The other war on drugs

The smuggling of fake and unauthorised medicines is a big business, and one which authorities warn is a threat to public health

When Duangjai feels depressed, she can easily buy the anti-depressant medicine her doctor prescribes for her at a local pharmacy. The problem is, she can't be sure if the medicine she gets is genuine or fake. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the Ministry of Public Health, counterfeit drugs have permeated the market in recent years and the makers have become more sophisticated, churning out pills and packaging that are almost indistinguishable from the real thing, especially for the average consumer.

ILLUSTRATION: NATTAYA SRISAWANG

In determining which drugs are counterfeit, the FDA looks for things like irregularities in the bar code on packages, differences in the sealing or printing of packages, or in the pattern of surface blisters of pills or miniscule variations in the thickness of tablets.

But after laboratory analysis, say FDA officials, the differences are much more apparent. Fake pharmaceuticals often have extremely varied compositions and some contain ineffective or dangerous substances that can cause illness, injury and even death. Some contain totally inert substances like starch, while others are made of cheap materials like paracetamol.

Actually, there is a controversy raging over what constitutes a fake drug, (see Page 6). Smuggled medicines which are seized by the authorities include not only counterfeit copies of drugs, but also unauthorised generic drugs, medicines whose ingredients have not been registered with the Thai FDA and those whose formulas or ingredients have been taken off the FDA approved list.

According to the FDA Drug Control division, the smuggling of these medicines has been on the increase. The most commonly smuggled are fake or generic treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED), malaria and also illegal and possibly fake hormones.

Some other commonly seized items are fake or generic mycophenolate mofetil, used primarily to ease the acceptance of transplanted organs, and ollanzapine, for patients with symptoms of depression, as well as nandrolone decanoate, a popular anabolic steroid, both genuine and fake.

Officials say they are concerned that knock-offs of expensive drugs for HIV/Aids treatment, high blood pressure and cancer would become future problems.

A HARD SELL: A package of an illegal Chinese-made Viagra sits beside Customs official Wuthiphong Thaolar as he explains how to screen for suspicious drugs. PHOTO: SURAPOL PROMSAKA NA SAKOLNAKORN

During a recent meeting on counterfeit medicines, Praphon Angtrakool, director of the FDA Import and Export Inspection division, estimated that the value of the seized medicines is only 1% of the actual amount smuggled into the country.

Last year about 67 billion baht worth of legitimate medicines were imported into Thailand, while local pharmaceutical companies produced about 36 billion baht worth for domestic use and export.

Mr Praphon said that most ED medication, malaria and tuberculosis drugs that are marketed in Thailand via the internet, are fakes. Some are sent through courier services or the mail. He warned that people who use a specific drug without consulting a physician first run the risk of taking fake drugs with possibly life-threatening side effects, especially people with certain medical conditions. The Customs Department is the first line of defence against smuggled counterfeit medicine.

''In fiscal year 2007, we seized counterfeit drugs worth 25 million baht, the highest amount of the past four years. We are not a route to other countries. Medicines smuggled into Thailand will end up at pharmacies here or on sale on the internet,'' said Somchai Poolsavasdi, deputy director-general for enforcement at the Customs Department.

However, he said, at this time smuggling is believed to be handled by a relatively small group of operators, and has not yet evolved into a big crime syndicate. This is different from the narcotics smuggling trade, said Mr Somchai.

Customs officials normally pay special attention to foreign nationals who come from countries where the production of counterfeit pharmaceuticals is based.

REPACKAGING: A customs officer stacks seized medicines classified as counterfeit on the ground before bulldozers go into action. PHOTO: CHANAT KATANYU

''Certain merchants who operate in import and export with those countries will take along fake medicines [when they come to Thailand]. In many cases we have found business people carrying bags full of counterfeit medicines,'' said the deputy director, who added that if the demand increases, so will the supply. He thinks there is a high possibility that the business might become attractive to criminal syndicates, as the profit potential is vast. At the same time, the punishment for those who get caught is typically much less severe than for narcotics .

