I am a sole distributor of an imported product in Thailand. My Thai friends often ask me if I have already registered with the "relavant authorities" that I am the sole distributor of this brand, in order to prevent anyone else from importing the same brand and selling in Thailand.

I have never heard of such a registration and the thai people cannot give me exact details about this kind of registration.

I wonder if anyone here knows about such a registration?

I believe if there is really such kind of registration to protect sole distributors, big brands like Nokia, Canon etc etc would have already registered and there won't be so many parallel imports of such goods all over Thailand.

I suspect those Thai people are talking about copyright registration?? Am I right or is there really a place where I can register myself as the sole distributor of this brand?

I suspect those Thai people are talking about copyright registration??

I think you might be right

I don't really see the link between an exclusive distribution agreement and... copyrights !

The story about "relevant authorities" is vague and typical of thailand : fog of war, confusion, misunderstanding.

You have signed an agreement with your supplier for the exclusive distribution of his products in Thailand. That's the key point.

If the supplier plays a sideline game by selling to other thai importers, you can sue him. And them.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

That was exactly what I thought. In a free market, it's almost impossible to pevent parallel imports...not to say here in Thailand.

I was afraid I'm missing out on something when those Thai people told me that I should register with the "relavant authorities". And I get very

frustrated when I ask them for further details and they go "...erm....err...mai nae jai....mai roo...."