Yingyong Yodbuangam, a famous folk singer also known as Prayong Buangam, has escaped with a one-year suspended jail term for exaggerating the benefits of his caterpillar fungus or "Tang Chao"-- based food supplement.
Unregistered beauty cream, worth more than half a million baht, seized during raids on factories in four provinces is put on display during a police briefing yesterday. Four people were arrested in the raids.
The Criminal Court in Nonthaburi on Thursday sentenced the singer to two years in jail and fined him 50,000 baht. However, the jail term and the fine were halved due to his confession before the court further ordered the jail sentence to be suspended for one year.
Yingyong was indicted on a charge of colluding to exaggerate the medicinal properties of Tang Chao and advertising the product without permission. He claimed the caterpillar fungus-based food supplement was able to cure knee joint pain.
As a result he was accused of deceiving potential customers.
Also on Thursday, the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD) issued a second summons for the popular emcee, Patcharasri "Kalamae" Benjamas, to acknowledge charges of false advertising. They have called her in for a meeting on Tuesday.
The charges stemmed from her making false claims about her food supplement product on social media and other channels, which authorities have ordered to be taken down.
In her posts, Patcharasri told her followers that her food supplement product, "Botera", has firmed up her skin and removed wrinkles and eyebags. She also claimed she did not need to resort to cosmetic surgery because the product made her facial features look more chiselled.
Meanwhile, four people were arrested after authorities raided several factories in four provinces, where they found the ingredients for an illegal beauty cream valued at more than half a million baht, police said on Thursday. The raids were jointly coordinated by the Food and Drug Administration and the CPPD.
At a press briefing, CPPD deputy commander, Srisak Kampeerayan, warned consumers against buying beauty products made by unlicensed producers.
These products don't carry registration numbers on their packaging, and often exaggerate their ability to whiten the skin, he said, adding the claims are widely circulated through various social media platforms, including TikTok.