Phuket Police Pounce On Porn Pirates

[webfact]

Phuket Police pounce on porn pirates

Officers use a market bag to move some of the seized evidence

to the squad car.

Some of the discs were counterfeit reproductions of films now

showing at cinemas on the island.

PHUKET: -- Coordinated raids on a counterfeit video manufacturer and three sales outlets have led to the arrest of six people and seizure of more than 30,000 discs, some of them pornographic.

Fifty provincial and Region 8 police officers divided into four teams set out from Phuket Provincial Police headquarters at 7pm on Wednesday night to make the arrests.

Joining them were representatives of the firms holding copyright licenses to a wide range of discs, including CDs and DVDs of Thai and foreign movies and music albums.

Carrying a search warrant, the first team proceeded to the Kathu Village 7 home of 33-year-old Kanokwan Suriyajan and her husband, whose name was not reported.

Inside they found computer equipment, printers and four 12-disc copy machines, along with some 10,000 titles, including movies currently playing in cinemas on the island.

Meanwhile, the second team arrested a Burmese man, identified only as “Gunshy”, in the act of selling counterfeit discs to foreign tourists in front of Dino Park in Kata.

His stock of 10,000 discs, supplied by Mrs Kanokwan, was seized as evidence.

The third raid took place in front of the Expo shopping arcade in Kata where police arrested 29-year-old Theerapon Wong-ngen and seized his stock of 5,000 discs.

The final raid took place in front of the Marisa Hotel on Karon Beach. Police arrested Kankwan’s younger sister Jiraporn and her husband Sup and seized 5,000 discs.

Back at Phuket Provincial Police Headquarters for booking, police identified Mrs Kanokwan as the head of the network and owner of all four operations.

Her business had been running profitably for many years, allowing her to buy a nice home and car, they said.

Mrs Kanokwan confessed to charges of production and sale of counterfeit goods and her associates admitted to helping distribute them.

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong said the raids were part of ongoing police efforts to suppress the sale of pirated goods.

The effort is difficult because of the high demand for counterfeit discs and the ease with which they can be produced. This causes new distributors to spring up all the time, he said.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-01-14

[vahack]

another misleading title from The Nation. how do you call yourselves journalists?

[MegaRanter]

This is not the first time I ve read about Ms Kanokwan and pirated discs. Is this a rerun or a 'just in'?

[backfromouterspace]

Another crime in the name of alliteration perpetuated by The Nation

[ScubaBuddha]

So now where are the local mom and pop cable companies going to get their illegal DVD'd they play on several channels all day?

another misleading title from The Nation. how do you call yourselves journalists?

Another crime in the name of alliteration perpetuated by The Nation

Is the "Phuket Gazette" logo at the bottom of the article not visible on your computer or something?

I agree though. I am trying to recall if I have ever seen porn on display in Phuket as is the norm in Bangkok and Pattaya. I don't think so.

This is not the first time I ve read about Ms Kanokwan and pirated discs. Is this a rerun or a 'just in'?

Just a bump in the road for the counterfeiters. Very probably the "arrestees" knew ahead of time. They pay local police for the right to operate here, just like everyone else. Usually these are just a show for the "representatives of the firms holding copyright licenses" 500B fine and back to normal.

Edited January 14, 2011 by ScubaBuddha

[saintofsilence]

Now if the police would go the next step and prosecute them with jail sentences for repeat offenders these crimes would reduce dramatically.

[Jimi007]

Another little dog and pony show for the media. Nothing has or will really change. I don't buy them because they look so bad, quality wise. I would pay for a real DVD of good quality for 300 to 600 Baht, but I don't see any good shops. The ones at Central don't seem to have much choice.... And I'm not sure if they are real or good quality either. I guess I should try buying them at the Apple Store online (US) and burn my own and see what they look like... Too bad there's no Netflix online in Thailand.

[steelepulse]

I recall a number of years ago my brother in law had a shop in kata and he sold cd's dvd's etc. One day a surprise raid led by BKK police caught a lot of sellers off guard. My brother in law then had to go to Chalong police station where he paid the ransom and got all his cd's back. It was quite a large fine though. No porn at all in Phuket back in those days.

Edited January 15, 2011 by steelepulse