Six women and two men have been arrested after police and health authorities raided eight illegal beauty clinics in Bangkok, Chon Buri, Samut Songkhram and Pathum Thani.
The raids on the eight locations were launched between Nov 23 and Dec 4, after the Consumer Protection Police Division's (CPPD) Subdivision 4 received complaints from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) to investigate them.
CPPD police arrested the eight suspects for allegedly running the illegal clinics and confiscated medical supplies and equipment, along with more than 600 medical records, Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, told the press on Tuesday.
Three of the illegal clinics were in Bangkok, two in Chon Buri and one each in Chon Buri, Pathum Thani and Samut Songkhram.
The suspects were aged between 23 and 54 years old.
One of the woman suspects, identified only as Boonpha, 48, told police investigators that she learned injection methods via YouTube and first tried them on her face. The woman, who ran an illegal clinic in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district, said she bought medicines from an online channel.
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop said those arrested were purportedly in breach of the Health Facility Act (1998) for operating the facilities without permission, the Medical Profession Act (1982), the Drug Act 1967 for selling medicines without permission and the Medical Devices Act (2008) for selling medical devices without permission.
Dr Panuwat Panket, DHSS deputy director-general, warned that beauty treatments, including Botox and dermal fillers, must be provided by legal clinics as wrong treatment may cause adverse or even fatal effects.
Dr Panuwat urged the public to inform the authorities about illegal clinics with DHSS via its 1426 hotline and 02 193 7000 phone number while adding consumers can check on health products via the FDA.