Mr Somchai said his department cannot estimate the amounts of fake drugs which are successfully smuggled into the country, but noted that the FDA sometimes seizes them from the pharmacies themselves. He added that they can also often be easily bought in neighbouring countries, and emphasised that public awareness of the dangers of counterfeit drugs is essential to solve the problem.

PAPERS NEEDED

Wuthiphong Thaolar, a technical officer in the Customs Department's Post Credit Bureau, explained that whenever Customs officials find drugs, fake or otherwise, they ask for a document from the FDA showing permission for import. Without such documentation, all medicines will be seized.

He added that normally anyone having the document from the FDA would not be bringing in counterfeit medicines.

''It is easier to smuggle other counterfeit products which do not require any documents of permission from any authority,'' noted Mr Wuthiphong, who previously worked for the Investigation and Suppression Bureau of the Customs Department for a number of years.

He said that that the medicines seized by the customs officials are mainly drugs which are not registered with the Thai FDA, and medicines produced under fake brand names.

Due to the strict control at border checkpoints, the smugglers naturally use paths across the border that avoid the checkpoints. Last month a foreign couple was arrested by a military unit along the Thai-Cambodia border in Sa Kaeo province. They hired Cambodian men to carry boxes with a total of 84,800 tablets of generic loperamide _ an anti-diarrheal medication _ from Poi Pet into Thailand. ''There are many channels along the long border whereby drugs can be successfully smuggled into the country,'' said the official.

Seized fake medicines are routinely destroyed by the Customs Department, while those smuggled genuine drugs or generics will be handed over to the FDA, which destroys them also, said Mr Wuthiphong.

''The quality of medicines depends upon where and how they have been kept. Therefore it is too risky to use them,'' he said.

Besides working with Customs officials at border checkpoints, FDA officials also work with the Police Suppression Division and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to routinely raid pharmacies and drug stores suspected of selling counterfeit or unauthorised drugs. In one recent joint suppression operation a big pharmacy in Bang Rak district was raided and fake drugs worth more than 25 million baht were seized.

Most of them were ED drugs manufactured in China, India and Pakistan, which are big centres for such production. Other medicines seized include the anti-viral Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate), which requires a prescription and can only be sold in hospital pharmacies.

A recent raid in the Yaowarat area of Bangkok found a large amount of illegal ED medicines worth more than 15 million baht on sale in pharmacies and drug stores.

According to police, the fake and unauthorised medicines are smuggled into the country by foreigners and sold to the big shops, which then distribute them to smaller shops, and are also sold over the internet.

Thailand is also alleged to be a country where fake medicines are produced. In 2004, the World Health Organisation (WHO) investigated the Cambodian pharmaceuticals market and reported that most of the counterfeit drugs on sale, including antibiotics, penicillin, paracetamol and vitamin C tablets, were produced by illegal factories in Thailand. Following the investigation, it was discovered that some of the medicines were not registered with the Thai Drug Regulation System, and that despite being labelled ''Made in Thailand'', the names and addresses of the factories were often false.

When fake and substandard malaria drugs pop up, besides cooperation among Thai agencies, the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has also set up a task force to intervene. Mr Wuthiphong said that a widespread problem in Southeast Asia has been the false labelling of the drug chloroquine as quinine. Quinine is more expensive, and besides, chloroquine is no longer recommended for treatment of malaria. Interpol reports that an operation to end this practice was deployed for five months in Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and resulted in more than 200 raids leading to 27 arrests and the seizure of more than 16 million tablets of substandard medicines with an estimated value of 551 million baht.

About the author

Writer: Tunya Sukpanich

Position: Reporter

Running drugs for mum, and then starting over

Angela arrived at the Mercy Centre in a mess, but then never looked back

With the sound of that lady judge's voice still ringing in her ears - even after three months in the kids' slammer for girls - Miss Angela came to us here in Klong Toey in a prison van from a Bangkok Girls' Remand Home - middle seat, sandwiched between two custodians.

DRUG RUNNER: In Klong Toey you never know what a small child might be hiding in her bag.

