An American Faces Up To Two Years In Prison For A Negative TripAdvisor Review On Thailand Resort

An island resort in Thailand has taken legal action against an American after he left a negative review on TripAdvisor regarding his stay in July, authorities said.

The owner of the Sea View Resort filed a complaint against Wesley Barnes, citing that he had posted unfair reviews on his hotel on the Tripadvisor website, Colonel Thanapon Taemsara of Koh Chang police told AFP.

According to a travel blogger, Thailand’s defamation laws are extremely strict, especially when it deals with online content. The hotel revealed that legal action was taken because Barnes had penned multiple reviews on different sites over the past several weeks.

Taemsara told reporters that Barnes was accused of damaging the resort’s reputation and fighting with the “staff over not paying a corkage fee for alcohol brought to the hotel.”

In July, Barnes left a one-star review on TripAdvisor. He stated that while he visited Sea View Resort on the island, he experienced hostile staff members who acted as though they didn’t want to be at work.

“Unfriendly staff, no one ever smiles. They act like they don’t want anyone there. The restaurant manager was the worst. He is from the Czech Republic. He is extremely rude and impolite to guests. Find another place. There are plenty with nicer staff that are happy you are staying with them,” the review read.

In another review that has since been deleted, Barnes accused the hotel of “modern-day slavery,” according to The Telegraph.

After the complaint was filed, Barnes, who works in Thailand, was detained for a short period in Koh Chang and then released on bail after being arrested by immigration police.

“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,” the hotel said, adding that staff had attempted to reach out to Barnes before filing the complaint.

If found guilty, Barnes faces the maximum sentence of two years in prison, along with a 200,000 baht ($6,300) fine.