Bt10M Worth Pirated Products Seized In Bangkok MBK, Indra Square Raid

[jimbeam1]

Only Bt10m's worth? They must have had their eyes closed.

No that's what they declared. The rest will go futher down the retail chain?

jb1

[MaiChai]

Interesting angle on ipads. etc. If you want one in MBK most shops can sell one but they wont have one in the shop. A runner will go and get you one. This gets the shop off having copied goods and they cant get done, similar to the cd vendors who dont have any cds.

Regarding copies: inverably a copy wont be as good as the original. Why? Corners have to be cut. Like the lcd will use a cheap tft rather than an amoled one.

If you want iphone functionality you get better value with Andriod. You can get a real brand and better functionality than with Apple products AND freedom to use the device as you wish. We all know Thais are fashion victims? Ask your average Thai why they want a Blackberry and they won't be able to give you a good technical reason other than its cool to be seen with one!

[Igor]

#55 101734 - A shame, really. I'd pay good money for a hat like that! Of course, back home in Arizona, I have good friends who are Pima indians.

[mochafan]

There is nothing wrong with counterfeit goods. It's good competition for the real goods, helping force the legitimate goods' prices lower.

Can you cite your source for the assertion that counterfeit goods force legitimate goods' prices lower?

As far as what's wrong with it goes:

1) It's against the law and it's up to members of society to self-police for the most part or face anarchy

2) The counterfeits are usually inferior quality (but not always) forcing the consumer to ultimately spend as much or more in replacement

(I can show you many counterfeit DVDs that were shot from a theater screen and are basically unwatchable)

3) I believe that honest competition is superior to intellectual property theft because the creativity is rewarded and not penalized

4) People justify intellectual property theft to themselves and others using specious and unverified arguments such as yours

5) If the prices of genuine goods are too high ... GO WITHOUT - one will not die because they haven't seen a movie or worn a fake watch

\

you really just don't get it, do you?

when companies are unethical in their business practices. the cunsumer will be too. it goes both ways.

it may not be 'right'...but that's just the way it is.

[Darkman]

There is nothing wrong with counterfeit goods. It's good competition for the real goods, helping force the legitimate goods' prices lower.

Can you cite your source for the assertion that counterfeit goods force legitimate goods' prices lower?

As far as what's wrong with it goes:

1) It's against the law and it's up to members of society to self-police for the most part or face anarchy

2) The counterfeits are usually inferior quality (but not always) forcing the consumer to ultimately spend as much or more in replacement

(I can show you many counterfeit DVDs that were shot from a theater screen and are basically unwatchable)

3) I believe that honest competition is superior to intellectual property theft because the creativity is rewarded and not penalized

4) People justify intellectual property theft to themselves and others using specious and unverified arguments such as yours

5) If the prices of genuine goods are too high ... GO WITHOUT - one will not die because they haven't seen a movie or worn a fake watch

So you've never done or bought anything that wasn't the real deal?? Bu^^ sh*t. You've never copied an article from a magazine, book, used a copyrighted picture off the internet, recorded a movie off the tv and lent it to a friend. Get a life. Copying is a normal human activity, actually even animals do it, thats how we learn. Most company developed things make their money back and profit within three years max, after that only the greedy and lazy want more from it. I say follow the Pirates code: take everything you can, give nothing back.

[Likenitstill]

We all know they do these raids from time to time and when the dust has setteled and 'negotiations' sorted out with the boys in brown all will return to normality...as it always does!

Speaking of back to normal> I went down to bangma and klomtom last week with my wife and was shocked to see some of the videos on plain display showing child porn after the series of so called raids. This place will never change because law means nothing and at the end of the day their morals are all &*)% up.

[VBF]

Still, I really don't understand how you can run into a store full of ceramics and come out and say you found one plate.

Easy if you're a "bull in a china shop"!

[rwhoov]

There is nothing wrong with counterfeit goods. It's good competition for the real goods, helping force the legitimate goods' prices lower.

Exactly! Police should go after real crooks, the violent kind.

Let's hope the airplane you fly on next wasn't maintained with counterfeit parts. The trouble with counterfeiters is that don't worry with little things like quality since they have no supervision from government or brand name company. You never know what you'll get.

Making excuses for illegal activity because you save a buck or two says more about your character than you might think.

[stoffel45]

There is nothing wrong with counterfeit goods. It's good competition for the real goods, helping force the legitimate goods' prices lower.

Many Muslim terrorist organisations receive tens of millions of dollars a year from pirate sales. Take a close look at the sales organisation before you buy. The fake DVD you buy could purchase the bomb which kills innocents.

