i don't believe for one minute that farangs are the only ones targeted.
i witnessed a few raids in the karaoke bar area when i was there when they closed down bars for late drinking (& not paying their backhanders!) whether they were thai or farang owned.
if everyone were to get licences for the music,there would be some other scam invented for the extortion of money.
maybe unlicenced pool tables, dartboards or tv's?
it's hard to know if you are breaking the rules when there is no specific rule book to follow & it seems in thailand the rules are pretty flexible & change on a daily basis .
Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
True, not only foreigners were targets...I know also about some Thais, which became victims…and they were happy, that the threatened fine was about 5-10times less than in case of Farangs.
Additional I know about one Farang guy, which just opened his new bar. On the same day police run in and he had to pay a 40,000 Baht fine for violating copyrights.
Redzonerocker, you're true..."in Thailand the rules are pretty flexible & change on a daily basis" ... and I'd like to add, that it's nearly impossible to be informed about changed rules in time…so it will be pretty sure that you're running into their traps mostly!
Out of curiosity, (the consultancy I work with in the UK does a lot of IP investigations), I looked up whether there was an authority similar to FACT back in the UK.
I cant seem to find any reference to this Grammy lot anywhere - they seem to be a private company. This then raises the question of whether they had any relevant Thai Department of Intellectual Property authorities, warrants, etc issued by the relevant Thai Courts - see further relevant pages on Asialaw. In fact the question is whether they had any right to do this at all.
The licensing issue is another thing altogether. I know a few bar owners and they seem to have licenses for music already....
If you did get a fine I presume there is some record of who issued it. Has anyone since consulted a lawyer who could make the relevant legal inquiries, asking to see their authority and warrants? A few of ou cobble together a joint case and take them to court if it turns out that they didnt have any authority or warrant?
Maybe ask the TDIP to look into it...
..I know thats all blue sky here but still, a prod might make them nervous about doing it again.
Seems as they had the MIBS in tow it was another whisky fund scam.
my company got a written letter asking for huge sums (that we should calculate ourselves) for having the radio on in our workplace. if we did not they claimed to have us shut down. i think it was about 100euros per radio and another 200euros for each person that could hear each radio sometime during the day. in my company, if we choose to pay it would be something like 1000000euro a year! needless to say the letter went straight to the police.
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