Officials ‘slash and burn’ 25 tons of pirate goods in Phuket

PHUKET: Counterfeit goods worth more than 58 million baht were destroyed at the incinerator in Phuket Town this morning as part of the nationwide crackdown on copyright infringement.

Before the serious destruction began, high-ranking officials and guests used box cutters to slash fake Louis Vuitton bags and Ralph Lauren shirts, while others smashed pirated DVDs with oversized sledgehammers.

“This is the first destruction of confiscated pirated products of the year. There are 95,038 items, of which 27,677 were seized by Phuket Provincial Police in copyright raids,” said Pajchima Thanasanti, director-general of the Department of Intellectual Property.

Among the 25 tons of illegal goods to be destroyed were 63,236 items seized by Customs officers in Phuket and their counterparts stationed at border crossings at Kantang, Sadao and Pedang Besar in Southern Thailand.

Topping off the pile were 4,125 items seized by officers from the Department of Special Investigations.

Of the 7.9 million baht in fake goods seized in Phuket, garments were the most common, contributing 23,408 items to the pile.

During the ceremony, Ms Pajchama also handed over campaign banners brandishing the slogan “Intellectual Property Infringement is a SIN” to representatives of Phuket Customs and the provincial police.

“We will also launch this campaign at Ao Nang, in Krabi, which has become a ‘red zone’ for pirated goods,” she added.

— Chutharat Plerin