Authorities arrest a man over his low rating of a restaurant
NEGATIVE REVIEWS – A man was arrested for allegedly giving a low rating to an Italian restaurant.
The Central Investigation Bureau and Royal Thai Police of Thailand are currently investigating a 21-year-old British individual known only as Alexander. According to a report from The Phuket News, an English news company in Thailand, Alexander’s arrest stemmed from a feud with the owner of an unnamed Italian restaurant.
It was discovered that he had been taking a shortcut through the Italian restaurant to and from his rented apartment since 2022. The owner prohibited him from passing through the restaurant as he never ordered any food or drinks and was causing disturbance to other customers. He should have used the street instead of the restaurant. This led to a heated argument between them.
Since then, the restaurant owner observed a decline in the restaurant’s Google rating—from 4.8/5 to 3.1/5—due to an increase in fake one-star reviews. The restaurant owner filed a case of “entering false computer data likely to cause damage to the general public” against Alexander, suspecting him of orchestrating the campaign to lower the restaurant’s ratings.
Alexander allegedly persuaded friends to flood the Italian restaurant with negative ratings. This allegedly affected the reputation and earnings of the business. An arrest warrant was issued against Alexander in August 2023.
Authorities did not provide details on why they are convinced that Alexander is behind the negative reviews on the Italian restaurant. He was arrested by the CIB at his apartment in Bangkok on May 9, 2024. Alexander denied the accusations, claiming innocence in the case filed against him. If found guilty, he could face up to two years in prison. As of press time, no updates have been disclosed regarding the case.
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