NEW THAI GOVERNMENT MAKES RIGHT MOVES ON IPR PROTECTION

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