A popular YouTuber and online retailer was in hot water on Friday over the employment of an allegedly bogus doctor at her cosmetic clinic in Bangkok after health authorities vowed to investigate the business.
The move came after a doctor residing abroad posted on her Facebook page that her name and medical licence number had been used by someone to apply for a job at Est Cute, a beauty business owned and run by Pimradaporn Benjawattanapat, better known as Pimrypie.
Pimrypie filed a complaint on Thursday at the Central Investigation Bureau against a woman who allegedly used a fake medical licence to apply for a job at her clinic's Huai Kwang branch in Bangkok. This caused damage to her clinic, she said.
Tharet Karatnairawiwong, director-general of the Department of Health Services Support, said on Friday that officials would investigate the branch to find out whether it had violated any operating standards.
On the allegation that one of its employees used a fake medical licence to apply for a job there, Dr Tharet said it was the duty of the clinic operator to verify the qualifications of all applicants.
"If the employees are not qualified to provide medical services, the clinic operator would be charged with violating the Clinical Establishment Act and related offences for failing to supervise the clinic to meet the standards," said Dr Tharet.
He insisted a clinic operator could not deny responsibility. "Filing a complaint and denying knowledge of the matter doesn't help. It's his or her duty to check," said the department chief.
Also on Wednesday, a local importer of a dermal filler brand posted on its Facebook page that Est Cute's Huai Kwang branch had never purchased the product from it as claimed.
On this, Dr Tharet said a check must be done first whether the service provider had the licence to provide the service and whether the substance or medical equipment it used were genuine.
Those who received filler injections at the clinic and suffered damage or injuries could sue the clinic. And those who provided the service could face charges if they had no medical licences.
"For hiring an unqualified employee, she will face charges of providing medical services without a licence, an offence liable to a jail term of up to three years and a fine of up to 30,000 baht. For the filler case, officials will have to investigate first to find out whether it broke the law,'' said Dr Tharet.
An outspoken Pimrypie, 31, is no stranger to both applause and criticism. Her savvy online marketing skills and blunt talk have drawn both fans and critics from many quarters.
Last month, Pimrypie created a buzz with her "mystery boxes" campaign in which she sold 1,000 boxes at 100,000 baht each in 10 minutes during a Facebook Live session. The payments were shown in real time, showing a total of 100 million baht in sales.
Each box contained a unique mix of cosmetics, gold ornaments, electronic devices including iPhone 13 and notebooks, as well as brand-name products and luxury cosmetics, handpicked by her. One of the lucky buyers posted she got a brand-new sedan, among other stuff.
The stunning success of the campaign has since inspired other businesses to launch similar campaigns online, now known widely in Thai as klong soom (random boxes), the name she first used.
Some phuyais warned her about the legality of the campaigns and police said they would check whether she broke the gambling law. Pimrypie argued she had never advertised what she put in the boxes to persuade people to buy.
Earlier in January this year, she went live on Facebook during her trip to a remote corner of Om Koi district in Chiang Mai, with a team to install solar cell panels for a school with no electricity. She also gave them TV sets and other appliances. She said she wanted to give back something to society.
The trip inevitably raised questions among netizens why some Thais still had no access to power in this age and time and why the solar panels she bought were much cheaper than those procured by government agencies.
After the trip, her Facebook Live drew 16,300 orders with 6 million views and the Revenue Department said it would check and keep an eye on her revenue.
Pimrypie, or Pimradaporn Benjawattanapat, files a complaint with the Central Investigation Bureau police on Thursday against a woman who used the medical licence of a doctor to apply for a job at her Est Cute clinic's Huai Kwang branch in Bangkok. (Photo:@CIBTHAILAND Central Investigation Bureau Facebook)