Not ridiculous at all. Size of island doesn’t matter. The court is on mainland. Police station where resort filed complaint is where the guy has to go to hear the charges and to make his own statement. All ok so far.
The ridiculous part is your comment about the proceeding and size of island. The charges for violations of laws don’t get smaller the smaller the island is.
Ridiculous to you.. not so ridiculous to me. Lies can affect peoples lives & livelihood in catastrophic ways. He tried to harm some people and they asked for the protection of the law. To me there's nothing ridiculous there.
Yeah imagine police doing their job. The accused has to be read the charges and has the opportunity to make a formal statement. Does the size of the island matter in that legal case?
How is the nationality of the person being sued relevant to the situation?
I, not complaining about the NH headline, but the various mentions in the article itself?
I clicked because of that headline wondering why someone in America would worry about a suit filed in a different country. But it’s someone resident in Thailand.
Most people here are not familiar with laws in Thailand and should not assume that every country has exactly same laws.
I’m not taking a side here on purpose, because certain laws would apply to me then.
a) yahoo article is biased and incomplete. Don’t take it as the truth.
b) if a official report (complaint) was filed at police station then the person who complaint was about must appear at that station so they can make their own statement into same journal.
c) since company is on an island it’s normal across the world that jurisdiction of that location applies.
It’s not likely that the guy will go to jail. Most cases are arbitrated before they go to actual trial.
However if the foreigner were found to be in violation of the law he most likely won’t receive the maximum punishment.
A lot depends also how he reacts at court. Could go with a slap on the wrist or much worse.
Completely unrelated to this case but relevant
- some companies do go overboard with defamation lawsuits but it’s quite rare actually. Lots of Thai people and foreigners write negative reviews and nothing happens at all
- it’s not unheard of foreigners to go ballistic due to language and cultural difference. However also Thai customers do happen to sometimes get overboard and cause problems unnecessary
- The situation is really dire on islands. I went to another this weekend and most resorts and restaurants/ pubs had shut down for good. The remaining open ones aren’t operating profitably as there is are less than 10% of regular domestic and foreign tourists there.
- Lots of visitors have also less money to spend. Salaries have been reduced and many people lost jobs. Tourism sector was hit the hardest.
- There is currently no way for foreign tourists to enter Thailand. But we do see Thai and foreign people traveling within the country. Not so many but also not none.
I really invite everyone to get familiar with laws in Thailand and with all the details of the situation before taking sides.
The law is unjust. The anti-defammation law was used to stifle press freedom and suppress journalists. It doesn't matter whether it's lawful in Thailand or not, freedom of speech without the fear of persecution is a part of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (Whether you think it has a legal basis or not, it's the only thing we can look up to when authoritarian governments can pass whatever stipulation they want and call it legal.) In this case, I believe the owner of the resort has no ill intention, however, it is using an unjust instrument to inflict a questionable punishment on other people.
> Thailand's notorious anti-defamation laws have long drawn scrutiny from human rights and press freedom groups, who say powerful players use it as a weapon to stifle free expression.
> The maximum sentence is two years in prison, along with a 200,000 baht ($6,300) fine.
> Earlier this year, a Thai journalist was sentenced to two years in prison for posting a tweet referencing a dispute over working conditions at a chicken farm owned by the Thammakaset company.
Message from Tripadvisor:
Due to a recent event that has attracted media attention
and has caused an influx of review submissions that do not
describe a first-hand experience, we have temporarily
suspended publishing new reviews for this listing. If
you’ve had a firsthand experience at this property, please
check back soon - we’re looking forward to receiving your
review!
So not only are TripAdvisor not warning people of the danger of going to this place, they also blocking anyone else who does.
I find it insulting that a manager at a resort would treat their customers this way and I hope people think twice before patronizing this establishment in future.
There is more to this case. And I’m just summarizing from the statement published by the resort:
- customer argued about corkage fee for beverages brought from outside.
- customer left and drank beverages outside without needing to pay corkage
- customer made inappropriate and defamatory comments on online platforms.
- Some of the comments were taken down by the platforms as they clearly violated terms
- resort management tried to contact him to resolve the matter
See more:
From my own experience with complaints and the legal system
a) lots of people write realistic, truthful and harsh negative reviews but don’t get sued for defamation
b) one doesn’t just get dragged to court
c) no matter if direct contact was attempted, if a filing is made at police station, the police call the defendant and he has to appear to get the charges read and to make a statement.
d) there are usually several negotiations at police station to settle matters without having to go to court or even starting a civil or criminal proceeding
e) if no agreement is reached then it becomes a real case. Also there is arbitration in civil cases
f) general legal experience, not related to the case: foreigners not obeying local laws and regulations does result in a rude awakening. This is the case in any country.
g) western countries specially USA have very strict local police and court rules. Try to miss a court appointment there and compare.
h) technically the defendant may be charged with not just defamation but also with violating cybercrime laws (more serious)
i) Not sure why this clickbait populist article is given so much attention. It’s badly researched, badly written. Classic “blogger - wannabe journalist” piece. A new low for Yahoo News.
