Chinese minimarts raided for contraband goods

Health and  anti-money laundering officials, accompanied by local police, raided 10 Chinese-owned  minimarts in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district after local businesses accused authorities of being slow in acting against contraband foreign goods flooding into the country.
The Network for Thai Entrepreneur Protection’s complaint alleged the convenience stores were all selling smuggled consumer goods. This resulted in artificially low prices, which made it difficult for them to compete. 
The network presented evidence showing these products lacked Thai language labelling and official certification by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as required by law.
Thanakrit Chit-areerat, vice minister of public health, led the raid on Tuesday to inspect convenience stores in the Huai Khwang area, popular with Chinese tourists and business operators.
Mr Thanakrit said the Public Health Ministry was aware of the problem and had already taken legal action against 100 minimarts this year for selling imported products from China without getting approval from the FDA.
“We won’t stop at malpractice against FDA regulations. We will investigate further whether there is any money laundering. The issue is not just about health, but also related to the economy because the money these minimarts earn is directly sent back to China,” he said.
He also urged the Department of Revenue to investigate shop and landowner tax payments.
It was not revealed what results the raids produced.