Government takes tough stand on pirate goods

By: Bangkokpost.com
Published: 7/05/2009 at 06:11 PM

The current crackdown on intellectual property violations will continue, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday, echoing the tough stance of Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot who vowed earlier in the day to conduct raids on sellers of pirate goods every two days.

Mr Alongkorn also pledged to make sure ministry officials display identification before commencing arrests and confiscating goods.

The government's hardening of its stance follows a raid on vendors in Patpong on Wednesday night and a clash which led to 11 people being injured.

Vendors filed a series of police complaints against commerce officials, accusing them of assault, damaging property and abuse of authority.

Mr Alongkorn said the public must view Wednesday night’s incident fairly as officials on the raid also suffered serious injuries.

Mr Abhisit said he would be going over reports of the incident to determine if officials acted inappropriately, which might prompt a revision of raid procedure.

Venders clashed violently with ministry officials in Bangkok’s tourist centre of Patpong. There were reports of gunshots being fired into the air to scare off the officials.

About 200 vendors and 50 commerce officials were involved in the conflict, which erupted after officials raided sellers’ booths to arrest them for intellectual property violations and confiscated their goods.

Officials arrested four sellers and made off with four vans loaded with confiscated counterfeit goods, mostly pirate copies of bags and clothes.

The arrested vendors were taken to Bang Rak police station. They were given bail on Thursday morning. Another vendor under charge was being treated for his wounds at hospital.

Other vendors shortly afterwards marched to Bang Rak police station to file charges against the commerce officials. They accused them of assault and causing damage to property.

Some sellers, covered in blood smears, told reporters they were assaulted by the raiding party. Market vendors continued to file charges with police throughout Thursday.

National police chief Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwan said he instructed the chief of Bangkok police to closely supervise all issues relating to the incident.


Pol Gen Patcharawat said he would examine reports that Central Investigation Bureau police took part in the raid.