'King of fake alcohol' caught in Bangkok

Tourist Police announce the arrest of Chan Fat Yat, 63, a Malaysian national on charges of producing fake foreign whisky, during a media briefing on Tuesday. (Photo taken from @1155TPB Facebook page)
Tourist Police announce the arrest of Chan Fat Yat, 63, a Malaysian national on charges of producing fake foreign whisky, during a media briefing on Tuesday. (Photo taken from @1155TPB Facebook page)

A 63-year-old Malaysian man dubbed "David, king of fake liquor" has been arrested in a car park at a Bangkok shopping mall and admitted to having produced counterfeit foreign whisky for more than 30 years, according to police.

Chan Fat Yat, a Malaysian national, was held on charges of illegally producing liquor, falsifying trademarks and overstaying his visa

Seized from him were 26 bottles of fake Johnnie Walker, 100 empty bottles labelled Johnnie Walker, 132 screw tops with foreign whisky brand names, 252 fake duty stamps, and labels for Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal whisky and Bin 389 wine, tourist police said on Tuesday.

The suspect was detained while delivering whisky to a customer in the car park of The Mall Bang Kapi  on Monday afternoon. He tried to escape in his car as police moved in, but was caught. 

His arrest came after tourist police based at Suvarnabhumi airport and airport officials were advised by immigration officers in Songkhla of a suspect parcel en route from Hat Yai airport to Suvarnabhumi.  

When the parcel arrived the officers examined it and found it contained items such as empty foreign whisky bottles, screw tops and labels with foreign whisky names.

The parcel was addressed to "Mr Chan Fat Yat".  Police investigators found out he was a Malaysian and was due to deliver fake whisky to a client at the shopping mall car park on Monday. This led to his arrest.

During interrogation, the suspect allegedly admitted he had produced fake foreign whisky for more than 30 years and was known as “David, king of fake liqour,’’ tourist police said.

Thai media reported that investigators learned the suspect had also used Grab Bike services to deliver his moonshine to customers.

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Vocabulary

  • detained: kept in a place and not allowed to leave - กักตัว ควบคุมตัวหรือฝากขัง
  • duty: a tax -
  • escape (verb): to get away from a place; to leave a place where you are in danger - หนี
  • fake: made to look like something real in order to trick people - ที่ทำปลอม
  • falsify: to change something, such as a document, in order to deceive people - ปลอมแปลง
  • interrogation: asking someone a lot of questions in order to get information - การสอบถาม, การซักถาม
  • liquor: strong alcoholic drink - สุราที่ได้จากการกลั่น
  • moonshine (noun): a strong alcoholic drink that is produced and sold illegally - เหล้าเถื่อน
  • national: a citizen of a particular country - ประชาชน
  • parcel: a package with something in it, sent through the mail, bigger than a letter - ไปรษณียภัณฑ์
  • seize: to take something using official power and force - จับกุม
  • visa: an official document or mark in your passport that allows you to enter or leave a country for a specific purpose or period of time - วีซ่า, เอกสารอนุมัติที่ประทับตราบนหนังสือเดินทาง

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