[selftaopath]

I think this is a good thing. There seems to be an inherent arrogance and disregard and respect for the laws here. Not only just just the suppliers, but the sellers that that might just be working any job they can get, but go after the force behind those that employ them and the police that are being paid to look the other way. Any politician that is caught being a part of these kinds of schemes should face serious charges for misuse of power and stealing from the the country. Charge them with theft and make restitution mandatory. Over 100 billion baht is lost in the lined pockets of the corrupt every year, that should be going towards the good of the country.

Very nice dream - indeed, but this is Land of Scams/Lack of Sanctions = LOS

[ronrat]

The big clothing manufacturers get everything they deserve. The closed down western country manufacturing plants, moved off shore, then pay the workers nothing. They didn't lower the prices. 100 bucks for a T shirt made in a Cambodian factory by workers on 2 dollars a day. I have no problem with buying direct from asia rather than pay some greedy retailer a 1000 percent mark up in a swank store. As for intellectual property. How much did Da Vinci get for the Mona Lisa.

[oldsailor35]

There is nothing wrong with counterfeit goods. It's good competition for the real goods, helping force the legitimate goods' prices lower.

I used to buy fake stuff all the time. Then i realized that i was just wasting my money, as everything that was a "copy" either didn't work or broke within a few weeks.

You forgot to say "But i did'nt have the money that i have now "

[oldsailor35]

All the big Aircraft manufacturers and owners are well aware of fake parts and only use genuine right down to small nuts & bolts. If anything happens and it is traced to faulty fake parts, as has happened in the past. They are "Dead Meat" So travellers, dont let that worry you.

[Chunky1]

There is nothing wrong with counterfeit goods. It's good competition for the real goods, helping force the legitimate goods' prices lower.

Have you ever heard of intellectual property rights?

[a99az]

Be interesting to scrutinize the busting authorities' computers and households. I'd bet dollars to donuts they all have pirated stuff in their homes ....software in their computers, DVDs, etc.

Fact is, we all have pirated stuff around the house. I'm not justifying it, but it's just the way things are. And yes, it can get overdone, and there are inherent problems. Pirated software often has malware, pirated DVD's are often poor quality (I've got a Johnny Depp DVD which spells his name on the cover; 'Johnny Deep').

I also produce copyrighted material: several books, some music, and an audio book, - so am concerned about piracy from the other end of the trough. I'm not big selling author, but even the little guys (like me) don't want their material copied and sold cheap - particularly if the copies are poor quality.

The other side of the coin are the stratopheric residuals paid to entertainment stars - some making tens of millions per year. For most people, there perhaps no such thing as 'too rich' but come on, a million dollars per 1 hour episode for acting in a sit-com!? It's factoids like that which make it ok, in my view, for impoverished folks to get some entertaining DVD for $1 instead of $15.

Easy, sell your work at a price that makes it stupid to copy.

[Chunky1]

Did anyone here know that the Ipads they sell in MBK were fake? I never closely examined one but they looked pretty real.

[bonobo]

On the other hand I am confused about how foreign record companies expect me to buy their legitimate products since iTunes, Amazon and etc refuse to sell me their products online when they can see my computer is in Thailand. The Russian download sites fortunately don't discriminate against Thai purchasers and have a wide selection at the same quality as iTunes and Amazon and at a fraction of the price. Am I expected to sit in silence or download and listen the songs I want within minutes? Naturally I do the former and would never advocate an illegal practice on TV.

I have the same problem with Sony. I bought a PS3 in December, and I cannot buy a game as I am trying from a Thai ISP. I can't even buy a network card in the US, then download games from here.

[brahmburgers]

Think they don't do tyre counterfeits? Try aeroplane spares, drugs, boat parts and electrical components too.

What I'd like to see: When China follows up on its threat to bomb Taiwan (when the Taiwanese ever have the gall to declare their independence), those Chinese knock-off missiles will cartwheel and fall back upon their imperialist igniters.

Ok, back on topic, somewhat: Thais can invent things, but there's little or no incentive within Thai society to compel Thais to do so. As for popular music styles - since I've been here for the past 12 years, their pop songs have gone from low quality imitations of westerners' late 1950's style, to low quality imitations of early 1960's western tunes.

So, I guess there's some progression, though it's still 45 years behind the times.

As for other innovations, I could make a list of possibilities (things that need to be invented) as long as my arm - in small font, but Thais don't want to expend the energy to be innovative. Plus, there's no incentive from the powers that be (gov't nor rich people nor institutions nor corporations). It's much easier to copy.

Quick, name one institution, gov't or otherwise, which offers a prize or a grant for inventions (or an innovative commercial concept) in Thailand. You can't, because there are none. There is no silicon valley type seedbed for budding inventors in Thailand or in SE Asia, as far as I know.

