Citing a serious piracy problem, Tsutaya (Thailand), a leading Japanese chain selling and renting out VCDs and DVDs, posted a 12-per-cent fall in gross sales for last year.

"It was supposed to be a good year for VCD and DVD sales due to the weak economic situation as people did not want to go out to expensive entertainment venues," said Tsutaya CEO Wanchai Phlaphongphanich.

"But our sales did not rise as expected due to the number of pirate goods on the market."

Wanchai said that about 12 Tsutaya branches, half of them located in Bangkok, had to shut down and move to where piracy was less rampant.

"If there was no piracy, sales should have grown fivefold from the current level," Wanchai said.

He gave the example of one franchised store in Rayong's Klaeng district, which was virtually surrounded by vendors selling pirated disks and had to close only five months after opening.

The franchisee's Bt3-million investment had become worthless.

"I can say that except for Tsutaya, nearly all retail sales of VCDs and DVDs upcountry are pirated," said Wanchai. "Unscrupulous retailers can easily make pirate products in their backyard."

Wanchai said the company would be happy if it could maintain existing sales levels for this year in the face of rising sales of counterfeit products.

According to Wanchai, the market for VCD and DVD sales and rentals in Thailand was worth more than Bt50 billion last year. Almost 80 per cent, or Bt40 billion in sales, were pirated goods.

This means the government lost about Bt5 billion in tax revenues.

"I don't understand why the government hasn't introduced stronger measures to stamp out piracy," Wanchai said. If the law was more strongly enforced, the government would have more money to spend on improving services for people, such as building better schools, he added.

He said that piracy was one of many problems in Thailand dampening people's inspiration and creativity.

"From my point of view, the current government is full of idealists. They have good heart but suffer from a lack of direction," said Wanchai.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation