Over 100 merchants gathered at Rayong City Hall to protest the arrest of a fried chicken vendor accused by police of violating KFC’s intellectual property.
Speaking for the merchants, Songkram Chanawaree said they were seeking justice with the officials for ongoing harassment of the merchants by authorities, including one unidentified fried chicken vendor who was arrested under the pretense he was somehow copying the U.S.-based junk-food chicken chain.
“The chicken vendor didn’t even have a sign up,” Songkhram said. “Then how are going to feed ourselves? If we sold counterfeit products, they could arrest us, but we haven’t done anything wrong. We’re seeking justice.”
Yum Restaurant International, who operates KFC franchises in Thailand, denied today it had anything to do with the fried chicken raid in Rayong and will issue its own statement, according to Manager.
Four other merchants who sold jeans in Rayong were also arrested in September last year as police accused them of selling counterfeit products and confiscated over 1,000 pairs of jeans. The Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court later dropped the charges
Meanwhile, another merchant, Suras Jiaram, said he was asked to make a monthly payment of THB1,000 by undercover authorities at Mab Taput market, Thairath reported.
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