Thai hotel to drop charges against US man who faced jail over bad reviews

A hotel in Thailand has agreed to drop charges against an American guest who faced up to five years in jail for posting negative reviews – as long as he issues a public apology for his comments.

The hotel, on the holiday island of Koh Chang, filed a complaint against American teacher Wesley Barnes in August after he posted what the hotel said were false and defamatory write-ups after a row over a 500 baht ($16) corkage fee.

Police detained Barnes under criminal defamation and computer crime laws for two days in September before he was released on bail.

“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 to Reuters on Friday.

The case brought new scrutiny to Thailand’s defamation and computer crime laws, which human rights activists say are too harsh and sweeping.

Under the laws, Barnes could be fined up to 100,000 baht ($3,200) and be jailed for up to five years.

The hotel wants Barnes to send statements to media, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the US embassy and the Tripadvisor website this month, apologising and explaining that his reviews were written in anger.

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“I’m sending an email to many media outlets,” Barnes told Reuters. He declined to elaborate.

The dispute began when Barnes stayed at the resort in June and disagreed with staff who tried to charge a corkage fee for alcohol he and a friend had brought on to the premises.

He told the Guardian that he felt the hotel’s manager was aggressive.

Barnes later submitted negative reviews of the hotel online, including one that said the resort’s foreign management “treat the staff like slaves”. Barnes, however, maintains that the review, which compared the resort to “modern-day slavery”, was never published. He said he received an email from Tripadvisor stating “we cannot publish your contribution as it does not meet our review guidelines”.

Another review, which could be seen online on Tripadvisor, said staff “act like they don’t want anyone there”.

The resort said that it had initially tried to contact Barnes directly to resolve the matter, but took legal action because multiple reviews had been posted across different platforms, weeks apart.

Defamation is a criminal offence in Thailand, carrying a maximum sentence of two years in prison, along with a 200,000 baht (£4,915) fine. Rights groups have long warned that the law is draconian, and that it has been abused to silence activists and journalists. Unlike in many other countries, truth cannot automatically be relied upon as a defence.