VZCZCXRO6250
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHBK #5663/01 3060909
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020909Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0489
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 005663 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR 
USDOC FOR 4430/EAP/MAC/OKSA 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: ECON KIPR TH
 
SUBJECT:  THAI POLICE INCREASE IP ENFORCEMENT BUT PIRATED GOODS 
STILL WIDELY AVAILABLE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Six months after Thailand's elevation to the 
Special 301 Priority Watch List for IPR violations, local 
representatives of intellectual property rights holders say police 
have stepped up enforcement of copyright and trademark laws, but 
fear that commitment to greater enforcement does not run deep. 
Courts and other RTG offices have shown little improvement.  Higher 
numbers of raids and seized goods are raising costs for pirates, but 
pirated products continue to be widely available, and there has been 
no improvement in rights holders' bottom lines.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Embassy convened a meeting of local representatives of 
copyright and trademark holders to gauge progress on IP enforcement 
six months after Thailand's elevation to the Special 301 Priority 
Watch List, and in anticipation of an upcoming digital 
videoconference between USG and RTG officials on IP protection.  In 
attendance were representatives from music and movie distributors, 
and law firms that represent many major trademark holders. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Rights holders said police had made substantial 
improvements in enforcement against copyright and trademark piracy 
in 2007.  Full credit was given to Police Major General Visut 
Vanichbut, Commander of the Economic and Technological Crime 
Suppression Division of the Royal Thai Police.  Visut has been an 
enthusiastic leader in suppression of piracy since being named 
Commander in February 2007, using a handpicked team to minimize the 
influence of corruption.  The Motion Picture Association (MPA) 
representative reported that thanks to police support, MPA is now 
organizing over 200 raids on pirate retailers and producers per 
month, double its previous average in 2006.  Rightholders remain 
concerned that Visut's enthusiasm may not be shared by other 
officials, and that when he steps down, which could be by the end of 
the year, there could be a return to former levels of enforcement. 
Police are for the first time undertaking ex officio raids and not 
awaiting rights holder complaints before taking action.  Police are 
also allowing rights holders to seize more product in raids, and MPA 
says overall seizures of optical discs are up 163 percent over last 
year.  Police have at times creatively used censorship and 
pornography laws to make seizures.  The police are also focusing 
more on seizing DVD burners, which are an increasing source of 
pirated product. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Thai Customs, long the bright light in IP enforcement, 
still gets high marks for cooperation with rights holders and 
willingness to do ex officio searches.  Although customs officials 
focus primarily on inbound shipments, they have cooperated with 
rights holders on inspecting outbound shipments when information was 
available.  Officials are still without legal authority to inspect 
transshipments, but an amendment to the Customs Act is in the works 
to remedy the legal shortcoming. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Rights holders were disappointed in the performance of the 
courts, who continue to hand down non-deterrent sentences.  By MPA's 
count, out of over 2000 cases presented to the IP court this year, 
only 17 defendants were given jail sentences of between 15 days to 
one month.  In other cases the court has issued a guilty verdict but 
handed down a warning rather than a sentence.  However, the number 
of jail sentences is an improvement over past years, albeit small. 
Rights holders and police are still finding it difficult to obtain 
search warrants from courts.  One legal representative told Econoff 
the courts have blacklisted certain police officers they suspect of 
using warrants to shake down pirate retailers.  However, these are 
often the only police officials to whom the rights holders can turn 
to organize raids. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Rights holders describe the Department of Intellectual 
Property (DIP) as mostly feckless.  Without a strong enforcement 
role, the Department has been unable to influence enforcement 
officials to tackle the most notable retail establishments or crack 
down on optical disc (OD) plants.  In their role of inspecting OD 
plants, DIP has been reluctant to use their legal powers to run 
surprise inspections.  Inspections typically have been announced in 
advance and often include high-level officials for press 
opportunities.  DIP has also not been able to push through important 
legislation, such as amendments to the Copyright Act which have 
languished for years.  One DVD distributor said DIP had been 
hesitant to cooperate on some public outreach initiatives saying 
they had to wait until after the December elections. 
 
Enforcement Not Leading to Higher Legitimate Profits 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Despite improved police effort, rights holders report no 
change in the number of street stalls and retail establishments 
selling pirated goods.  First run movies are still available in 
pirated form immediately after release in theatres.  Police have 
 
BANGKOK 00005663  002 OF 002 
 
 
periodic success cleaning out another high piracy area, Klong Tom 
mall, when pressure is brought to bear, but sales of pirated goods 
bounce back with disappointing resilience.  "Red zones" such as 
Pantip Plaza, MBK mall, Patpong Road and Sukhumvit Road remain areas 
where pirated goods are easily purchased.  Rights holders say the 
stepped up police enforcement has at least raised the cost of doing 
business for pirate retailers. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Sales of legitimate product remain flat.  Although the 
movie industry says they saw some boost in sales, partly as a result 
of a better crop of releases in 2007, it was less than expected and 
little of the boost could be attributed to improved IP enforcement. 
The music industry reported declining sales, though the industry 
representative admitted that a lagging economy was a prime reason, 
affecting even the sales of pirated music.  Increased use of illegal 
downloading of music is hitting industry's pocketbooks.  The movie 
industry is also concerned about internet piracy but with relatively 
low broadband penetration in Thailand the industry believes the 
impact from illegal downloading is as yet not large. 
BOYCE