An American has been sued by an island resort in Thailand over a negative TripAdvisor review, authorities said Saturday, and could face up to two years in prison if found guilty.

 

泰国当局周六表示，一名美国人因在猫途鹰旅游网站发表负面评论而被泰国一家岛屿度假酒店起诉，如果罪名成立，他可能面临最高两年的监禁。

 

Domestic tourism is still happening in Thailand, where coronavirus numbers are relatively¹ low, with locals and expats heading to near-empty resorts -- including Koh Chang island, famed for its sandy beaches and turquoise² waters.

 

But a recent visit to the Sea View Resort on the island landed Wesley Barnes in trouble after he wrote unflattering online reviews about his holiday.

 

"The Sea View Resort owner filed a complaint that the defendant³ had posted unfair reviews on his hotel on the Tripadvisor website," Colonel Thanapon Taemsara of Koh Chang police told AFP.

 

He said Barnes 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.

 

Barnes, who works in Thailand, was arrested by immigration police and returned to Koh Chang where he was briefly⁴ detained and then freed on bail⁵.

 

According to the Tripadvisor review Barnes posted in July, he encountered "unfriendly staff" who "act like they don't want anyone here".

 

The Sea View Resort said legal action was only taken because Barnes had penned multiple reviews on different sites over the past few weeks.

 

At least one was posted in June on Tripadvisor accusing the hotel of "modern day slavery" -- which the site removed after a week for violating its guidelines.

 

"We chose to file a complaint to serve as a deterrent⁶, 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 contact Barnes before filing the complaint.

 

The maximum sentence is two years in prison, along with a 200,000 baht fine.

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