Heck, they don't even have redi-mix cement. If you want to do anything with concrete (even a small repair job), you gotta buy a super heavy bag of cement (there are no smaller sizes), buy a truckload of sand and a separate truckload of river rock. Thus far, no vendor in Thailand has figured out how to make a pre-mixed dry package of the stuff, let alone sell it in smaller quantities.

Edited January 13, 2011 by brahmburgers

[Peterphuket]

mwah, it's good it take the fake goods, last week I bought 2 softwaresuites, one (DVDTOOL 2010)was with many virusses, and the other one (Adobe CS5) says the second time I use: the serial number is invalid! I loose more then 300 bath! ;-(

[mochafan]

There is nothing wrong with counterfeit goods. It's good competition for the real goods, helping force the legitimate goods' prices lower.

Exactly! Police should go after real crooks, the violent kind.

Let's hope the airplane you fly on next wasn't maintained with counterfeit parts. The trouble with counterfeiters is that don't worry with little things like quality since they have no supervision from government or brand name company. You never know what you'll get.

Making excuses for illegal activity because you save a buck or two says more about your character than you might think.

yeah..it just says you're pretty much like most other people on the planet.

and a person who pretends they have never done something illegal but would probably be the first person to throw the stone...what does that say about his/her character?

[zaxusa]

I think this is a good thing. There seems to be an inherent arrogance and disregard and respect for the laws here.

I agree there is disregard for the law.. on both sides. If the police don't follow the law then why should the citizens?

yesterday I saw an immigration officer wearing a nice new pair of Ray Bans. I wonder if he paid 3500bht for them..

[zaxusa]

Did anyone here know that the Ipads they sell in MBK were fake? I never closely examined one but they looked pretty real.

if the price is too good to be true, theyre chinese knockoffs. dont bother...

[jayjay0]

I think this is a good thing. There seems to be an inherent arrogance and disregard and respect for the laws here. Not only just just the suppliers, but the sellers that that might just be working any job they can get, but go after the force behind those that employ them and the police that are being paid to look the other way. Any politician that is caught being a part of these kinds of schemes should face serious charges for misuse of power and stealing from the the country. Charge them with theft and make restitution mandatory. Over 100 billion baht is lost in the lined pockets of the corrupt every year, that should be going towards the good of the country.

Agreed

Interesting to note that the government is losing money. Do you think that they are behind this.

Some times I just get the feeling that a lot of people are unwilling to let Thailand change. With the present Government there has been many changes. But they are overlooked in favor of what has not changed of witch there is a lot.

In the west we have a saying "Rome wasn't built in a day"

Give Thailand a break. As I have said on other threads corruption in Thailand is no worse than it was in the states. They grew out of it so will Thailand.

InternetMarketingCm.com

Will we grow out of it?? You think so? Cos I see the country going backwards. Changes has to start at the top. I saw a party of high ranking officials in a restaurant, none of the wine had the tax stamped. One was a Penfold with a twist top!!!!!! They don't make twist top for Penfolds as far as I know.

The middle class also has to change the habit of 'gotta have'. You know what I mean? Gotta have the lastest in fashion and accessories. Why spend $ when you can get a 95% accurate copy for $.

Thank you.

That is exactly what I said we concentrate so hard on what has not been changed and tend to think of time as "yesterday"

You say

"I saw a party of high ranking officials in a restaurant, none of the wine had the tax stamped."

That is why we can not see the overall picture we get bogged down with the wrong.

.

this is a many faced project with faces we are unable to look at today there importance is less than others.

It is a multi year project and to continue to put down any effort is not helping it. Being as most of us are foreigners we will not really effect what is going on. We can state our opinions and try to support the Thai's but to continue denying there efforts is not support.

I have been watching for post's a week after these so called BiB put downs to prove they were rite so far ---------------Just make a statement and move on to another site to make the same statement. Not even go back and say told you so.

Bottom line most of us are living here in Thailand and we find more good in it than bad and we make a conscience choice to stay here. We should maybe try to give it a chance.

[jayjay0]

Sorry duplicate post :jap:

Edited January 13, 2011 by jayjay0

[quandow]

Be interesting to scrutinize the busting authorities' computers and households. I'd bet dollars to donuts they all have pirated stuff in their homes ....software in their computers, DVDs, etc.

Fact is, we all have pirated stuff around the house. I'm not justifying it, but it's just the way things are. And yes, it can get overdone, and there are inherent problems. Pirated software often has malware, pirated DVD's are often poor quality (I've got a Johnny Depp DVD which spells his name on the cover; 'Johnny Deep').

I also produce copyrighted material: several books, some music, and an audio book, - so am concerned about piracy from the other end of the trough. I'm not big selling author, but even the little guys (like me) don't want their material copied and sold cheap - particularly if the copies are poor quality.

