Write a negative review on Tripadvisor at your own risk

PETALING JAYA (Sept 30): You are angry about the service you received from a hotel. You decide to let it all out in a review on the famous Tripadvisor website.

Well, wait a minute… is it safe to do that? Not for US citizen Wesley Barnes.

He ended up being arrested by Thai authorities after he wrote a negative review of the Sea View Resort at Koh Chang island.

According to a report by AFP, Colonel Thanapon Taemsara of Koh Chang police revealed that the Sea View Resort owner “filed a complaint that the defendant had posted unfair reviews on his hotel on the Tripadvisor website”.

Taemsara said the American was accused of causing “damage to the reputation of the hotel,” and of “quarrelling with staff over not paying a corkage fee for alcohol brought to the hotel”.

As a result Barnes was arrested by immigration police and taken to Koh Chang where he was detained but later freed on bail. Barnes is currently employed in Thailand.

The AFP report also stated that Barnes faces two years in prison and a 200,000 baht (RM26,000) fine if convicted.

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