iPhone Mini.

It's one thing copying a best selling brand name but an altogether different matter second guessing corporate giants and adding to a product line with fake versions of products that don't actually exist (yet). With Asian markets feeling the pinch of the global credit crunch though, it's really not surprising that second to making your own money is making up your own merchandise.

Available in IT malls regionwide, the iPhone Mini comes in three colours, first-gen grey, black and sparkly pink, and according to vendors boasts a key USP – the size of the iPhone Mini makes the tiny device particularly suitable for one's Asian mistress' petite hands.

Make note.

The counterfeit racket in Southeast Asia it seems is not just limited to fair-game FMCGs and luxury goods like VCDs and Gucci handbags. Over the last year or two, street vendors have stepped up production to include specialist items like guide books and even pharmaceuticlas to their respective product ranges. And now, hard hit by the world economic collapse, those desperate enough – taking initiative from the US Federal Reserve – have moved into the big time and have started printing their own money (adding support to my case over the increasing fragility of the power of the message communicated by hard currency.)

In spite of anti-counterfeit features, over the last few weeks thousands of fake 1000-baht bank notes have been found circulating in Thailand – though the real sting is that's it not just the forgers (if caught) who get punished, but any unsuspecting citizen found passing dodgy cash along, unwittingly or not it seems.