Bangkok Post wrote:Bo Bae market arrests were a mistake, says China consul

YUTTHAPONG KUMNODNAE

Udon Thani - The arrests of Chinese traders at Udon Thani's Udon Bo Bae market in the past six months seemed to have been a misunderstanding on the part of the immigration police bureau, a Chinese consul said.

Chinese consul and first secretary Mo Yao Ing met Udon Thani governor Charuek Prinyapol yesterday to discuss the arrests on two separate occasions of more than 100 Chinese merchants selling ready-to-wear garments at Udon Bo Bae market, a local version of Bangkok's cheap garment market.

The consul had earlier received complaints from Chinese traders, originally from Kunming, about a business conflict with local vendors of Vietnamese descent.

They are believed to have told immigration officers that the Chinese merchants carried out their businesses without work permits.

This prompted the arrest of 30 Chinese vendors on a charge of working without permission in April. Last month, another 94 vendors were nabbed by the immigration police for conducting businesses illegally.

They were later released on bail and several leaflets were distributed accusing the Chinese of plundering the country.

Mr Mo said Chinese traders in Udon Thani mostly had work permits and had entered the country legally.

He insisted the arrests were a mistake. But if any problem arose concerning the Chinese traders, the concerned agencies should contact the Chinese embassy.

Mr Charuek said the leaflets may stem from fear of commercial domination by the Chinese vendors.

However, he insisted that competition was unavoidable and that all traders had to improve their products and services to stay in business.