The Bangkok Bag

The more time you spend in Bangkok the easier it is to think that buying fakes is acceptable. The blatant open trading of fake designer goods is on every street, in every market and, so I’m told, even in reputable shops.

You may have been shocked the first time you came to Bangkok, to see how flagrantly these illegal items are sold. I know I was. If you were, I’d like to bet you aren’t provoked any longer. It doesn’t take long to become immune to it.

Probably some of you are outraged by the prices charged by real designers, and you may think it’s justified in some way to rip off these companies. It’s your version of two fingers up to a company who price their goods way beyond most people’s budgets. It’s not like they are missing out on a sale if you buy a fake, you think, because you aren’t stupid enough to spend £800 on the real thing. So where’s the harm?

First off, they look dreadful; they look shoddy. They wouldn’t fool my soi dog, let alone a half thinking human. The colours are garish and the material is thin. The leather - if it is leather - leaves stains on light clothing and the stitching is often uneven and puckered. If they’ve gone to the trouble of embossing logos, they are often wonky or blurred. The bags fall apart and you have no bag and no statutory rights.

In the UK counterfeiting and piracy are Intellectual Property crimes; the perpetrators of such crimes are liable to fines and prison sentences. If you were running your own business (some of you are) would you consider it tolerable if someone directly copied your goods and sold them for their own profit?

The designer company LVMH is one of the largest luxury branded goods companies and, as such the French are seen to be leading the way in the fight against fakers and those that buy them. If you are caught going through customs with a fake trademark you risk fines of up to 360,000 Euros. Not all manufacturers whose products are copied or pirated are as big as this company, but the lost revenue of legitimate companies is enormous. And, guess who has to compensate for lost tax because the counterfeiters aren’t declaring their business? Yes, you and me.

Not many of us lust after the latest IT bag just because celebrities are photographed with them, but I do wonder if at some level we hope to fool people into thinking our lifestyle is Louis Vuitton enough to own the real thing. I don’t believe the advertising (that I’ll be 8ft tall and size 0 if I buy their bag – oh, if only) but I still covet the real thing. I covet it because it’s a beautiful quality item, expensive and difficult to achieve. I’m embarrassed at the idea of owning a fake: it would be like trying to mislead someone into thinking that I’m something I’m not. I’d rather own a no-name bag from a craft stall in Chatuchak.

So if you’re still not convinced, how about this? The groups that make designer fakes are doing it to fund all kinds of other illegal activities. To sell the items cheaply they employ the very poorest and weakest of employees (including women and children). They steal their lives and they value them at nothing. It is a known fact that counterfeiting and piracy fund illegal weapons, drugs, people smuggling, prostitution and terrorism.

I imagine that most of you consider it totally harmless to buy a fake bag. It is after all, almost the only type of bag available here in Bangkok. But it’s wrong to buy fakes. It’s morally wrong and it’s illegal.