timberboy

Dogs saved from dinner tables: Thai authorities

BANGKOK, August 13, 2011 (AFP) - Thai authorities have rescued more than a thousand dogs, which were found stuffed into tiny cages and being smuggled out of the country to be cooked and eaten in Vietnam, officials said Saturday.

Police intercepted four trucks stacked high with crates packed with the animals in an operation on Thursday evening in Nakhon Phanom province in northeastern Thailand near the border with Laos.

A Nakhon Phanom livestock development official said 1,011 dogs were being held in a government shelter after two separate raids in Nathom and Si Songkhram districts.

She said an additional 119 had died either through suffocation in the cramped cages or when they were thrown from the back of the trucks as the alleged traffickers sped away from arresting officers.

Two Thai men and a Vietnamese man have been charged with trafficking and the illegal transportation of animals, police case officer Captain Prawat Pholsuwan told AFP.

"The maximum punishment is a one year jail term and a fine of up to 20,000 baht ($670)," he said.

The dogs were transported from nearby Sakon Nakhon province and were destined to be taken across the Mekong river in Laos and into Vietnam, Prawat added.

Traffickers, who round up stray dogs and barter for pets in rural Thai villages, can receive up to $33 per dog in Vietnam, police said.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-08-13

$670 ? our monthly house mortgage is more than that!!! and 1 year in jail???????????

Thats like a slap on the wrist, what a waste of time.

in our developed countrys strays are taken and put to sleep if they have now home.

so whats the problem with them being killed off here (in a county with more strays than others) and at least feeding people.

stolen pets are one thing and i pitty the dog and the owner .. but if the homeless strays that run wild can feed someone who is willign to eat it then thats one less stray dog .

i must admit i'm sorry to say i hate the stray dogs here having been knocked off a motorbike by them before so feel no sorrow for there fate..

The problem is population control in order to prevent such incidents. And law enforcement to prevent thefts. Until both problems are serioulsy addressed ,this crap will go on and on.

i don't see why it is a bad thing to sell this dogs to Vietnam, here in bangkok, there are thousands of street dogs, this animals in many cases get sick with rabics and can infect another people, in my neighborhood one litle guirl died last month because of that, bisides this animals are extreamly dangereous for the traffic of people and cars on the streets etc, i would like to see the eliminination of all the street-dogs numbers or at least a decreae in the number of it.

So in your mind serving up animals with parasites and infectious diseases is appropriate?

For once I agree with you.

How F'ing sick is this?

Dose anyone have a contact for donations or something? I'll try and find out if no one knows.

*edit* found it http://www.thaiaga.org a couple of bucks isn't gonna hurt anyone guys, just sayin.

Personally if they choose to eat dogs i dont give a dam_n if they contract parasites and diseases!!!!

It must be a slow news day with the Dow levelling out.

The most notorious province for dog eaters is Sakhon Nakhon in the top of isan -laos. Not all that far from dog meat heaven city Hanoi. VN. As much as 8 dollars per kilo in Vietnam.

90 % of the strays in Bangkok have disappeared over the past 10 years.. Not hard to guess where.

90%? Are you suggesting that 10 years ago, the dog population of Bangkok was larger than human?

I understand the Buddhist logic behind not controlling dog populations properly here, but in all honesty, stray dogs are a blight on a community. I have learnt to not let it get to me, but it really would be a pleasure to not worry about getting bitten or stepping in poop in front of my house?

I understand and respect that logic too, but , sometimes you have to make an exception, especially in this case.

I think that people would feel more enlightened if they have a dog sterilization program, instead of hearing about these dogs being massacred for someones dinner!

It must be a slow news day with the Dow levelling out.

The most notorious province for dog eaters is Sakhon Nakhon in the top of isan -laos. Not all that far from dog meat heaven city Hanoi. VN. As much as 8 dollars per kilo in Vietnam.

90 % of the strays in Bangkok have disappeared over the past 10 years.. Not hard to guess where.

Thats the price of having communism ,having to eat dogs to survive. Maybe one day those people will wake up.

I live in a village where dogs are bartered for a bucket and the trucks come all the time. Until Thailand gets serious about controlling the dog population which appears will be never then the current system of a villager getting a household good in exchange, the exporter making a profit, and protein for dinner seems more optimal than wasting tax money to create a bureaucracy to round them up, euthanize them, and dispose of the remains like other countries do. Legalize the current practice and put in measures to assure transport is safe and humane. And if you think that is a disturbing photo then brace yourself when you see photos of how chickens are raised.

If people have to trade their dog for a bucket, that is pretty dam_n sad!!! I heard on the news that the economy is in very good shape there. So why do people have to trade live animals for a household item??????

