(TAN): A hotel in Thailand has agreed to withdraw criminal charges against an American guest, who faces up to five years in jail for posting negative reviews, if he issues a public apology for his comments, a Reuters report said.
The hotel, on the holiday island of Koh Chang, had filed a complaint against American teacher Wesley Barnes in August after he posted negative online reviews about the destination over a THB 500 (USD 16) corkage fee. According to the Tripadvisor review Barnes had posted in July, he encountered “unfriendly staff” who “act like they don’t want anyone here”.
The hotel had claimed that the reviews were false and defamatory and clarified that it had taken the legal step as a last resort.
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“We did not file a complaint based only on one review but on four reviews and the intention of such, written about a week or so apart,” Top Storup, the resort’s rooms division manager had told TAN. “This was a premeditated attack on us that seemed to continue week after week and we did not know when his attacks would end,” he had said.
Police had detained Barnes after the incident under criminal defamation and computer crime laws for two days in September before he was released on bail. Under the laws, Barnes could be fined up to THB 100,000 (USD 3,200) and be jailed for up to five years.
According to reports, the hotel wants Barnes to send statements to the media, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the US Embassy and the Tripadvisor website this month, apologising and explaining that his poor reviews were written in anger.
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“Under conditions that Mr Barnes shows his sincerity and takes full responsibility for what had happened and remedy the situation, the hotel will be delighted to drop the charge,” the Sea View Koh Chang hotel said in a statement. Barnes had agreed to that, according to the hotel.
“I’m sending an email to many media outlets,” Barnes was quoted by Reuters as saying. However, he declined to elaborate.
The case brought new scrutiny to Thailand’s defamation and computer crime laws, which rights activists say are used by powerful players as a weapon to stifle free expression.
