Thai diner faces $29,770 lawsuit after calling $7.74 plate of basil rice expensive

A Thai man says a food shop at a Bangkok hospital is seeking 1 million baht (US$29,770) in damages from him over a Facebook video complaining that its chicken basil rice cost 260 baht ($7.74).

The shop's owner filed a police complaint alleging defamation by publication and offenses under the Computer Crime Act and a law on the pricing of goods and services, Thai broadcaster Channel 3 reported on Oct. 20.

The man, whose name has been withheld, told the station that a complaint had also been filed against his wife, and he has consulted a lawyer on how to fight the case.

He had taken his child to see a doctor at the hospital and stopped to eat at its food court, he said. He ordered chicken basil rice with a fried egg, and only found out it cost 260 baht when he paid.

He filmed the plate, remarked on the price and posted the clip, not expecting it to draw attention. When he checked a couple days later, it had more than 8,000 comments, most of them about the price.

The video showed chicken stir-fried with holy basil, served with rice, a fried egg and a small cup of spicy fish sauce, The Thaiger reported. In it, the man called the dish expensive in profane terms and named the hospital, but not the shop.

Neither the hospital nor the shop had commented publicly.

Stir-fried pork with basil on rice, topped with a fried egg. Illustration photo by Unsplash

Lawyer Monchai Chongkairattanakul, known as Lawyer Kaew, said people have the right to express opinions and criticize in good faith, Khaosod English reported.

Reviewing a restaurant does not automatically violate the Computer Crime Act if the post puts no false information into a computer system, he said.

In July, a court threw out a 5 million baht ($148,850) defamation suit that a Phuket cake shop had filed against a customer over a one-star review saying its cake was not tasty and cost too much, The Thaiger reported. The shop, which has since closed, lost about 100,000 baht it had paid in court fees.