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Published on March 25, 2008

Oriental Hotel general manager Kurt Wachtveitl yesterday appeared in the Criminal Court to face a libel lawsuit involving the lebua Hotel.

"This should never have occurred," said Thai Hotels Association president Chanin Dhonavanik.

"What will the world think of Thailand when the world's best hotel is involved in a lawsuit like this? This is the first in Thai hotel history and will certainly damage our reputation."

In the lawsuit filed with Bangkok South Sathorn Criminal Court, the Attorney-General's Office charged Wachtveitl with defaming lebua.

lebua's owner, Challenge Hospitality, also sought compensation of Bt213 million in a separate civil lawsuit.

The plaintiff's witnesses will give their testimony on August 5, 6 and 8, while the defendant's witnesses will appear on August 13, 19 and 20.

Wachtveitl and his lawyer declined to comment to reporters.

In the lawsuit, the Attorney-General's Office referred to an e-mail signed by Wachtveitl dated November 30, 2006. In the e-mail, Oriental staff were told not to allow management of lebua and hotel developer the Challenge Group into the hotel. While citing that The Peninsula Hotel had lost 26 staff to lebua in two months, Wachtveitl said Oriental's renovated Chinese restaurant, China House, could be the next target.

"In order to reinforce our staff retention, do not accept any reservations (rooms or restaurants) under their names. Should you come across any management member in the hotel, please make sure they are escorted out of the premises immediately," he said.

He also urged staff facing a challenge when doing so to contact the Security Department.

A lebua representative, who asked not to be named, said the e-mail was sent to general managers of nine hotels.

Another lebua source said the e-mail accused lebua of using dishonest means to seduce and buy staff from other hotels. The e-mail also urged other hotels to join the protest.

"This is not true. Slightly before the e-mail was written, we even ran a recruitment advertisement," she said.

Asource at the Oriental said the hotel had every right to guard against headhunting.

"The e-mail was meant as an internal memo for the management," she said, insisting it was never sent to other hotels.

Chanin said the legal battle would attract attention, because it was a very unusual case. In the hospitality industry, hotel operators normally avoid fighting with each other, no matter if they face tough competition or other hotels try to lure their staff, he said.

"I've never known such a case before," he added.

Achara Deboonme,

Suchat Sritama

The Nation