TripAdvisor Review Gone Wrong: American Faces Two Years In Jail After Lambasting Sea View Resort

An American man could spend the next two years behind bars in Thailand after posting negative reviews about a hotel he had stayed in in the country. The hotel resort sued the man under Thailand’s anti-defamation laws.

In his reviews, which he posted on different platforms, Wesley Barnes accused The Sea View Resort of modern-day slavery. Earlier this year, Barnes stayed in the hotel but had an argument with the staff because he wanted to bring his own bottle of alcohol while dining in the restaurant.

According to the complaint filed by the owner of the hotel, the defendant had caused a commotion during his stay and even refused to pay a corkage fee, which was eventually waived. “The owner filed a complaint that the defendant had posted unfair reviews on his hotel on the TripAdvisor website,” said the police.

Since leaving The Sea View Resort, Barnes has been posting negative reviews about the property. The hotel owner said his harsh criticism was untrue and damaging to the reputation of the property, hence the lawsuit. In the lawsuit, he described the reviews as “fabricated, recurrent, and malicious.”

Barnes could face up to two years in prison if found guilty of breaking the anti-defamation laws of Thailand. However, Barnes maintained that his post was never published as it violates TripAdvisor’s guidelines. Barnes also said he had already lost his job over the incident and was worried that the negative publicity of the case would make it harder for him to find a new job.

Barnes, who is set to appear in court again in early October, said he was afraid to go to prison because his first few days behind bars had been “very scary.” Barnes was detained after being arrested but was released on bail after spending two nights in prison.

Barnes said he still hopes to resolve the case with the hotel, but the hotel owner said Barnes had refused to speak to them before he filed the suit. “We chose to file a complaint to serve as a deterrent, as we understood he may continue to write negative reviews week after week for the foreseeable future,” he said.

“Despite our multiple efforts to contact him to resolve the matter in an amicable way for well over a month, he chose to ignore us completely,” he added, saying Barnes only contacted them when he had already been notified of the lawsuit.