BANGKOK — The consumer protection division of the police department today announced new charges against Sorawan “Pa (Aunty) Cheng” Sirisuntarin, a 72-year-old producer of herbal remedies.
Pol Maj Gen Jaturong Pumarin, commander of the consumer protection division, said that Sorawan would be charged for failing to include a Buddhist monk or temple in attempted medical fraud, which is a violation of Criminal Code 3.6, which stipulates that all claims of miracles must be endorsed by a Buddhist partner or Buddhist organization which holds at least 51% of ownership of the miracle product.
Sorawan already faced charges of false advertising and fraud for products advertised on her cable TV show such as “Maha Bambad” (Super Cure) and “Jiaranai Petch” (Cut Diamond) eyedrops. In addition to charges for advertising medicine on TV without official approval, advertising the properties of medicines without FDA clearance, operating an unregistered clinic, practicing medicine without a medical license, selling unregistered drugs, and deceiving people, Sorawan now faces the far more serious charge of marketing secular miracles.
The criminal code was part of the Miracle Monopoly Act of 1966, which designated the Royal Family, Buddhism, and Buddhist-related beliefs as the sole proprietors of “miracles,” which were defined as “non-causal events presented as causal in violation of actual probabilities, or promise of causal results without scientific proof.”
By not having a royal or Buddhist partner, Sorawan was subject to normal FDA and FTC rules.
If convicted, Ms Sorawan could serve up to 34 years in prison. However, she has denied all charges and is planning to defend herself in court with the defense that the role of karma in her cures was presumed and that many of her products came in yellow bottles.
