Stricter measure to be imposed on direct sale businesses in Thailand

BANGKOK, November 8 (TNA) - Thailand's Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) will be stricter in issuing business licences to operators of direct sale businesses, following arrests of a Chinese man and three Thais recently. Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Apiradee Tantraporn told journalists on Saturday (Nov 8) that her ministry has sought the cooperation from OCPB, acknowledging that a get-rich-quick scam is a national problem and damages national image and economy. Apiradee vowed that her ministry, which oversees businesses in the country to ensure they operate legally, will take stern action against illegal business owners, while her ministry's Department of Business Development has been ordered to speed up its investigation into the three Thai nationals who acted as nominees for the Chinese man to establish a business in Thailand. The Chinese man, identified as Zhang Jian, was recently arrested by Thai police in Phuket Province in the Thai South and charged with setting up a pyramid scheme business under the business name of Yun Shu Mao, also known as YSLM, in which he allegedly duped people in China and Malaysia before coming to Thailand. Zhang came to Thailand and set up the business in June 2014. The three Thai men, who worked for him, later asked for a revocation of the business licence on October 28 with the Business Development Department but they were apprehended before escaping. According to the deputy commerce minister, if found guilty, Zhang would face a maximum three-year imprisonment or a fine of one million baht or both and he could also face a criminal lawsuit. (TNA)