That lady judge had said: "This is outrageous! Eighteen-hundred pills? Lock up this child and throw away the key, to protect her." Then sternly to the arresting officers: "You catch those criminals who used this child. Take her away. Hide her. Protect Her. Educate her as long as you can, at least till she's 18. Do whatever you have to do." And she added bitterly: "You tell the mother, if there is ever any buying and selling to do - and I do not want to know about any of it - tell her to sell herself - never her children!"

Miss Angela came to us a mess - skinny, lice, dirty fingernails, smelly, scratching herself, runny nose - "much past smiling". But that was an easy problem. A huge triple helping of ice-cream and cookies and junk food for all the girls, to welcome the new girl, plus a serious "scrub a dub" with sweet smelling soap, and this gook stuff you put in your hair to make the lice go away. New clothes. Promise she could go back to school the very next day. A phone call to her mum. And most of all, her two best girlfriends in school live here with us. Easy.

That she'd just come from girl's prison? Ho Hum. No big deal. She fitted right in. The girls played "rock, scissors, paper" to decide where her bed would be and her place at the table. It was that easy. The days turned to weeks, and weeks to months and months to years. She's one of those "hey, it's really stupid to try to get into trouble kids, plus those three months in Remand, well ..." She says she remembers every minute of those terrible days and nights. She's growing up happy. Now, she's in commercial college - grown up, from proper slum girl to a proper young woman.

But those three prison months - prison girls are cruel to nine-year-olds with brown hair and light skin. Western-looking slum girls who have never met their dads and wouldn't recognise them on the street. Most of all, the girls expressed total prison scorn and disgust for a girl so dumb she didn't know she was carrying drugs. That her mum lied to her! So stupid! Had she been an adult, she'd have been sentenced for life!

And she lived in total fear because some of the older girls wanted to touch her in the night. And when they tried, she would wet the bed and scream, waking up everyone, with everyone cursing her. Thus, her nickname: "Dumb Screaming Farang!" Especially the Dumb part! Dumb! So Dumb she didn't have a clue about the drugs. They'd tease her that she was a slow-witted water buffalo. Years later at our Mercy Centre, she would still sometimes wake up in the night screaming. Took a while to stop the bed wetting she'd done for self protection.

The Remand Home folks were worried. She was not eating. They phoned us - we know them, and have an agreement with the Ministry of Justice. Could we protect a girl from Klong Toey? If she stayed with us, could we keep the bad guys away?

After some "horse trading", we paid her bail. Usual bail fee for both children and adults runs at 5,000 baht for the first pill and then down to 3,000 baht for each additional pill. Nine-year-old Miss Angela had 1,800 pills in her knapsack. The court asked us, as a mutual gesture of goodwill, would we post 20,000 baht, which would be refunded later?

HOW IT STARTED

Nine years old. Two older sisters, who could have done the drug runs but mum didn't trust them. They'd talk. Brag. Show off. Tell their boyfriends. Maybe borrow a pill or two or three from the stash, and sell it themselves for cigarette money. So Angela, who had never been in trouble a day of her life, became mum's sucker girl.

Mum asked her, very sweetly, to wear this new backpack with her school uniform - to take the Klong Toey ferry across the river and give the backpack to the fat lady. The fat lady would give her a backpack in return that looked just like the one she was carrying. Easy. Mum would buy the ferry ticket.

The scheme worked for a while.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

The undercover police lady had noticed. A schoolgirl, out of place, an adult buying a ticket for her, then sending her across the river alone. They grabbed Angela and tried to tackle her. Angela bit the police lady and squirmed away.

She ran, screaming for mum, but mum was gone! Mum always told her about strangers. Run and scream. Find a lady selling veggies or fish. She will protect you, even if she doesn't know you. Or jump in the river. Scream louder. Don't get caught! Ever.

Of course, the police did catch her, and her stash of 1,800 pills. That first night in jail, they locked her in the adult cell with the women (they had nowhere else to keep her), but the guards made sure the child slept up front, all curled up but with one foot sticking through the bars, next to the cell door, where everyone could see her. They even made jokes, saying her foot was still free! Plus one of the women, a "card-game regular" at the police station, was a next-door slum neighbour. How do you tell a nine-year-old that her mum has used her? Used her bad. Auntie Neighbour Lady held her through the nighttime prisoner noises and groans and shadows till the morning light, when the ghosts and bad spirits crept off to wherever they hang out during the daylight hours.

