The Tilleke & Gibbins Museum of Counterfeit Goods in Bangkok, Thailand is not your usual run of the mill museum. It’s quite a quirky museum that houses over 4,000 items that infringe trademarks, patents and copyrights. While there are a number of weird things to see in Bangkok, if you have any interest in counterfeit goods or IP infringement, you might enjoy a look here.
This Bangkok museum was originally created in 1989 with around 100 items, but it has obviously grown over the years.
The goods in this museum are split into 14 broad categories – clothing, footwear, watches and eye-wear, accessories, cosmetics and perfumes, food and household products, drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, copyrighted works, stationery and office supplies, automotive parts, tools, electrical devices, and miscellaneous products.
The idea for creating the museum came from David Lyman, senior partner at Tilleke & Gibbins, after seeing a similar museum at a law firm in Hong Kong.
Some fakes, like the Tamborine version of Toblerone, are very easy to spot. But would you know whether those pot noodles were genuine or fake?
When many people think of fake goods, they usually imagine fake handbags, watches or t-shirts, but some fakes are potentially very dangerous.These include fake drugs, fake cosmetics and fake baby food, as shown above.
You might be happy paying less for the toothpaste above, but how do you know whether the ingredients are dangerous or not?
Above is a very large collection of t-shirts that breach various laws.
The museum is fairly small, and 20-30 minutes should be enough time to see everything there.
Propaganda is a very popular Thai company that makes a range of items including lamps, as shown above. Their products are often copied by others.
It seems that almost everything available is copied these days. Above you can see some fake and genuine spark plugs. I doubt most people would be able to tell the difference.
Even office supplies aren’t safe from the counterfeiters.
Could you tell the difference between these two washing powders?
The engines above look almost identical, but which is the genuine one?
How To Tell If Goods Are Fake
So how do you tell if goods are fake or genuine. Just follow the three Ps – Price, Place, Packaging. If the prices is much lower than you expect, if the goods are sold in a place where you wouldn’t expect them to be sold or if the packaging looks inferior, then you should start to wonder where you are buying fake goods. It should be obvious that a branded t-shirt that normally sells for $40 in a mall but is for sale for $4 in a street market is almost definitely fake.
Tilleke & Gibbins Museum Of Counterfeit Goods Details
Address: 26th Floor, Supalai Grand Tower, 1011 Rama 3 Road, Bangkok (between Soi 59 & 61)
Opening Hours: Mon 14:00-15:00 & Thu 10:00-11:00 (you need to book in advance)
Website: Tilleke & Gibbins
Getting There: Take BTS to Chong Nonsi station, change to BRT and go to stop Wat Dok Mai. It’s a short walk from there. Or take a taxi.
Cafe At Supalai Grand Tower
There is a small cafe in the basement of the building where you can sit and relax either before or after visiting the museum.
Hotels In Bangkok
If you’re planning to visit Bangkok, then don’t forget to book your hotel via Agoda.
