According to Dave Kendall, a deeper look into Thailand’s attractive illegal wildlife trade, which is worth US$ 20 billion, is in order.
Anti-wildlife prostitution official Pol Col. Wanpichit Wattanasakmonta said,” We need to have a better balance between humans and nature.”
It’s not just about safeguarding animals, either. To promote sustainability in the world, we would like to encourage people to safeguard their environment and natural resources. After that, we can live happily alongside character forever.
Despite noble aspirations, the director of Sub-division 6 in the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division’s daily tasks include pursuing criminals in an illegal sector for US$ 20 billion( 726 billion baht ), which is the third most attractive world crime after drugs, people, and weapons.
a center for animals smuggling
Thailand has long served as a gateway for business, serving as its origin, destination, and transit route. Thailand is home to 10 % of the world’s animal species.
Fortunately, the days when farms stocked with tigers, bears, and crocodiles were dotted throughout the nation. Shop windows now prominently displayed tiger and leopard skins. Chatuchak market openly sold species from all over the world.
The innovative Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, which took effect in 2019, increased traffickers’ prison sentences to 20 years and protected non-native types. The Supreme Court sentenced Asian seller Kingpin Boonchai Bach to five years in prison in absentia in 2022 after he first walked completely.
And on September 19, Malaysian Teo Boon Ching received an 18-month prison term in the US for plotting to transport thousands of dollars’ worth of rhinoceros ears in hundreds of kilograms. The” uncle,” a smuggler, had been extradited from Thailand.
On a helicopter, animals
However, wildlife trafficking is still going on in the country. On October 4, a mouse and an otter were discovered wandering the streets of Suvarnabhumi to Taipei after eluding capture while carrying two dark large squirrels, two prairie dogs, 20 Cambodian star tortoises, and other animals.
News reports had a lighthearted voice, but anyone who cares about animal cruelty, species death, and the risk of zoonotic diseases believed by most scientists to have caused Covid – 19 will never find the smuggling scourge interesting.
We have taken both protected and” reserved” animals from smugglers over the past two to three years, according to Pol Col. Wanpichit on the podcast Deeper Dive from the Bangkok Post. There are many types, such as pangolins, wild birds, lion cub, macaques, and most recently extinct birds. Pieces of snakes and tigers are even smuggled.
Pangolins, also known as” scaly anteaters,” were once widely caught in Thailand but are now primarily transported live by ship to Myanmar or overland through Malaysia before crossing the Thai border. They are traded for their meat and scales for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Therefore, they are swiftly transported into China from the Lao border.
Foreign research facilities
The trafficking of rhesus monkeys is also widespread.
They originate in northeastern Thailand, according to Pol Col. Wanpichit. They are almost undoubtedly going to facilities in China, but even when pressed, the officer stuck to police protocol and avoided mentioning certain nations out of concern that they might offend.
What we can say, he said, is that they are first brought to nearby nations before being smuggled into a fourth nation for testing purposes.
The wildlife protection officer was evident that enforcement efforts may not completely eradicate the trade until demand for the product declines, despite the fact that investigators have had some success fighting the criminal gangs that dominate the industry.
News and information about the risks, repercussions, and penalties associated with wildlife trafficking are” about nonexistent” in some nations. And some people still believe that it is hunting in Thailand. It’s a way of living, really.
To view Dave Kendall’s in-depth interview with Pol Col. Wanpichit Wattanasakmonta on the fourth episode of the brand-new Bangkok Post podcast, Deeper Dive, scan the QR code above or go to https :// spoti.fi / 3ZQ7fOv. Or look up” Deeker Dive Thailand” wherever you find your apps.