Thai cops destroy a million fake goods worth £13million as ‘Rolex’ watches, ‘Louis Vuitton’ handbags and other replica luxury goods are crushed or chopped up
Thai police today destroyed replica goods worth more than £13 million in a special ceremony in Bangkok, including fake ‘designer’ Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton handbags.
The 1.2 million objects were gathered in a multi-purpose courtyard for an annual extermination ceremony designed to rid the country of counterfeit culture.
Footage shows fake Rolex watches being smashed with a hammer and participants joking as they rip up fake Chanel and Louis Vuitton handbags with scissors.
A steamroller can also be seen crushing a line of cosmetics and one photo shows a mechanical claw hoisting up a number of pink bicycles about to be ripped to shreds.
Other items seized from commercial and online sources before the ceremony included clothing, belts, shoes and cell phones.
A participant smashes counterfeit watches with a hammer during a destruction ceremony of goods infringing intellectual property rights in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 31, 2023
Thai officer cuts up pieces of seized counterfeit fashion during a destruction ceremony of goods infringing intellectual property rights in Bangkok, Thailand, August 31, 2023
Cosmetics, eyewear, car parts and toys were also part of the cargo.
Wutthikrai Leeviraphan, director general of the Ministry of Intellectual Property, said: ‘The aim is to build confidence in the global society that Thailand has a strong and strict intellectual property system.
“In the past, there has been a significant drop in arrests, with the cooperation of the government and the private sector, especially through e-commerce, where the trade of illegal goods has increased online.”
Colonel Ying Nutrawee Jamchamrat, deputy spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), also noted that using counterfeit products can be dangerous.
A steamroller crushes counterfeit goods and goods that violate the license during a destruction ceremony of goods that infringe intellectual property rights in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 31, 2023
Counterfeit luxury handbags are prepared to be destroyed during a destruction ceremony of goods infringing intellectual property rights in Bangkok, Thailand, August 31, 2023
A business firm participant smashes counterfeit watches with a hammer during a destruction ceremony of goods infringing intellectual property rights in Bangkok, Thailand, August 31, 2023
Counterfeit luxury handbags are prepared to be destroyed during a destruction ceremony of goods infringing intellectual property rights in Bangkok, Thailand, August 31, 2023
A steamroller crushes counterfeit and license-violating goods during a destruction ceremony of goods infringing intellectual property rights in Bangkok, Thailand, August 31, 2023
Counterfeit watches are prepared to be destroyed during a destruction ceremony of intellectual property rights infringing goods in Bangkok, Thailand, August 31, 2023
A business firm injured person inspects counterfeit goods during a destruction ceremony of goods infringing intellectual property rights in Bangkok, Thailand, August 31, 2023
In addition to the Royal Thai Police, the Ministry of Commerce and representatives of foreign embassies in Thailand and members of the armed forces were also present.
At the Thaiphat market in the capital, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin met with street food vendors today to discuss the solution to the rise in the cost of living.
Thavisin, 61, received royal assent to become Thailand’s 30th prime minister on August 23 after succeeding in the parliamentary vote as the prime ministerial candidate of the Pheu Thai party.
The real estate tycoon has pledged to boost the pandemic-hit economy — Southeast Asia’s second-largest — and bolster household incomes, support small businesses and bridge the nagging inequality in the country of 71 million.