Cambodian vendors scattered after Thai authorities again cracked down on the sale of fraudulent fare over the weekend.

More than 80 percent of Cambodian vendors operating out of Thailand’s famed Rong Kluea market in Sa Kaeo province shut up shop yesterday after goods were seized from two Cambodian stalls.

A statement from Cambodia’s National Police yesterday, confirmed that authorities confiscated counterfeit shoes and bags from the vendors “to stop Cambodian vendors selling fake products of Thailand”.

Last year, riots ensued after Thai police cracked down on the sale of counterfeits. Vendors were then given an April 2016 deadline to sell their remaining knockoffs, after which another market would be established on the Cambodian side of the border.

Sim Samnang, a vendor in the market, yesterday said he was afraid his products would be seized and defended selling fake goods as he was merely meeting a demand.

“There are customers who need fake products. They are cheaper,” he said. “We appeal to the Thai authorities to be to tolerant to us.”