Still people seem to resist the idea of " population control" by sterilization. Getting dogs and cats spay/neutered is the best solution to this problem. AND if people need to trade a dog for a bucket, they need to speak to the government about some public assistance.

i don't see why it is a bad thing to sell this dogs to Vietnam, here in bangkok, there are thousands of street dogs, this animals in many cases get sick with rabics and can infect another people, in my neighborhood one litle guirl died last month because of that, bisides this animals are extreamly dangereous for the traffic of people and cars on the streets etc, i would like to see the eliminination of all the street-dogs numbers or at least a decreae in the number of it.

The answer is spay/neuter programs. It is not expensive. It will help control the animal population. AND they wont have to end up in someones stew pot.

If you dont see why its a bad thing for these dogs to go to Vietnam then i guess you dont own any dogs as pets? If you have one as a pet, you consider it a part of the family, not something to eat for lunch.

So what's the real difference between a dog and a cow - apart from the endearing expression? and that's a real question...

A cow is a farm animal raised for food consumption. a dog is a PET!! not lunch.

I don't think they are out of the woods yet.

from OP:

Rerngsak said police were told that Noppadon had earlier released 600 other dogs into a forest.

jokes aside, whether they are out of the woods or into a forest, what can the authorities possibly do with all these dogs?

Not release the rest of them into a forest I hope?

Used to see the dog collection pickups when we lived in Sa Kaeo province, plastic buckets/bowls on top of the cages. It's an endless supply, every week another load of dogs 'taking a holiday'.

Don't have an answer to this one.

They won't euthanise them, the suggestion of adoption won't attract many takers either.

The best suggestion is to spay or neuter these animals, to prevent their population from getting larger. As it is the authorities say that they cant feed and house the number of animals there because of this rescue effort.

sterilization will help in the long run. Cant say how many of this load will be ultimately saved.

The practice of dog meat being consumed isnt just in vietnam, there are laws against it in korea but there is no enforcement. Any place in the rural areas where people are very poor, and have eaten these animals in the past, it will happen. For example in Cambodia during the 1960s-70s many people were forced into the forests to live. If people have to eat bugs and snakes to survive, what will stop them from eating dogs?

Better than a family dynasty that lasts decades, a la North Korea.

Dynasty????? You mean totalitarian dictatorship

Good for Thailand. A female instead of a cocky man that does not get anything done. Congratulations

Yea congratulations, just hope you dont get another imeda Marcos with the 2700 pairs of shoes!!!

Good luck to Yingluck, and good luck to Thailand.

Let's hope that this "fresh face", in spite of her ties to her brother, is able to do something good and positive for Thailand as a whole, and not just a few select. I say we give her a chance and see what she can do. If she fails, well, there's always the next election to get rid of her. Providing the military doesn't intervene in the meantime.

Did i read correctly in the main article that Thailand has only had one Prime Minister complete a full term in office without being removed?????????????

Someone needs to fix whats broken there.

Yingluck Shinawatra Voted Thailand's 28th Prime Minister

Pheu Thai Party's number one party-list candidate Yingluck Shinawatra is voted as Thailand's 28th prime minister. She is also the Kingdom's first female leader.

296 Members of Parliament voted in favor of Yingluck while three voted against her. 197 MP's abstained, including major opposition parties such as the Democrat and Bhum Jai Thai parties.

-- Tan Network 2011-08-05

If its not a vote in favor then its a vote against, abstaining is a political way of saying NO.

rabbits dont eat lettuce it gives them the run. hay and pellets.

bina, not to dispute the eating habits of the kosher rabbits where your located, but the little free roaming, varmints will clean out a garden from the lettuce patch thru the corn (thats why it is called rabbit corn) ears are low enough for the bunnies to reach.

Young rabbit is a treat once in a while, old rabbit makes eatable soup/stew, the mink farms buy them also, but thats a long shot in Thailand.

Hi there:

Just to clarify, rabbit is not an animal for kosher consumption. None of the rodent family is.

They dont hav alcohol to abuse in their culture, so cig's are all they got.

Too bad that their govt is more interested in collecting excise taxes ,instead of making a concerted effort to help the population resist using tobacco. But i guess that can be said in most places in the world.

This is typical behavior of the totalitarian dictatorships that control the governments within the arab world.

They wont even let people leave, they would rather shoot them dead and make a media event out of it.

Der Bingle knows what's up;

Will there be snow and mistletoe? In Thailand, with Mr. Thaksin, anything is possible, if you just want to believe.

That did make me laugh. Sorry though its not a laughing matter. Does anyone think it is possible that there is a true effort to make things better ?? Mr Abhisit, was the best chance, too bad the masses cant see that.

If this guy is really serious, and wants to gain the confidence of the people, he should publicly resign from all his business interests. And make it offical , so the public will not worry about him going back to his old ways [using his position for personal financial gain of his business empire.]

