Makers of counterfeit sanitisers face criminal prosecution, ruling party warns

[webfact]

Makers of counterfeit sanitisers face criminal prosecution, ruling party warns

By The Nation

 

Tipanan Sirichana

 

The ruling Phalang Pracharat Party has warned that using counterfeit alcohol-based sanitisers can lead to lethal health conditions and vendors will face imprisonment.

 

Tipanan Sirichana, a deputy spokesperson of the party, posted on her Facebook account that there were several cases of patients suffering from respiratory illness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after using substandard santisers.

 

The chemical used in counterfeit products is methyl alcohol, which is a by-product of the petrochemical process and used in the furniture industry, she said.

 

Methyl alcohol can penetrate the skin and evaporate into the respiratory system leading to bronchitis, conjunctivitis, headache, dizziness and nausea.

 

If the body accumulates too much methyl alcohol, it can cause blindness, glomerulonephritis, sepsis, hepatic infarction leading to death, she warned.

 

Tipanan said that methyl alcohol could be tested by boiling as the boiling point of methyl alcohol was 65 degrees Celsius while the boiling point of ethyl alcohol that is used in normal alcohol-based sanitisers is 78 degrees Celsius.

 

She said that vendors of counterfeit products could face up to seven years of imprisonment and Bt100,000 fine.

 

She also advised people to use gloves and wash their hands constantly if alcohol-based sanitisers were in short supply

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30384647

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-03-23

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[cornishcarlos]

2 minutes ago, webfact said:

posted on her Facebook account that there were several cases of patients suffering from respiratory illness,

 

Yes, Covid-19 !!! 

What, are they going to try and fob a load of cases off as using dodgy hand sanitiser now ??

[Cake Monster]

Thailand

LOS ... Land of Scams

[holy cow cm]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

face criminal prosecution, ruling party warns

Cute description who is in control. All else are subservient. 

[djayz]

Maybe people wouldn't have to buy unknown sanitizers if the original and trusted stuff was readily available. I can't find 70% alcohol anywhere in BKK nor any of the familiar hand gels. I refuse to buy any of these newly introduced sanitizers because I simply don't know or trust them. 

Same as the masks. The ones I used to buy at the chemist's have long been out of stock - despite numerous statements from our esteemed leaders that there would be no shortage. All I can find now are these new ones being sold by every other street vendor at double and tripple the cost of the original, trusted ones. 

As usual, lots of warnings but no strict enforcement. People will continue selling fake, ineffective products in an effort to earn a few Baht while people who trust these products put their lives at risk. 

This will never be anything more that a dog eat dog society. 

[Virt]

Bought 3 large bottles of hand sanitizer while in Thailand to use at home.

1 seem legit enough from Kings stella , but the 2 others noname brand had very bad spellings labeled on them.

 

So decided to boil some from the 2 noname brands.

Boiled 2 Deciliters and it started to boil at about 65-70 degrees, so i guess i should get rid of those?

[Arkady]

31 minutes ago, Virt said:

Bought 3 large bottles of hand sanitizer while in Thailand to use at home.

1 seem legit enough from Kings stella , but the 2 others noname brand had very bad spellings labeled on them.

 

So decided to boil some from the 2 noname brands.

Boiled 2 Deciliters and it started to boil at about 65-70 degrees, so i guess i should get rid of those?

The boiling points she gave are for unadulterated methyl and ethyl alcohol.  So you would need to seperate the alcohol from gooey stuff and purify it first. Ethyl alcohol sold in Thailand for for household use is only 70% with the rest water and chemicals to denature it and make you throw up, if you drink it.  I am guessing the gel added to the alcohol would make it boil at a lower boiling point but water would make it boil at a higher point. 

 

Hand sanitiser made with the household 70% alcohol is unlikely to strong enough to kill all germs because the sanitiser needs to be at least 60% alcohol.  If they are a third gel and other additives, that only makes them about 45% alcohol. They need to be made with 95% or 99% ethyl alcohol which is available in Thailand for industrial use.

[shy coconut]

6 hours ago, djayz said:

Maybe people wouldn't have to buy unknown sanitizers if the original and trusted stuff was readily available. I can't find 70% alcohol anywhere in BKK nor any of the familiar hand gels. I refuse to buy any of these newly introduced sanitizers because I simply don't know or trust them. 

Same as the masks. The ones I used to buy at the chemist's have long been out of stock - despite numerous statements from our esteemed leaders that there would be no shortage. All I can find now are these new ones being sold by every other street vendor at double and tripple the cost of the original, trusted ones. 

As usual, lots of warnings but no strict enforcement. People will continue selling fake, ineffective products in an effort to earn a few Baht while people who trust these products put their lives at risk. 

This will never be anything more that a dog eat dog society. 

Hospitals in the UK can't get PPE for their staff and people are stealing the hand

gel dispensers from the wall. There are no supplies of sanitiser in shops or online

and there have been seizures of counterfeit gels and wipes in markets.

 

If it makes you feel better to blame everything on the government and Thai society

in general, good for you. But it is a situation reflected in many

countries in these difficult times.

[Canuck1966]

wow, she has the look of pure evil

[Canuck1966]

35 minutes ago, shy coconut said:

Hospitals in the UK can't get PPE for their staff and people are stealing the hand

gel dispensers from the wall. There are no supplies of sanitiser in shops or online

and there have been seizures of counterfeit gels and wipes in markets.

 

If it makes you feel better to blame everything on the government and Thai society

in general, good for you. But it is a situation reflected in many

countries in these difficult times.

Yeh but the UK govt isn't stealing supplies and selling them to China for profit.

They have at least realised (too late) they are woefully short and are quickly making amends

5,000 ventilators is now 12,000 and the other consumables will be available asap

Edited March 23, 2020 by Canuck1966