The Excise Department has denied social media allegations that its officials recently raided a shop in Ratchaburi without a search warrant and unlawfully seized alcohol from the business.
Excise Department chief Krisada Chinavicharana insisted his team had a search warrant approved by the court following a tip-off that the shop was selling playing cards without the required licence.
During the search, he said the officials found a number of liquor bottles without appropriate excise stamps, which suggested they may have been bought from a duty free shop.
Given that the shop had a licence to sell alcohol, the officials suspected the shop owners intended to resell the alcohol, which appeared to have had no tax paid on it, against the law, according to the department chief.
The officials proceeded to seize the liquor and fined the shop owner.
The shop owner reportedly complained on social media that he was made to pay a fine of more than 30,000 baht for eight bottles of liquor.
The department chief said the shop owner can reclaim the fine if he can produce evidence that duty was paid on the bottles in question.