It would have been Angela's fifth trip across the river. Her mum had agreed with the agents to seven trips to clear all debts. Angela did not see mum for five years. That's what the judge ordered. Phone calls, well, not often, but okay. But Angela stopped that. Tired of mum crying over the phone telling her how sorry she was.

Mum lied. Oh she lied. Said that Granny (whom Angela had never met, and found out later never existed) needed special medicine.

But the loan was real. Mum borrowed at the normal slum rates of 20 baht interest per day per every 100 baht.

MUM'S'S DEBT

On the payback, she miscalculated. Forgot to factor in the weather. It was storm season on the high seas, meaning there were few ships in port, thus no sailors or middle-aged lads looking for a midnight massage from a not-so-thin-anymore 46-year-old lady with a bit of grey hair, plus a few sags and wrinkles. Finding folks who wanted midnight massages was not as easy as in years gone by.

Mum simply could not make payments.

The moneylenders smirked. Give us Angela for only three days to cover all debts, plus we'll buy the little darling a new school uniform and a teddy bear. Back to the third grade. No one will ever know the difference. We'll return her safe and sound the day after tomorrow.

Mum knew of a slum neighbour girl, Angela's age, who was never heard of again. Such accidents are not that uncommon in Klong Toey, certainly never spoken of, even among closest relatives and friends. No one talks of missing kids.

So mum felt she had no choice.

After Angela was caught, mum started drinking by the bottle, not the glass. The brokers still wanted their money. Mum paid in dribs and dabs, mostly not even making interest on her debt.

But slum women stick together. Finally, the wife of a guy well known in Klong Toey asked her husband to ask a long-time friendly policeman to please "have a conversation" with those two bad guys.

ANGELA AT MERCY CENTRE

She was with us almost 10 years, and this was her home. She grew up here, and was known as "Ann" - everybody's big sister. Always there for her younger sisters to listen, to help with homework. To hold and dry tears. Everybody called her "Pee Ann" (older sister Ann). Without a doubt, the most pleasant girl in the house. Above average in her studies. One day, she announced: "I'm ready to go back to my other home."

She went back home on her 19th birthday. The girls in the house threw a party. Giggles and laughter and tears.

She lives just down the street. A five-minute walk. She continues her studies. That was the agreement. She attends Commercial College, almost an honours student in her final year. She stops in to see us now and then, and always tells the younger girls they should never, ever carry drugs, not even for their mum.

No serious boyfriends. She likes boys, but just isn't ready. She wants to finish school, so she can always get a good job, pay her own way. Doesn't want to depend on any man for her living.

The bad guys who had her run drugs? One was shot dead in a card game. The other died of some disease.

As for "older sister Ann", all the girls in the house are already planning a big fun party when she graduates.

Father Joe Maier, C.Ss.R. is the director and
co-founder of the Human Development
Foundation in Klong Toey, Bangkok.
For more information: http://www.mercycentre.org,
info@mercycentre.org

If looks could kill

Realistic replicas of small arms and other 'non-lethal' weapons are a cause for concern, say police, and sometimes even a cause of death

• To the amazement of foreign visitors, as well as many Thais, a number of vendors at various tourist areas in Bangkok and holiday resorts openly sell and display a variety of so-called non-lethal weapons. These include authentic-looking replicas of hand guns as well as electric stun guns, metal knuckle dusters, some with sharp points, and extendable steel batons with a brass knob on the end.

  

  Assorted knuckle dusters, Electric stun gun and Expandable steel baton.

  If you venture into an area in Bangkok's Chinatown known as Saphan Lek you can find several shops selling replicas of not only hand guns, but also shotguns, assault rifles and even grenade launchers. Most of these fire only plastic pellets, but the replicas have a similar weight, feel and overall appearance as the originals they are copied from, and unless you are a weapons expert you might not know they are fakes even if you held them in your hands and examined them, much less if they were pointed at your head.

