Database sought as foreigners profit from Thai wisdom
The Intellectual Property Department has urged relevant government agencies to compile a database of local wisdom to protect Thai intellectual property rights.
Many foreign companies have commercialised Thai local wisdom, according to officials at the department, who cite the example of the use of Thai herbs as ingredients in medicines that are sold worldwide and protected by patents registered without Thailand being informed, creating huge losses for the Kingdom.
Relevant government agencies should be alerted to the need to protect local wisdom before the commercial rights to use the knowledge - which was developed by the ancestors of Thai people - is lost, said department director-general Pajchima Tanasanti.
"Thailand lacks a single agency tasked with compiling a database of local wisdom. Various information is registered with different agencies, but it is not compiled in a clear way," Pajchima said.
Authorising a single agency to gather information about local wisdom would make it easier to prove when businesses benefit commercially from Thai local wisdom and to require them to share the benefits, she said.
New laws are also needed to protect local wisdom, she said.
Previously, the department attempted to draft a plan to protect local wisdom that would have enlisted the help of international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation and the World Intellectual Property Organisation. However, the draft was rejected by developed countries, many of which lack their own local wisdom.
Currently, Thailand divides local wisdom into three categories: local community wisdom, local cultural performances and genetic resources.