The other side of the coin are the stratopheric residuals paid to entertainment stars - some making tens of millions per year. For most people, there perhaps no such thing as 'too rich' but come on, a million dollars per 1 hour episode for acting in a sit-com!? It's factoids like that which make it ok, in my view, for impoverished folks to get some entertaining DVD for $1 instead of $15.

I tried one time to buy a REAL, LEGITIMATE copy of Windows XP Media version operating system and could not find one!!!

[drtreelove]

Be interesting to scrutinize the busting authorities' computers and households. I'd bet dollars to donuts they all have pirated stuff in their homes ....software in their computers, DVDs, etc.

Fact is, we all have pirated stuff around the house. I'm not justifying it, but it's just the way things are. And yes, it can get overdone, and there are inherent problems. Pirated software often has malware, pirated DVD's are often poor quality (I've got a Johnny Depp DVD which spells his name on the cover; 'Johnny Deep').

I also produce copyrighted material: several books, some music, and an audio book, - so am concerned about piracy from the other end of the trough. I'm not big selling author, but even the little guys (like me) don't want their material copied and sold cheap - particularly if the copies are poor quality.

The other side of the coin are the stratopheric residuals paid to entertainment stars - some making tens of millions per year. For most people, there perhaps no such thing as 'too rich' but come on, a million dollars per 1 hour episode for acting in a sit-com!? It's factoids like that which make it ok, in my view, for impoverished folks to get some entertaining DVD for $1 instead of $15.

Johnny Deep? Isn't that a porn star? (Sorry couldn't resist.)

[HerbalEd]

So destroy the items, before they get misplaced and find themselves back on the shelves of some VIP's shop.

Why not get Apple involved to prosecute as well, this then sends a bigger message to those who copy products.

Do you really think that if Apple had not ordered this investigation,this event would have even happened.

How could you possible know anything about this. Assumptions are not facts ... in fact, they're usually incorrect, or a best inaccurate.

[TravelerEastWest]

There is nothing wrong with counterfeit goods. It's good competition for the real goods, helping force the legitimate goods' prices lower.

Can you cite your source for the assertion that counterfeit goods force legitimate goods' prices lower?

As far as what's wrong with it goes:

1) It's against the law and it's up to members of society to self-police for the most part or face anarchy

2) The counterfeits are usually inferior quality (but not always) forcing the consumer to ultimately spend as much or more in replacement

(I can show you many counterfeit DVDs that were shot from a theater screen and are basically unwatchable)

3) I believe that honest competition is superior to intellectual property theft because the creativity is rewarded and not penalized

4) People justify intellectual property theft to themselves and others using specious and unverified arguments such as yours

5) If the prices of genuine goods are too high ... GO WITHOUT - one will not die because they haven't seen a movie or worn a fake watch

Exactly - end of story stealing is wrong.

[OzMick]

Be interesting to scrutinize the busting authorities' computers and households. I'd bet dollars to donuts they all have pirated stuff in their homes ....software in their computers, DVDs, etc.

Fact is, we all have pirated stuff around the house. I'm not justifying it, but it's just the way things are. And yes, it can get overdone, and there are inherent problems. Pirated software often has malware, pirated DVD's are often poor quality (I've got a Johnny Depp DVD which spells his name on the cover; 'Johnny Deep').

I also produce copyrighted material: several books, some music, and an audio book, - so am concerned about piracy from the other end of the trough. I'm not big selling author, but even the little guys (like me) don't want their material copied and sold cheap - particularly if the copies are poor quality.

The other side of the coin are the stratopheric residuals paid to entertainment stars - some making tens of millions per year. For most people, there perhaps no such thing as 'too rich' but come on, a million dollars per 1 hour episode for acting in a sit-com!? It's factoids like that which make it ok, in my view, for impoverished folks to get some entertaining DVD for $1 instead of $15.

Johnny Deep? Isn't that a porn star? (Sorry couldn't resist.)

Why aren't there any porn stars named Justin?

[thaigold]

Some people say, what harm do the fakes do? If a person can afford the real thing, they will buy it. Anyone who buys a fake iPhone, or Gucci bag is doing it out of vanity, not real need. Were I to buy an iPad, I would buy from Apple, not MBK. The point is, there are no lost-sales at the iStudio. Replica products are exactly what the name denotes. Copies.

Where's the economic damage? I've yet to meet a Thai who can't differentiate the fake from the real thing. I bought a Frank Mueller several years ago at ***, it worked wonderfully, and all our friends in San Francisco were enthralled. The question being; how could I afford to waste so many dollars on a watch. The point is, this watch company didn't lose a sale. I would have never bought the real thing in the first place.

A win / win proposition.