervised mediation session, said Col. Kitti Maleehuan, director of the Koh Chang police station.
Barnes had “agreed to comply with the hotel’s proposals,” Maleehuan said, apologizing in particular to the hotel and its staff.
The American – who works in Thailand – must also apologize to the Kingdom’s Tourism Authority and provide an explanation to the American Embassy.
If it meets the terms of the settlement, the hotel said it would withdraw the complaint.
AFP has contacted Barnes for comment.
Domestic tourism still occurs in Thailand, where the number of coronaviruses is relatively low – 3,622 cases and only 59 deaths.
Many locals and expatriates are making the most of the decline in tourism to take advantage of nearly empty resorts.
Thailand’s notorious anti-defamation laws have long attracted the attention of press freedom and human rights groups, who claim that powerful actors are using it as a weapon to stifle freedom of movement. ‘expression.
Earlier this year, a Thai journalist was sentenced to two years in prison for posting a tweet referring to a dispute over working conditions at a chicken farm owned by the Thammakaset company.
