Thai authorities seize fake products

BANGKOK, December 7 (TNA) - Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Friday raided shops in the heart of Bangkok and seized over 20,000 counterfeited caps and clothes. DSI Director-General Tarit Pengdit, together with Director-General of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Intellectual Property Patchima Thanasanti, announced the seizure of the fake products and the arrest of traders of the wholesale stores in the heart of the capital. The authorities confiscated 15,574 pirated caps and 5,000 items of clothes, totally worth over 3.5 million baht, with the traders, if found guilty, to face up to a 4 year-imprisonment each or a 400,000-baht fine or both. Meanwhile, customs authorities in Aranyaprathet of Thailand's eastern Sa Kaeo province destroyed some 10,000 infringed products, worth about two million baht, including cigarettes, weight-loss products, cosmetics, music and movie CDs, which had been smuggled from neighbouring Cambodia over the past three months. Aranyaprathet's chief customs officer Auaychai Kulthipmontri vowed that his office will continue working together with other agencies concerned to crack down smuggled and contraband goods, especially during the upcoming New Year festival. (TNA)