https://www.asiaone.com/asia/tourist-told-delete-negative-review-agoda-immediately-or-face-120k-lawsuit-thai-resort
Tourist told to delete negative review on Agoda immediately or face $120k lawsuit by Thai resort
A resort in Thailand has threatened a tourist with a three million baht (S$120,000) defamation lawsuit after she left a negative review of her stay on Agoda.
In a Facebook post shared on Friday (Jan 7), lawyer Sittra Biabangkerd wrote that his client, Khing, was informed by the resort to delete the review that she had posted on the travel booking platform "immediately".
Sittra added: "Or else, she (Khing) must pay the resort 50,000 baht per day in compensation and three million baht for the damages.
"The resort also asked her to publish an apology in the newspaper for seven days in a row."
Sittra had also included a screenshot of the review that his client had written on Agoda on Dec 19 last year.
After staying for one night, Khing rated her stay at the resort a "six out of 10" and felt that the experience there was overpriced.
Describing the view from the room as "just okay", Khing wrote: "The room did not look new as advertised. I could not call the reception from my room, so I had to walk down by myself. Not clean. Night-shift staffers were not so helpful, but some were welcoming."
In the comments of Sittra's Facebook post, netizens criticised the resort for "intimidating" the tourist with a lawsuit. They also questioned the resort's claims that posting a negative review is a form of defamation.
In September 2020, an American hotel guest was arrested and charged with criminal defamation after posting complaints on TripAdvisor about his stay at the Sea View Koh Chang resort on Koh Chang island.
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