Not sure why this was downvoted. Police proceedings seemed to be reasonable and if one were to trust reports about the defendants posts the charges are justified.
If the defendant were in his home country he would have been arrested all the same for not following procedures and appearing when asked. Please check the whole story before you just downvote.
People often criticize the police in Thailand when they are doing their job (issuing tickets, lol) and also when they aren’t doing their job (when it’s not their jurisdiction or position). Thailand is not much different than other countries and has laws that need to be followed. Many foreigners including me live in Thailand for decades and manage it just fine to not get into trouble while posting harsh negative reviews online. :)
Nobody forced the guy to come and work in Thailand. He isn’t a tourist though. If he works here he should know about the laws. Ignorance is not protection against the laws.
We see the same with many foreign tourists who come and assume they can ride motorcycles without valid driving license and experience. Lots of them injured and asking for money in gofundme pages to pay hospital bills since insurance won’t cover illegal behavior.
If I were to take your way of thinking then USA should be also on travel warning list. A (Canadian) foreigner living there was killed when she called police to report someone breaking into her house. However she was killed by police. I think that’s a bit more drastic than being arrested for (allegedly) not showing up in person to the police station as per report.
The law is sometimes abused by people but it’s not draconian.
Defendants are usually called and asked to appear at police station to make their own statement. Very civilized way of handling.
Then you have most likely two times there to negotiate with the person who filed report.
If nothing comes out of it, and only then, criminal charges are filed and investigated.
A judge has to write an arrest warrant and does it if the defendant didn’t answer to calls by police to appear.
Then and only then they can arrest him. He would have been brought to the station, went to jail for not following proceeding and he got out on bail.
So far this seems like a very appropriate handling.
Also I’m sure that before the case starts the judge usually ask both parties if this can be negotiated first. They have more critical cases than to deal with stupid posts on social media.
If no agreement can be reached then there is a trial and it’s not guaranteed that defendant would get 2y in prison unless is unreasonable. He has a lot of influence there. His reaction will determine the proceedings and he will get a fair trial.
You’re inventing things and twisting reality. People are less likely to get in trouble with the law in Thailand than to get shot by police in the US.
So please let me know how reasonable it is for foreigners in USA to get killed by police when calling 911 and reporting a break in.
Not ridiculous at all. Size of island doesn’t matter. The court is on mainland. Police station where resort filed complaint is where the guy has to go to hear the charges and to make his own statement. All ok so far.
The ridiculous part is your comment about the proceeding and size of island. The charges for violations of laws don’t get smaller the smaller the island is.
Your assumptions are just assumptions = not backed by facts.
In reality he could be Elvis born again and also to him laws would still apply.
If the resort would have made up the comments they say he posted, then they would be in much more legal trouble than he is now.
From statements that were posted as screenshots he might be also technically liable for violations of cybercrime act. But that hasn’t been announced or he hasn’t been charged yet for that.
From where I’m standing, the guy looks like someone who went overboard to not just complain but incriminate himself. That’s what counts.
Honestly, every business has customers that complain. You can’t please everyone. But if someone were to make certain statements about my business, employees etc, I would also use my legal rights to fight abuse.
I have myself complained for decades very harshly about other business on social media, their own TW/FB/Google profiles and haven’t been sued by anyone.
It would be interesting what the guy can state as his side of the story apart of the incriminating screenshots from online platforms.
What are you talking about? Your statement has no connection to reality:
- foreign tourists can currently not enter the country.
- the defendant is NOT a tourist but works in the country.
- the police station is not on other side of the planet but just 3h away from his place of work.
- I’m not local but in most countries I have lived the local law matters, applies and has to be observed. Nothing difficult about that
There is more to this case. And I’m just summarizing from the statement published by the resort:
- customer argued about corkage fee for beverages brought from outside.
- customer left and drank beverages outside without needing to pay corkage
- customer made inappropriate and defamatory comments on online platforms.
- Some of the comments were taken down by the platforms as they clearly violated terms
- resort management tried to contact him to resolve the matter
See more:
From my own experience with complaints and the legal system
a) lots of people write realistic, truthful and harsh negative reviews but don’t get sued for defamation
b) one doesn’t just get dragged to court
c) no matter if direct contact was attempted, if a filing is made at police station, the police call the defendant and he has to appear to get the charges read and to make a statement.
d) there are usually several negotiations at police station to settle matters without having to go to court or even starting a civil or criminal proceeding
e) if no agreement is reached then it becomes a real case. Also there is arbitration in civil cases
f) general legal experience, not related to the case: foreigners not obeying local laws and regulations does result in a rude awakening. This is the case in any country.
g) western countries specially USA have very strict local police and court rules. Try to miss a court appointment there and compare.
h) technically the defendant may be charged with not just defamation but also with violating cybercrime laws (more serious)
i) Not sure why this clickbait populist article is given so much attention. It’s badly researched, badly written. Classic “blogger - wannabe journalist” piece. A new low for Yahoo News.
Justin you don’t seem to have a grasp of the legal system in Thailand. People can write negative reviews. But there is a line which one shouldn’t cross as it becomes illegal.
Lots of people write negative reviews and don’t get into legal trouble in Thailand.
So hopefully people don’t just assume things based on imagination and get some more facts before judging the case
Yeah imagine police doing their job. The accused has to be read the charges and has the opportunity to make a formal statement. Does the size of the island matter in that legal case?
Looks interesting and is definitely a required tool to show what websites are doing that average users don’t realize.
Sadly the really bad players detect that this is not a normal user and redirect to a error page.
You will have to try harder to fool them into thinking your headless browser is a real user. Probably your test device is in a server center and they detect the IP isn’t a end user IP.