National

60,000 counterfeit travel mugs seized in BKK raids

Published

2 months ago

June 15, 2018

The Thaiger & The Nation

Most of us will have a branded 100 baht T-shirt somewhere in one of our drawers, maybe even a fake Louis Vuitton bag or wallet, or a Tag Heuer watch we haggled in a Patpong market for 1,500 baht. Fakes are everywhere in Thailand. But travel mugs? 60,000 travel mugs?!

Some 60,000 plastic coffee cups, tumblers and mugs bearing brand name logos have been confiscated from wholesale manufacturers and warehouses for intellectual property law violation.

The counterfeit items, to be supplied to distributors in Bangkok’s Sampheng Market, were worth an estimated Bt10 million in retail sales, although they could even fetch Bt60 million, Department of Special Investigation chief Pol Colonel Paisit Wongmuang told a press conference on Thursday.
Following complaints filed by representatives of the damaged businesses, officers on Wednesday afternoon launched the raids. They searched 10 Bangkok locations of the wholesale manufacturers and warehouses to seize the counterfeit items.
Nine suspects were arrested on charges of possessing with the intent to sell and distribute counterfeit goods and violating others’ intellectual property rights, Paisit said.

The confiscated travel mugs carried the logos of Manchester United Football Club, Liverpool Football Club, Starbucks, Doraemon and Harley Davidson.

STORY: The Nation

National

Thaiger Radio News – Monday

Published

14 hours ago

August 20, 2018

The Thaiger

Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

National

Nearly 15 million methamphetamine tablets seized in Ayutthaya

Published

16 hours ago

August 20, 2018

The Thaiger

PHOTO: Bernama WebTV

Narcotics police have seized a massive amount of 14.8 million methamphetamine pills hidden in fruit boxes and then stored in a container at a warehouse in the central province of Ayutthaya yesterday (Sunday).

Deputy commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, said that the huge drug haul was contained in 1,700 fruit boxes each carrying 200,000 meth pills.

Police explain that a truck left the warehouse for Talad Thai fresh market in Pathum Thani to fetch 1,700 boxes of fruit. The fruit was later partially removed from the boxes and replaced with packs of meth pills before the truck headed back to the warehouse.

Plainclothes police, who had laid in wait near the warehouse, then moved in to make the arrest.

Pol Maj-Gen Tanai said the warehouse was used as a distribution centre to deliver the drugs to customers in central provinces. During the coordinated raid, three men aged 29 and 32 from Chiangmai and Nongkhai were nabbed.

Video of the massive drugs haul here from Bernama WebTV…

SOURCE: Thai PBS

National

Thailand’s household debt

Published

2 days ago

August 19, 2018

The Thaiger & The Nation

Thailand’s household debt has been on the rise over the past decade, up from an average of 116,681 baht in 2007 to 178,994 baht in 2017, but should be measured with commensurate growth in wages, inflation and the country’s GDP.

The figures show that Thailand’s debt for farming is around 16% of the total debt bill. 36% is spent on buying property and land whilst Thais only go into debt for education – around 1.6% of their total borrowings.

More disturbingly Thais are using borrowings and credit cards for keeping their lifestyles and daily costs alive. 39% of all Thai debt is for daily consumption items.

The three provinces that have the highest rate of debt are #1 Pathum Thani, #2 Krabi, #3 Nontaburi. The average debt for all Thais is 179,000 baht. Bangkok has the highest household debt at 202,000 baht per person, Yala the lowest at only 28,000 baht.