Watch what reviews you post about Thailand...

[StefinSB]

Shocking given how tame that review looks.

A country famous for backwards laws and caning international visitors probably does see a couple years in prison as a reasonable punishment for a disagreement between a restaurant and their guest.

Seems like a bad idea to write a review of a place if you're currently staying there or planning to eat their food again. Good way to get spit or worse into your diet. Bringing a bottle of booze to a restaurant also seems pretty bizarre. Maybe that's common in some places? I've never seen someone do that. Probably why I've never heard of a "cork fee". Now, bringing booze to your hotel when on vacation is pretty common. I do it most of the time when I travel domestically for vacation. It's a non-issue for me traveling internationally as I always go AI. I don't bring it to the table with me if I'm eating at a restaurant. That's just weird.

Lessons learned. Don't go to Thailand. If you have to go to Thailand, don't go to sea view resort. Don't bring booze to a restaurant. Don't post reviews of a place while you're still there.

There is nothing wrong with bringing a special bottle of wine to a restaurant. You pay the corkage fee and add an extra tip and everyone is happy.

 

[BRT]

If bad reviews are litigated away, then good reviews mean nothing. I am always suspicious of all good reviews. The very best places still have some bad customers who will leave bad reviews.

 

[runsongas]

regardless if they were an asshat, 2 years in prison for a bad online review is ridiculous.

 

[DuTemplar]

Lessons learned. Don't go to Thailand. If you have to go to Thailand, don't go to sea view resort. Don't bring booze to a restaurant. Don't post reviews of a place while you're still there.

DING DING DING. I have only ever posted super positive reviews while I was still "there." Occasionally that's gotten me comped a little thing or two. Negative reviews I'm gonna write an email to myself. When I get home, decide if I still agree with that or not so much, and leave the review then.

Now, being pissy and leaving a series of negative reviews which are highly imflammatory, yeah no. Specific complaints, which I can attach pictures/ videos/ whatever to, and I still try to do a "the good, the bad, the meh" version that seems more honest than a written advertisement. Dude seems to be a complete douche just being silly. But play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

My Koh Samui hotel review was basically "phenomenal room" "decent beach, a bit pebbly for my tastes" "staff doing backflips to make sure you do not need any tiny little thing... which is nice, but also gets a bit over-done and annoying" "staff did mail a few postcards for me, it's a month later and they haven't been received yet... but I have no doubt that's due to the postal service and not the hotel." "breakfasts good, bacon a smidge undercooked, but hey... plenty of it. I asked, they made a batch more done." and the manager did reply, and do the usual "thanks yous" "noted, we try... sorry if" and all that. Postcards received in the US about 75-90 days after being mailed.

 

[The Chairman]

SLAPP laws in many states protect most people when they leave a bad review. Being arrested would be way, way, way over the top and if it were more than one instance, then I would avoid that particular country.

 

[Barmaglot]

SLAPP laws in many states protect most people when they leave a bad review. Being arrested would be way, way, way over the top and if it were more than one instance, then I would avoid that particular country.

Do they cover false accusations of criminal activity (human trafficking, in this case) made out of petty spite?

 

[The Chairman]

Do they cover false accusations of criminal activity (human trafficking, in this case) made out of petty spite?

There's a lot they don't cover and were never intended to cover:

They don't cover charges or torts in another country or state
They don't cover libel
They don't cover slander
They don't cover extortion
They don't cover malicious accusations​

Understanding Anti-SLAPP Laws

 

[kelemvor]

There is nothing wrong with bringing a special bottle of wine to a restaurant. You pay the corkage fee and add an extra tip and everyone is happy.

Huh.. live and learn I guess.

 

[hilljo88]

I used to write lots of reviews on Trip Advisor, mostly positive but some politely negative. Then I got bored with it and realized the site owners were getting rich off of my free content. On one trip, my dive buddy told a waiter that I had over 100,000 views on TA. The waiter said "would you like to order now?" Totally unimpressed.

As for Thailand, I never had a bad experience there, other than arriving in the middle of a typhoon for which I could not blame the King or any of his subjects. The Thai people are uniformly polite, have a hard time giving you bad news such as flight delays, even when its not their fault. I would not hesitate to return once the plague goes away.

 

[M-Cameron]

3rd world countries gonna 3rd world.