  Police say the selling of realistic imitation firearms which took off in Thailand about five years ago has contributed to a number of crimes, some ending in death. Here are some examples:

  In March 2007, a masked gunman entered a gold shop in Chiang Mai with a fake hand gun. He threatened the shop owner, who drew his real gun. The robber managed to snatch it from him and shot both the man and his wife. A passing policeman then shot and killed the robber. The shop owner survived, but his wife died on the way to hospital.

  

  AK-47 replica.

  A Laotian migrant using a fake gun and wearing a Santa Claus hat robbed the Bank of Ayuthaya Bang Yai branch in January 2008. He escaped with 672,000 baht but was later shot dead by pursuing police after he pointed the gun at them.

  A thief brandishing a fake gun held up a shop in Ramkhamhaeng Soi 108 in Bangkok last May. The cashier, fought him off with a long knife. The robber managed to take about 1,000 baht from the donation box before escaping.

  In other cases police have likely prevented crimes by seizing fake guns beforehand. In Pattaya, for example, during a spot check of motorcyclists in February, police took one from a passenger who attempted to run away. Also in Pattaya , in September police confiscated a gun from a motorcyclist behind a Big C Super Centre.

  A local Pattaya police officer said that such seizures are quite common but the public doesn't know about them because they are not newsworthy.

  

  Shotgun replica.

  "The availability of fake guns and other non-lethal weapons, some which can be easily bought in Pattaya, is growing and causing concern to us. Not only Thais but foreigners are using these weapons to commit crimes," the officer said. He also said that the penalties for selling and carrying these weapons should be increased.

  BRISK BUSINESS

  The owner of one shop in Saphan Lek who gave his name as Mr Luck was doing a brisk business every time Spectrum came by for a visit. His two employees had their hands full.

  

  Pepper spray.

  "We are not only selling the guns here, we distribute them to hawkers in Bangkok and beyond. We are also doing repairs and selling accessories such as silencers, telescopic sights and bullet-proof vests," said Mr Luck.

  "Most of the weapons in my shop are made in China and smuggled through Burma," he claimed. "They are of good quality but guns produced in Taiwan are better, more realistic and also more expensive.

  "Weapons made in Japan," he said, pointing at a black machine-gun hanging on the wall, "are not such good quality but are very cheap. Guns made in Taiwan and Japan are smuggled to Thailand by sea.''

  Mr Luck said his customers are mostly Thais, with a few foreigners who are usually brought in by the street vendors (in fact that's how Spectrum was able to find this and similar shops).

  ''Some vendors are afraid of displaying hand guns or rifles on the street because the police might confiscate them, or they may not have the money to buy from me. I accept only cash, no credit,'' said Mr Luck.

  Mr Luck said that anyone with money can buy as many non-lethal weapons as they desire. There is no age limit for the buyer and no licence is required. There are no restrictions whatsoever. He said that the buyer can carry the weapon on his/her person provided it is not visible.

  

  MACHINE-GUN: A custom made replica.

  hen asked whether any of the weapons can be modified to fire something other than plastic pellets, Mr Luck said yes, but didn't offer this service.

  He said the most popular hand guns are copies of brand names such as Colt, Walter, Beretta and Glock. As for rifles, customers prefer the M4 carbine, AK-47 (different models) and M16.

  He added that the genuine M4 carbine is used by Thai village volunteers, the AK-47 is in service with the Thai Rangers and the M16 is used by the Royal Thai Army infantry.

  ''This assault weapon [M16] is the most popular weapon with my customers. We are sold out except for one piece, which is an expensive one. A new shipment will arrive some time in December," Mr Luck said.

  There wasn't much stock on view inside the shop, and he claimed that everything he has is on display.

  

  ''We are out of stock,'' Mr Luck trumpeted to every buyer wanting to purchase a ''new'' gun _ one not on display. However, after one customer bought a Glock 17 and left, Mr Luck disappeared and returned 10 minutes later with an identical gun still packed in the box.

  He admitted during our third visit that all the weapons and other items made abroad are smuggled into the country and he therefore had to be careful because the Customs Department could seize them as no tax had been paid. That's why he is so careful and keeps only a few pieces inside the shop.

  

  FORMIDABLE FAKE: Saphan Lek traders call this scary-looking imitation grenade launcher ‘the Dragon’.

