For the first time, TripAdvisor has placed a warning notice on the Sea View Resort’s page on the travel review website. Sea View, in Thailand, sued an American traveler, Wesley Barnes, for his negative reviews of the hotel, for which he was detained for two days in jail.
According to the hotel, Barnes insisted on bringing his bottle of alcohol into the hotel’s restaurant and refused to pay the corkage fee. The argument between Barnes and the staff caused a commotion. Even though the manager later intervened to waive the fee, Barnes left several bad reviews on TripAdvisor after leaving. These comments have been alleged “fabricated, recurrent, and malicious.”
Thailand has been known for its strict defamation laws. TripAdvisor says in the notice that the hotel may have been exercising its right under local law, and the company still has to warn its users when making a hotel reservation in Thailand.
友善讓你懂 │ 解說
現在大多數人出遊時，已經習慣參考網路評論來安排旅遊行程了。知名的旅遊網站TripAdvisor第一次在網站中Sea View Resort飯店網頁上，放上警示提醒。位在泰國的Sea View Resort控告了美籍遊客Wesley Barnes對飯店留下負評，此舉也造成Barnes在監獄中被拘留了兩日。
根據飯店方的說法，Barnes在用餐時堅持帶自己的酒進入飯店的餐廳飲用，卻又拒絕支付開瓶費。服務人員跟Barnes的爭執在現場引起了一陣騷動。即使後來經理居中協調取消了開瓶費用，Barnes還是在離開後，在TripAdvisor網站上對飯店留下了好幾則負評。飯店方認為這些評論意見「不實、重複出現、且帶有惡意」。
泰國長久以來都以嚴厲的反誹謗法而聞名，不少人權或倡議團體也始終擔心言論自由會因此受到箝制。TripAdvisor在這則提醒中指出，飯店方雖然是依據當地法令行駛了他們的權力，但TripAdvisor仍有責任警告使用者在泰國訂飯店住宿時，要對這樣的風險有所了解。
輕鬆帶著走 │ 學習
allege (v.) 是「指控、宣稱」的意思，同時暗示這樣的指控「沒有確切的證據」、或是「還沒有經過證實」，因此看到allege時，可以知道作者或說話者表態自己並未為這樣的言論「背書」，只是轉述他人的說法。
例句：
The YouTuber alleged that they already had an oral contract.
這位YouTuber宣稱他們已經有口頭協議了。
本篇其他相關單字
- corkage (fee) (n.) 開瓶費
- intervene (v.) 介入、干涉
- waive (v.) 放棄（權力）
- fabricate (v.) 捏造、虛構
- recurrent (adj.) 反覆出現的
- malicious (adj.) 有惡意的、惡毒的
- defamation (n.) 誹謗
發佈留言