Thailand: Police will crack down on pirated goods to impress US officials.

(From Thai Press Reports)

Section: General News - Police will crack down on pirated goods in Bangkok and other tourist destinations to convince the United States that Thailand is serious about protecting intellectual property rights (IPR), the Bangkok Post reports.

Pol Maj-Gen Suchart Kanchanawisith, chief of the Economic and Technological Crime Suppression Division, said the crackdown would hopefully convince the US to take Thailand off an IPR watch list.

The Office of the US Trade Representative has placed Thailand and four other countries _ South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and New Zealand _ on its watch list for alleged poor IPR protection since …