  In Mae Sot district of Tak province, Spectrum found a market only a few metres from the Burma borderline that was well stocked with replicas of guns packed in boxes with Chinese characters written on them. These guns are much cheaper than identical ones in Bangkok.

  ''Don't worry. You are safe. No police will come here,'' Mr Luck said confidently, adding that he had gotten permission to sell pellet guns from a high-ranking policeman assigned to the area.

  The prices for the pellet hand guns in his shop range from 2,500 to 10,000 baht. Assault rifles bring 4,000 to 25,000 baht,depending on accessories. One expensive rifle equipped with a rocket launcher, telescopic sight and silencer was displayed on the wall. Few could identify it as a fake.

  MEAN STREETS

  Vendors selling a variety of items termed as non-lethal weapons also do a good business on Bangkok streets, selling mainly electric stun guns (which are not in the shape of a gun), knuckle dusters, extendable batons, pepper sprays and other wares. Most of the sellers tell potential buyers they are for protection.

  One doctor who examined some of the weapons disagreed with the terminology attached to them: ''Weapons categorised as 'non-lethal', such as an electric stun gun designed to incapacitate a person for a short period of time, can actually cause death to a person with a heart condition.''

  

  A wide variety of fake weapons on sale at a shop in Saphan Lek.

  He was horrified by one type of knuckle duster with four long sharp spikes, sold throughout Bangkok for about 250 baht. ''This weapon can kill or cause very serious injuries. This is an ultimate deadly weapon,'' the doctor said.

  He also noted that plastic pellets fired from the replica guns can cause injury, especially to an eye.

  The vendors must know how dangerous the items are, but don't care because business is good and relatively hassle-free.

  ''Fake guns, knuckle dusters and stun guns and different types of knives are selling well. I used to sell fake watches and was frequently arrested and sent to court. So that's why I changed my business. It is much safer,'' said a seller near Sukhumvit Soi 7.

  ''I sell a lot, mainly in the evening and at night. Most buyers are Arabs, Indians or Europeans.

  ''Sometimes the police will come and confiscate the goods and arrest us if they can,'' the seller said, smiling. Observation showed that most of the sellers stay away from their stalls and only approach them when a customer stops and look at the goods. Some people linger because they are surprised at what is on display. This gives the seller an opportunity to make his sales pitch.

  ''Foreign tourists want to bring these goods back to their countries because it is very difficult to buy stun guns or knuckle dusters most places. I also sell a lot to foreigners who live here. I will sell to anyone,'' he added.

  A man who identified himself as Greg from Melbourne, Australia, who stopped with his wife at one stand on Silom Road near Patpong, said: ''We are really fascinated to see so many knuckle dusters and stun guns sold on the street like this.

  ''This is crazy,'' he told Spectrum. ''How are these things allowed to be sold on the street to anyone who wants them?

  ''It is unthinkable _ in Australia you would be arrested immediately. But maybe it is legal to sell in Thailand because the Tourist Police have been walking past without arresting them.''

  Jacques, a French tourist from Lyon, was looking at various items displayed at a stand on Sukhumvit Road including fake hand guns. He was also puzzled, not only that they were available _ he wondered who would buy them and for what purpose.

  He said that in France this kind of enterprise would be unthinkable out in the open, but added: ''We have very strict laws for this sort of thing, but if you really want to buy something like that then you can find it in France also.

  ''If someone attacks you with a fist or kicks you on the street _ and I don't mean in Thailand because it is a very safe place compared to Lyon _ and you retaliate using a knuckle duster with spikes then you will be the one going to jail, because the assailant will be seriously injured. It is not for defence, it is an attack weapon.''

  Foreigners from The Netherlands, Germany and Italy told Spectrum that Thailand is the only place they'd ever been where such weapons are sold openly on the street without restriction.

