Thai authority upset with Lady Gaga’s remark on pirated products in Bangkok

BANGKOK, May 28 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Commerce's Department of Intellectual Property announced on Monday that it will file a complaint with the US Embassy in Bangkok against Lady Gaga’s message posted in her Twitter account upon her arrival in Thailand last Friday that she would buy a fake Rolex watch in Bangkok, as the online post has tarnished Thailand's reputation and affected the intellectual property of others. The department's director-general Pajchima Thanasanti said that Gaga's message seriously shocked and disappointed her, and that the world-renowned performer and composer who had her own intellectual property should have been a good model for the general public, especially the youngers' generation, for respecting the intellectual property of others. Pajchima claimed that Gaga's remark on her social network account did not respect Thailand and serious and steady attempts of Thailand and other countries to suppress piracy. Pajchima insisted that her department, together with government and private agencies, had actively campaigned against pirated products among people, especially the youths, in response to US public and private organizations' demand, including the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), as well as the International Intellectual Property Alliance for Thailand, to suppress pirated products over the past five years. Meanwhile, Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Poom Sarapol told journalist that the Department of Intellectual Property is organizing an anti-piracy week from May 28-June 3 in Bangkok with the youths being the main target group for the one-week campaigning period. According to official figures, Thai authorities arrested 68 people with 300,788 pirated products during the first five months of this year. (TNA)