In desperate and immediate need of Phuket recommendations

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If he is afraid to post online wouldn't he be afraid to tell that in person? The stranger asking for advice could be carrying a hidden dictophone.
 
Cyber crime laws in Thailand, do a search. Especially in combination with defamation laws.
He's not kidding. People have been jailed and fined under Thai defamation and computer crime laws for everything from posting bad reviews, to linking to foreign news articles to reporting on company and governmental abuses. Defamation is criminal by itself, but by linking it to the computer crimes laws, malicious business owners can turn even the most most mild criticism into something devastating for a defendant.

They even hold website operators liable for posts on their site. That's why there is no Yelp in Thailand.
 
How does Tripadvisor operate in Thailand then? maybe those fined people were posting fake reviews?
 
How does Tripadvisor operate in Thailand then? maybe those fined people were posting fake reviews?
TripAdvisor doesn't need a local office.

Fake reviews? I find it useful to do at least a cursory google search before I make comments on things I know nothing about.

thailand reviews defamation computer crimes - Google Search

From the first result, an article from The Pattaya News:


Recently, a story has been making the news about an owner of a restaurant in Pattaya pressing legal charges against a prominent member of a Facebook Meal review group for making a negative review. We here at The Pattaya News are not going to name either party or get into specifics (Also, due to legal reasons) but will comment in general on the situation as it causing a lot of discussion on local message boards. It would appear that the majority of people commenting are not aware of Thai law or do not agree with it. Whether you agree with it or not, it does not change the fact that it IS the law.

First, most long time message board readers in Thailand will notice most of them are heavily moderated and do not allow name and shame, negative reviews or slander. This is because the website involved can also be party to legal charges of defamation and slander. Most comment sections (including our own) are heavily moderated and controlled in order to ensure that slander, libel and anything critical of the government is not allowed. It doesn’t matter if your country has freedom of speech or you can post whatever you want back home. That is not the case here.

Secondly, most laws in Thailand favour the business owner or landlord, not the consumer or tenant. In western countries this is normally reversed. Again, whether you agree with it or not, this is Thai law.

Third, in Thailand Libel/Slander/Defamation is both a civil AND criminal offense.
 
TripAdvisor doesn't need a local office.

Fake reviews? I find it useful to do at least a cursory google search before I make comments on things I know nothing about.

thailand reviews defamation computer crimes - Google Search

From the first result, an article from The Pattaya News:


Recently, a story has been making the news about an owner of a restaurant in Pattaya pressing legal charges against a prominent member of a Facebook Meal review group for making a negative review. We here at The Pattaya News are not going to name either party or get into specifics (Also, due to legal reasons) but will comment in general on the situation as it causing a lot of discussion on local message boards. It would appear that the majority of people commenting are not aware of Thai law or do not agree with it. Whether you agree with it or not, it does not change the fact that it IS the law.

First, most long time message board readers in Thailand will notice most of them are heavily moderated and do not allow name and shame, negative reviews or slander. This is because the website involved can also be party to legal charges of defamation and slander. Most comment sections (including our own) are heavily moderated and controlled in order to ensure that slander, libel and anything critical of the government is not allowed. It doesn’t matter if your country has freedom of speech or you can post whatever you want back home. That is not the case here.

Secondly, most laws in Thailand favour the business owner or landlord, not the consumer or tenant. In western countries this is normally reversed. Again, whether you agree with it or not, this is Thai law.

Third, in Thailand Libel/Slander/Defamation is both a civil AND criminal offense.
In addition, the defamation rules in Thailand are harsh. Even if a negative review or online comment is proven correct it will still be deemed defamation if it causes (financial) harm to the other party.
 

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