  ALMOST LEGAL

  Two Thai law enforcement officers who agreed to talk to Spectrum admitted that there's an obvious lack of law enforcement when it comes to the sellers of non-lethal weapons. Both struggled to clarify what laws apply to the possession of such items as knuckle dusters and stun guns, then agreed that the only place they are covered is Section 371 of the Penal Code under the subhead listing petty offences, which stipulates:

  ''Whoever carries arms in a town, village or public way openly or without a reasonable cause, or carries arms in a gathering assembled for worship, entertainment or any other purpose, shall be punished with fine not exceeding one hundred baht, and the Court shall have the power to forfeit such arms.''

  One officer said: ''When this law came into effect on January 1, 1957, maybe 100 baht was a lot of money, but not now. It will not deter the criminals. This is for sure. The second point is _ does this law actually cover a stun gun, a device that didn't exist when the law was drafted? Lastly, is it worth the effort and paperwork involved with a case like that if the penalty is so low?''

  According to Australian regulations, pellet or BB guns are classified as ''Category A'' firearms under the law, placing them in the same class as break-action shotguns and rimfire rifles, for which a licence is required for ownership.

  Anyone found possessing an unlicensed ''airsoft pistol'' faces the same charge as a person who unlawfully possesses a firearm. The penalties for violators are much higher than in Thailand. For example, the penalty for posession and use of non-lethal weapons such as knuckle dusters, steel baton or stun guns is a hefty fine, imprisonment, or both.

  Said one European police liaison officer: ''Many countries impose a minimum age for anyone wanting to obtain a permit to own a BB or replica gun. The laws are more defined and penalties for selling of realistic imitation firearms and non-lethal weapons are more severe in many European countries, for example, if compared to Thailand.''

  When one Thai vendor was asked whether it is safe to carry the knuckle duster around he replied swiftly: ''I can sell everything I want to. You can buy anything you want and carry it around. If the police catch you, then you will pay only a 100 baht fine and you can keep the item. Only the court can order it to be confiscated.

  ''But if you rob a bank with a fake gun,'' he said indifferently, ''you will be arrested and sent to jail, or killed.

  Laws are inadequate

  Police Lieutenant Colonel Sanya Niumpradit has been in the Royal Thai Police (RTP) for 19 years. In this time he's gained a lot of experience working at a local police station and has given lectures at the Police Academy. He was also aide to a former deputy commissioner-general of the RTP and is currently attached to the Central Investigation Bureau. Lt-Col Sanya answered questions concerning non-lethal weapons in an interview with Maxmilian Wechsler.

  What can be classified as a non-lethal weapon?

  Actually almost any object can be a weapon. You can use a knife for cooking or to stab a person. You can use a chair to sit on or hit a person. Even a simple pencil can be used to stab someone. Therefore it's not surprising that some items sold by street hawkers fall in that category. It depends on the circumstances and the person carrying such objects.

  Do realistic imitation firearms - hand guns and rifles - cause a problem?

  Currently, there are a number of cases in which offenders have used imitation hand guns to commit crimes, but not so much with rifles. However, the problem is here and it is increasing. It is not so serious now, but it could be in the future if, for example, more fake weapons are smuggled into the country, making them cheaper and therefore easily available and affordable to the criminals.

  Can you detail some crimes that have been committed with imitation firearms.

  There have been a number of such crimes committed during past years. For instance in May, Kanchanaburi police arrested three offenders using imitation guns to rob people in many areas. On June 16 a man who was using an imitation gun to rape women was arrested by the Suphan Buri police. He confessed that he had raped four women. And on June 30, there was an offender using an imitation gun to rob a mobile phone store in Chiang Mai. This is to name a few.

  In your opinion, are the laws on selling and carrying imitation firearms and so called non-lethal weapons tough enough?

  The law on selling imitation firearms and other non-lethal weapons is not adequate, especially the penalties. Obviously, the penalties are not severe enough to stop people from selling, carrying, and using all kinds of weapons, including lethal ones. In addition, there are problems and confusion about whether certain objects should be considered weapons. For instance, the steel baton. Furthermore, the problem is not only with the law. Enforcement of the law is very crucial in dealing with lethal weapons as well as non-lethal weapons and imitation ones.

  ''Most of the sellers stay away from their stalls and only approach them when a customer stops and look at the goods

  About the author

  

  Writer: Maxmilian Wechsler

  Position: Freelance writer