Posted on November, 07 2003

Bangkok, Thailand - Six live tigers, 21 bear paws, and a frozen baby orang-utang are just some of the live and dead animals seized in the first week of a concerted effort to clampdown on the illegal wildlife trade in Thailand. The three raids have revealed the breadth of the trade and shocked the nation. On 28 October, acting on a tip-off, staff from WWF-Thailand’s Wildlife Trade Campaign, together with staff from Wild Aid, accompanied a Forestry Police raid on an illegal wildlife slaughterhouse in Nonthaburi, on the western outskirts of Bangkok. Items found include: • 3 dried tiger skins and one fresh skin; 51kg of tiger bones (dried and fresh); 22kg of fresh tiger meat and 6 live tigers in cages waiting to be slaughtered (3 adults and 3 juveniles) • 2 baby orang-utans (only found in Malaysia/Indonesia) • 1 Saola head and and horns (only found in Vietnam/Laos) • 1 set of Eld’s deer antlers (extinct in the wild in Thailand) • 7 Gaur skulls and horns (only 1,000 left in the wild in Thailand) • 21 Asiatic black bear paws, 1 live adult and 2 juvenile black bears, and 2 live sun bears The owner of the house that was raided, Mr Leuthai Tiewcharoen, has already been previously arrested for illegal wildlife trade. He managed to evade capture on this occasion but there is now a warrant out for his arrest. Police and forestry officials believe the wildlife was destined for local restaurants that serve exotic food to tourists from South Korea, Japan, and China. In response to this first dramatic raid, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Thai Forestry Police, Major General Sawaek Pinsinchai, vowed to eradicate the trade within three months. “Thailand has unfortunately become one of the world’s largest centres for the illegal trade of wildlife. This has to stop,” he said. General Sawaek added that he is coordinating with the Royal Thai Army and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), and that in the future, anti-money laundering laws will be invoked to seize the ill-gotten wealth of illegal wildlife traffickers. On 2 November, in a second spectacular raid, a team of over 300 police and forestry officials descended on Chatuchak Weekend Market, seizing more than 1,000 protected creatures valued at around 50 million baht ($US1.25 million), and arresting several people. Senior official Thanit Palasuwan said the raid was spear-headed by the Protection and Suppresion Unit of the Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plants, which aims to wipe out the illegal trade by year-end. Mr Thanit said that there were “countless” stalls trading in creatures ranging from turtles and snakes to slow lorises and hornbills. WWF-Thailand surveys of the market, conducted in October, revealed a continued widespread trade in live birds including laughing-thrushes, mynas, and Alexandrine parakeets, as well as over 2,500 pieces of jewellery made from turtle shell. On 3 November, a third big raid was made on a house in the Pracha Cheun area of Bangkok. Nearly 100 rare birds, several civets, and pythons were seized, but the picture apprearing in all the national newspapers that horrified most people was that of a frozen baby orangutan. Less than six months old, the baby orangutan was found in the freezer along with five great argus pheasants, two otters, and a turtle. The house owner was not at home during the raid, but was expected to turn himself in shortly afterwards. The owner’s son admitted that his mother had previously been arrested for illegal wildlife trade 7 years ago, but declined to give any more details. Schawann Tunhikorn, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Office of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants, believes that the orang-utan was illegally shipped from Indonesia, at the same time as those that were rescued from the illegal slaughterhouse in Nonthaburi in the first raid on 28 October. Commissioner Sawaek confirmed that prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fully supports his efforts to wipe out the illegal trade in endangered wildlife in the country, as well as to cut the cycle of regional trade in which Thailand plays a leading role as a trading center. “To those politicians and people in uniform who benefit from the illegal trade in wildlife, I say you have only 7 days to stop the business. Otherwise I will report you directly to the prime minister,” he warned. Meanwhile in Songkhla, police seized more than 400 myna birds reputedly valued at 12,000 baht ($US300) each, believed to have come from the Chatuchak market. Police said they believed that after the 2 November raid, traders distributed the animals to the provinces in an attempt to avoid arrest. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Praphat Payachartrak said that he would ask the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) to close the market completely if the illegal trade in protected wildlife continued. WWF-Thailand has campaigned for legal and policy reform and improved enforcement of Wildlife Laws in Thailand since 1998, when, in the “Year of the Tiger”, WWF presented a petition to the government of that day recommending changes including stricter penalties, with over 236,000 signatures collected throughout the year in Thailand. In 1999, WWF-Thailand ran small campaign to raise awareness about the ivory trade. During 2000-2003, WWF-Thailand has implemented a larger Wildlife Trade Campaign together with WWF-Denmark, funded by the Danish Government. This campaign has helped increase awareness amongst tourists and people working in the tourism industry, through the distribution of over 800,000 brochures and pamphlets and the repeated showing of an in-flight video on over 5,000 Thai Airways international flights since October 2002. The campaign has trained over 1,000 people, including over 300 enforcement officials from several agencies (CITES, police, customs, etc) and provided a 24 Hour “Eyes and Ears” service for tip-offs, through which over 120 cases have been reported and dealt with in the last 18 months. On 5 November, WWF-Thailand’s Director of Public Affairs, Sawan Sangbunlang, participated in an emergency meeting of the Parliamentary Sub-committee to discuss follow-up on the recent arrests, while Country Representative Dr Robert Mather participated in a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, together with Forestry Police Commissioner Major General Sawaek Pinsinchai. Commisioner Sawaek confirmed that the clamp-down had the direct backing of the Prime Minister, and would soon be extended to restaurants serving illegal wildlife dishes serving both tourists and Thais, as well as to numerous temples around the country where monks are keeping wild animals illegally and in inappropriate conditions. “After several years of hard work, WWF-Thailand Wildlife Trade Campaign staff can now see their efforts starting to pay off, as this issue is finally being given the high-level attention it has deserved for so long,” said Dr Robert Mather, Country Representative of WWF-Thailand. For further information Mr Kochasarnseen Thitivuth Wildlife Trade Campaign Manager, WWF Thailand Email: Thitivuth@wwfthai.org