The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has seized 160,000 pairs of shoes falsely marked with brand names from six retail outlets and arrested two Chinese men.
The seized products were worth about 20 million baht on the market, according to DSI deputy chief Suriya Singhakamol.
The DSI obtained warrants from the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court to search four locations in Samphanthawong and one in Rat Burana districts of Bangkok, and another in Nakhon Pathom province, he said.
They found a total of 160,000 pairs of sneakers and other footwear falsely labelled as Nike, Converse, Adidas and other name brands.
Two Chinese men who own retail shops, Hongbin Lin and Lin Sow, have been charged with possession of products falsely labelled with registered trademarks and smuggling those products into Thailand, in breach of the trademark and customs acts.
Pol Maj Suriya alleged the arrested men were key players who had set up companies to import counterfeit products and traded them around the clock.
He said the DSI has been in discussions with operators of retail spaces over the past month, asking for their cooperation and to not rent space to traders selling counterfeit products.