"Just landed in Bangkok and I want to buy a counterfeit Rolex"
“I just landed in Bangkok baby! Ready for 50.000 screaming Thai monsters. […] and I want to buy a counterfeit Rolex.” This tweet from Lady Gaga, at the end of May last year, caused quite a bit of commotion.
The Intellectual Property Department filed a complaint with the US embassy and thousands on social media blew off steam over this disparagement of Thailand. In the following weeks, the police made several arrests, but now it's back business as usual.
Those looking for a counterfeit product can go to Sukumvit, Silom, Khlong Tom, Saphan Lek, Ban Mor, Mahboonkrong (MBK), Fortune Town, Fashion Island and Pantip Plaza. You're spoiled for choice: the latest CDs and DVDs, software, designer bags, watches, designer clothes – Thailand has it all.
In her prime, Jasmine earned 10 million baht a year
Jasmine (not her real name) has been in the counterfeit business for 20 years. In her prime, she ran a shop and several street stalls and earned 10 million baht a year. Even after paying bribes, overheads and trips to China to buy groceries, it was a lucrative business. The police turned a blind eye, customs did not make it difficult.
Jasmine was also arrested after the Gaga riot. But she got all of her confiscated items back and didn't have to appear. Initially she had to pay 200.000 baht for this, but in the end she got away with 8.000 baht.
The high earnings of the past are no longer there
After acting legally for a while – much to the dismay of the police – she is now back, and thanks to a bribe of 400.000 baht paid to a senior police official, she is tipped off when a raid is imminent.
The high earnings of the past are no longer there. Competition has increased, bribes have increased, the Middle Eastern customers who used to find her now fly straight to Phuket and the new customers have become more discerning. They carry a picture of what they want and they have a price in mind. They no longer negotiate.
(Source: Spectrum, Bangkok Post, January 20, 2013)
From Thai news of January 20:
– It seems like New Year's Day with all those good intentions of the Thai government: it not only wants to put an end to money laundering, human trafficking, child labor, but it also intends to reduce software piracy from 70 to 68 percent. insist. Because Thailand is on the Priority Watch List as IPR or 'most serious intellectual property rights violator'.
The US listed Thailand in 2007. However, unlike the other lists (trafficking in human beings and money laundering), this list does not have any sanctions, but the mere fact of being placed on the list should raise the blush of shame in the jaws of the government.
The police raided 182 groups last year and found illegal software on 4.573 PCs, which amounts to 448 million baht in monetary terms. Thai companies accounted for 80 percent of the violations, while Japanese companies accounted for 7 percent.
This year, the police are targeting the automotive and auto parts industry, food, real estate and construction.
And what about countries like Malaysia and Indonesia? When I was in Penang last week for a visa application, the Rolexes and Louis Vuitton bags were offered in abundance. Not just Thailand, mind you. You can buy software there for 10 Ringgit. T shirts for 10-30 Ringgit.
Are sanctions being implemented there as well or is nothing being done because it is a Muslim state and the Islamic world once again feels stepped on its toes?
@ Sjaak The Americans don't have their eyes in their pockets. Before making a suggestive comment about Muslim countries in question form, it would be wise to consult the so-called Priority Watch List to see if Malaysia and Indonesia are also on it. Let's judge based on facts, not based on conjecture.
Don't understand at all that people buy fake Rolex or other fake items of name. You're just running for a joker! In Thailand everyone around you knows that you are walking around with a fake and in your home country everyone knows that you cannot afford the real thing. So you only fool yourself and are laughed at by the rest. A kind of masochism perhaps?
I do not agree with you on this, dear Bacchus. I think that a really expensive Swiss watch is the only safe piece of jewelry to wear in Thailand. Why? Because people think it's a fake! Nobody crows if you wear a clock of 10 mille. This in contrast to a gold chain of 1 gram that they pull off your neck as you rush by.
Bacchus, years ago my father gave me an Oyster Perpetual Datejust as a present, and I really don't care what other people think, the most important thing is I know it's real!!
I always buy a nice watch when I'm in Thailand in Bangkok in a side street near the Baiyoke Tower for about 2 euros. Are unknown brands (including Orion), but look nice. They are almost cheaper than a battery in the Netherlands, so I get a new one every year and I usually give the old one to one of my nieces. In any case, I would not quickly buy a fake brand watch again, such as Rolex, Breitling, etc. I did it twice for an acquaintance and those things were already broken in Thailand. (moisture, not running on time or loose dial).
That is a nice market at the bottom of the Baiyoke tower. Come there every year, always buy some shorts and shirts.