Editorial Policy

Purpose

BangkokHotel.com publishes editorial content (the Bangkok Dossier and the Bangkok Guides) that grounds an AI travel concierge. This policy codifies how we source, verify, and frame that content — especially the parts that touch named businesses, safety risks, and time-sensitive facts.

It is enforced both by convention (founder editorial review) and by code (the dossier loader refuses to publish entries that fail its gates).

Authorship & AI disclosure

Our editorial content is authored with AI assistance (Claude, Gemini, GPT-5 — the same providers that power the in-app travel agent) under founder editorial direction. Every entry is reviewed by the founder before publication. We treat AI-drafted content as a first draft, not a final product. The founder is editorially responsible for everything published under the BangkokHotel.com masthead.

Sourcing standards

Every published entry cites at least one named source. Entries on risk-sensitive topics (scams, safety advisories, health, animal welfare, drugs, legal advice) cite at least two sources from named authorities — for example: Tourism Authority of Thailand, UK Foreign Office, US State Department, WHO, US CDC, UK NHS, World Animal Protection, the Asian Captive Elephant Working Group, Bangkok Post, or official Thai-government data providers.

We do not quote third-party text verbatim. We paraphrase and cite. Each source citation in an entry records its URL, title, the date we accessed it, and its type (advisory, news, nonprofit, official).

Opinion vs. fact

Editorial opinion is permitted and encouraged — it's part of why our content is useful — but it must be clearly marked as opinion, not stated as fact. "We'd send you to X instead of Y" is opinion framing; comparative claims about named businesses presented as objective fact are not acceptable. Factual claims (prices, hours, transit details) must be sourceable and dated.

Named-business policy

We refer to named businesses under nominative fair use — because they are the actual subject of practical travel guidance. We do not make defamatory or unverified accusations against specific named establishments, publish "where NOT to go" lists naming specific businesses on safety grounds, or frame industry-level risk patterns as accusations against any one named venue.

We do cite named authorities when describing industry-level safety patterns, state editorial preferences as opinion ("we'd send you elsewhere") rather than as fact, and provide a documented right of reply for any named operator who disputes our framing.

Editorial picks are made before affiliate availability is checked — we do not rank a business higher because we can earn commission from it. See our Affiliate disclosure.

Publish gate (enforced in code)

Before an entry receives editorial_status: published, the dossier loader enforces: a last_verified_on date must be present; a non-empty sources array must be present; risk-sensitive entries must carry at least two sources, at least one of which is from a named advisory, nonprofit, or official authority. Entries that fail load as drafts and remain unpublished until they pass review.

Right of reply, corrections, takedown

Any named business, operator, or individual who believes we have mis-stated a fact, mis-framed an opinion as a fact, or caused them reputational harm through our framing can write to takedown@bangkokhotel.com with the URL of the entry, the specific passage in dispute, the correction or removal requested, and any supporting documentation.

Our commitment: acknowledgement within 72 hours of receipt; substantive review within 7 calendar days. Non-frivolous requests cause the entry to be marked under editorial review, with a neutral banner displayed until resolved. We correct factual errors, re-frame mis-framed opinions, and remove material we cannot defend.

We do not honor requests that amount to suppressing accurate, sourced, public-interest information.

Recency & re-verification

Every published entry carries a public last-verified date. Scam and transit entries are re-verified quarterly; attractions, food, and operators biannually; neighborhoods, tips, and itineraries annually. Entries past their target window are flagged on the site as "Stale — last verified {date}" so readers can calibrate.

Things we deliberately don't cover

We publish "negative-space" entries for topics that are inside our subject area but outside our editorial scope — sex tourism, recreational drug sourcing, luxury concierge beyond our budget bracket. Documenting what we don't cover is itself part of our editorial posture.

Contact

Editorial / correction requests: takedown@bangkokhotel.com. General: hello@bangkokhotel.com.

The full policy text, with revision history, lives in EDITORIAL_POLICY.md in our repository.