Thai Resort Sues Expat Over Negative Review

A resort in Koh Chang has filed a criminal complaint against US citizen Wesley Barnes after the American submitted a bad review on TripAdvisor. The resort is suing the man under the defamation law, claiming Barnes has defamed the resort’s reputation.

Defamation law in Western countries is normally a civil case, wherein the court can impose monetary award judgments but not impose a prison sentence. Many Westerners who do not understand Thailand law end up as defendants in criminal cases in Thailand based on defamation. Unfortunately, ignorance of the Thai law is not a defense.

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