Phuket pyre flames B182mn of pirated goods

PHUKET: The Phuket Town incinerator today flamed counterfeit products valued at more than 182 million baht as part of the Intellectual Property Department’s crackdown on copyright infringement across the country.

A total of 79,524 items seized by officers of Provincial Police Region 8 and 9, as well as the Regional Customs Bureau 4, were destroyed in the incinerator.

“Intellectual property infringement is illegal, so these items must be destroyed,” said Deputy Commerce Minister Bhumi Saraphol, one of the VIPs at the event.

“The destruction [of such goods] must be shown to the public to make this clear, and to assure the owners of those intellectual properties that the confiscated items will not be exported abroad or resold at the markets,” explained Mr Bhumi.

Bags, CDs, DVDs, watches, sunglasses, shoes, caps and clothing items were all included in the burning.

Among the items burned today were counterfeit goods seized by the Kathu Police in Patong yesterday.

That haul netted goods with a total estimated value 2 million baht.

The mass burn-off was the result of a coordinated campaign against copyright pirates by the Intellectual Property Department, the Royal Thai Police and their Department of Special Investigations, the Customs Department and the Ministry of Finance.

After the ceremony, the VIPs walked the streets of Patong, Kata and Karon to encourage tourists and vendors to not buy or sell any pirated goods.

— Orawin Narabal