VZCZCXRO1068
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #0379/01 0440711
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 130711Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6036
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI IMMEDIATE 6174

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 000379 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EEB 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR WEISEL AND BISBEE 
TREASURY FOR CHUN AND NUGENT 
COMMERCE FOR EAP/MAC/OKSA 
COMMERCE PASS TO USPTO 
SINGAPORE FOR FINATT BAKER 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV ETRD KIPR PGOV TH
SUBJECT: NEW THAI GOVERNMENT MAKES RIGHT MOVES ON IPR PROTECTION 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 163 (ECONOMIC CHALLENGES) 
¶B. 08 BANGKOK 3774 (NEW COMMERCE MINISTER) 
¶C. 08 BANGKOK 3746 (NEW ECONOMIC TEAM) 
 
BANGKOK 00000379  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva has instructed 
his Cabinet to do whatever it takes to improve Thailand's 
intellectual property rights (IPR) record and to do so immediately. 
The last few weeks have been filled with high level government 
meetings, involving the Prime Minister himself, with industry 
contacts, trade officials, and law enforcement officers, mandating 
urgent actions by the government's law enforcement agencies to 
reduce the piracy rates in Thailand. On February 10, Deputy Commerce 
Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot, who has become the government's point 
person on intellectual property issues, announced that the 
government will use its investigative resources to root out corrupt 
police officers and other government officials who are on the take 
from IPR criminals. Alongkorn plans to travel to Washington in March 
to, among other things, encourage the US Trade Representative and 
other USG agencies to consider removing Thailand from the Special 
301 Priority Watch List. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Comment: What we have seen so far in the new government's 
anti-piracy efforts is just what we would expect if Thailand has 
embarked on a fundamental and significant improvement in respecting 
intellectual property rights.  The personal and public involvement 
of the Prime Minister is especially noteworthy.  However, there have 
been flurries of IP enforcement activities in the past, usually 
shortly before the annual Special 301 review process concludes, that 
have amounted to little more than a flash in the pan.  As the 
Ambassador told the Commerce Minister and the press on February 11, 
the new government "is off to a great start," but an improvement in 
our views of the IP situation in Thailand will depend on whether the 
current efforts continue.  The Ambassador also sought to dampen 
expectations that the positive events of the past few weeks will 
remove Thailand from the Priority Watch List this spring, pointing 
out that our views and industry comments will as a practical matter 
reflect the situation in Thailand for the year beginning last 
February, and most of that time the current government was not in 
power. End comment. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Shortly after taking office in December, Prime Minister 
Abhisit placed intellectual property protection on his government's 
national policy agenda and has since raised the importance of IPR 
regularly at numerous public events and reportedly at several 
internal government meetings.  On February 2, Abhisit chaired a 
cabinet-level committee meeting to discuss his government's 
strategies to improve IPR protection and how to better combat 
large-scale piracy and counterfeiting. The meeting included the 
Attorney General, the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, 
and the permanent secretaries of key ministries including Commerce, 
Public Health, Finance, Justice, and Culture.  Abhisit asked Deputy 
Commerce Minister Alongkorn, as co-chair of this IPR committee, to 
organize the administration's IPR efforts and spearhead immediate 
enforcement activities. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The police and customs departments have since reported 366 
intellectual property cases for January 2009, seizing more than USD 
4 million worth of pirated goods. Deputy Police Commissioner-General 
Boonruang Pholpahanich told more than 50 senior police officers on 
February 6 that the government's IPR suppression operations, unlike 
previous ones, would be continuous without an end-date.  Boonruang 
also tasked regional police divisions to provide progress reports to 
his office on their IPR efforts biweekly. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) As an example, on January 30, officers from the Royal Thai 
Police's Central Investigation Bureau raided a large-scale disc 
piracy operation in Nonthaburi, a metropolitan Bangkok suburb only a 
few miles from the Ministry of Commerce. More than 3,000 pirated 
burned discs, 7,200 blank discs, and 80,000 disc inserts were seized 
along with 49 disc burning towers, capable of producing more than 10 
discs at a time. The police also confiscated the lists of the 
operation's customers and all of their accounting books. Deputy 
Minister of Commerce Alongkorn traveled to the raid site shortly 
after the police arrived and lured large numbers of media to the 
scene to report on the successful operation. Three offenders were 
arrested, charged, and plead guilty to manufacturing pirated 
products. Two others were arrested on bribery charges after 
allegedly offering the officer-in-charge 100,000 Baht (about USD 
2800) to release the offenders and drop the charges.  The head of 
the local police station was also removed from duty and placed under 
disciplinary review, after the national police who conducted the 
 
BANGKOK 00000379  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
operation reported him for negligence for his disregard of the 
pirated activities within his own district. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The government's IPR enforcement efforts have also turned 
inwards, focusing on corrupt officials in the government ranks. On 
February 10, Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn announced a list of 
41 police officers, whom the Commerce Ministry has accused of 
violating copyright and trademark rights themselves and/or 
supporting criminal IPR activities.  Alongkorn forwarded the list of 
"rogue officials" to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Deputy 
Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who oversees police and criminal 
justice matters in the Cabinet. Alongkorn asked the police's 
internal affairs division to immediately review the activities of 
these 41 officers and promised that he would continue to forward the 
names of more corrupt officials responsible for IPR violations. 
 
JOHN