[+] [-] mumblerino|5 years ago|reply
The article is quite light on details, so here’s another one that also links to the full response by the hotel owners: https://mothership.sg/2020/09/sea-view-resort-defamation-law...
[+] [-] unnameduser1|5 years ago|reply
The ridiculous part is your comment about the proceeding and size of island. The charges for violations of laws don’t get smaller the smaller the island is.
[+] [-] leaveyou|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unnameduser1|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gumby|5 years ago|reply
I, not complaining about the NH headline, but the various mentions in the article itself?
I clicked because of that headline wondering why someone in America would worry about a suit filed in a different country. But it’s someone resident in Thailand.
[+] [-] unnameduser1|5 years ago|reply
Should be replace by the Singaporean link from commenters below.
[+] [-] _b8kh|5 years ago|reply
I’m not taking a side here on purpose, because certain laws would apply to me then.
a) yahoo article is biased and incomplete. Don’t take it as the truth.
b) if a official report (complaint) was filed at police station then the person who complaint was about must appear at that station so they can make their own statement into same journal.
c) since company is on an island it’s normal across the world that jurisdiction of that location applies.
If other articles are to be believed (posted by others here already), the company had sufficient reason to proceed as they did. https://mothership.sg/2020/09/sea-view-resort-defamation-law...
It’s not likely that the guy will go to jail. Most cases are arbitrated before they go to actual trial.
However if the foreigner were found to be in violation of the law he most likely won’t receive the maximum punishment.
A lot depends also how he reacts at court. Could go with a slap on the wrist or much worse.
Completely unrelated to this case but relevant - some companies do go overboard with defamation lawsuits but it’s quite rare actually. Lots of Thai people and foreigners write negative reviews and nothing happens at all
- it’s not unheard of foreigners to go ballistic due to language and cultural difference. However also Thai customers do happen to sometimes get overboard and cause problems unnecessary
- The situation is really dire on islands. I went to another this weekend and most resorts and restaurants/ pubs had shut down for good. The remaining open ones aren’t operating profitably as there is are less than 10% of regular domestic and foreign tourists there.
- Lots of visitors have also less money to spend. Salaries have been reduced and many people lost jobs. Tourism sector was hit the hardest.
- There is currently no way for foreign tourists to enter Thailand. But we do see Thai and foreign people traveling within the country. Not so many but also not none.
I really invite everyone to get familiar with laws in Thailand and with all the details of the situation before taking sides.
[+] [-] hechang1997|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tinus_hn|5 years ago|reply
I’m sure you can imagine this being rather difficult for a tourist who is back home on the other side of the planet.
[+] [-] msla|5 years ago|reply
> The maximum sentence is two years in prison, along with a 200,000 baht ($6,300) fine.
> Earlier this year, a Thai journalist was sentenced to two years in prison for posting a tweet referencing a dispute over working conditions at a chicken farm owned by the Thammakaset company.
The American is currently out on bail.
[+] [-] unnameduser1|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hechang1997|5 years ago|reply
Here's the resort in question.
[+] [-] justinclift|5 years ago|reply
That doesn't seem helpful at all.
[+] [-] metadatabad|5 years ago|reply
The customer is always right.
[+] [-] unnameduser1|5 years ago|reply
I see every day negative reviews of places in Thailand rarely heard of anyone who got sued about it.
Edit: typo
NB. If you don’t break the law you can leave negative reviews in Thailand
[+] [-] COVardsStayHome|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unnameduser1|5 years ago|reply
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VZCwyULmkLpZ7y5nT5wsaX0mn8w...
From my own experience with complaints and the legal system a) lots of people write realistic, truthful and harsh negative reviews but don’t get sued for defamation b) one doesn’t just get dragged to court c) no matter if direct contact was attempted, if a filing is made at police station, the police call the defendant and he has to appear to get the charges read and to make a statement. d) there are usually several negotiations at police station to settle matters without having to go to court or even starting a civil or criminal proceeding e) if no agreement is reached then it becomes a real case. Also there is arbitration in civil cases f) general legal experience, not related to the case: foreigners not obeying local laws and regulations does result in a rude awakening. This is the case in any country. g) western countries specially USA have very strict local police and court rules. Try to miss a court appointment there and compare. h) technically the defendant may be charged with not just defamation but also with violating cybercrime laws (more serious) i) Not sure why this clickbait populist article is given so much attention. It’s badly researched, badly written. Classic “blogger - wannabe journalist” piece. A new low for Yahoo News.
[+] [-] msh|5 years ago|reply
I think it is good warning people not to be tourists in countries with draconian laws.
[+] [-] justinclift|5 years ago|reply
That is completely irrelevant. They took legal action against someone who posted negative reviews, warning others away from this place.
That is something people are going to be concerned about.
What happens when other people have a bad experience... should they be too scared to write a review until they've left the country?
Seems like yes.
Much safer to choose any other resort for doing business.
That you've responded to every negative comment, trying to spin this as "nothing to see here" doesn't change that.