If the government does not have an impeachment process available, then leaders can get [as he said above] too powerful. The PM position is meant to serve the people first, not himself and his personal interests.

Mr Thaksin, has alot of experience in growing business entities. If he would channel this knowledge towards government projects towards the betterment of the people and the nation, then he might be able to expunge the unwise choices that he made in the past.

People aren't so interested in political partys. They want whats best for the nation. And that is progress for it's citizens. Improving the standard of living for everyone. Giving people an education. And enhancing Thailands position within the world community.

"Time for a good ole' fashion hangin' boys..." said the sheriff as he tilted his hat back, wiping his face in the hot Nevada desert sun. Perched on their horses next to the only tree for miles, the posse, looking at the accused on his horse with his hands tied behind his back, were all thinking the same thing...We need to get rid of this scum once and for all.

That's the way, bring as much of America with you when you move to Thailand or is it Cambodia.

I hear a bitter tone...I hate drug dealers bud...Will be living in Cambodia and starting a boat building bizz...Traveling to Thailand alot also...

Yea sounds like someone doesnt like any farangs

Compliments to the Customs service. Keep up the good work !!

I realize that this is not the USA. I'm normally pretty conservative but 300 hundred baht per day is barely a livable wage. The minimum wage in the USA varies from state to state with the lowest being $7.20 per hour and the highest being $12.50 per hour. Note that this is per HOUR and not a day. Some food prices in the USA are cheaper than here and some are more expensive. Many US made products are cheaper than similar Thai made products. Many Thai companies make obscene profits at the expense of poorly paid workers. It is past time for Thailand to raise the standard of living for the workers.

The farmers have been cheated for many years by the wealthy middlemen. You may or may not know that the middlemen rarely or never pay the support price for farm products. They usually use the excuse that their quota is filled and that they don't need any more product unless the farmers accept a lower price.

The gap between the haves and have nots definitely needs to be narrowed. This is a first step to narrowing the HUGE gap.

History will show you that the way you narrow the gap is by bringing the wealthy down to the level of the poor. Too often people think this works the other way.

That is not to say I don't agree we should do it. There are many social benefits, including a much more stable society, less envy and animosity between the citizens, etc. The way I would recommend to fix the wealth gap is by abandoning capitalism and embracing distributism. Heavily tax every industry above the minimum size necessary to function. All department stores, grocery stores, 7-11 etc. will go away. The country can get by on mom and pop shops and local community supported establishments. We don't need the labor efficiencies of large corporations. We need full employment more egalitarian options.

The purpose of this is not to make everyone rich and wealthy. Human nature doesn't allow for that, especially not now with soaring energy prices. But a nation built on distributist philosophies would allow resiliency in the face of the coming energy decline and industrial collapse. It would reduce the discontent in the population and be more peaceful in general. And by outlawing corporations and multinationals associated with terminal stages of capitalism, there would be little concentration of wealth in the hands of extremely rich merchants.

No, its not ideal, but it is possible. The existing proposals that I see, the ones with an idea of forcing structures that are designed to concentrate wealth to distribute wealth instead, are doomed to failure. Any effect will be transient if it can be seen at all.

So , when do you plan to bring the "harmonius society"? Do i smell a little communist ideoolgy? Well that would never work in Thailand, unless there was a revolution. And your idea of taxing large corporations, will just tax them out of the country to ANY neighboring country where they wont be over taxed. You want to go backward to mom n pop stores? sounds like you want to go back in history. Your idea sounds good in theory. But it wont happen in reality. Cause there will always be rich and poor, the whole world is like that. To think otherwise is just dreaming.

I realize that this is not the USA. I'm normally pretty conservative but 300 hundred baht per day is barely a livable wage. The minimum wage in the USA varies from state to state with the lowest being $7.20 per hour and the highest being $12.50 per hour. Note that this is per HOUR and not a day. Some food prices in the USA are cheaper than here and some are more expensive. Many US made products are cheaper than similar Thai made products. Many Thai companies make obscene profits at the expense of poorly paid workers. It is past time for Thailand to raise the standard of living for the workers.

The farmers have been cheated for many years by the wealthy middlemen. You may or may not know that the middlemen rarely or never pay the support price for farm products. They usually use the excuse that their quota is filled and that they don't need any more product unless the farmers accept a lower price.

The gap between the haves and have nots definitely needs to be narrowed. This is a first step to narrowing the HUGE gap.

I don't know about the US but there is NOTHING in Australia cheaper than in Thailand, with the possible exception of items imported into this country. Many of the price problems Thais are facing are a direct result of economic woes exported from the US - should the Thais start selling houses to people who can't afford them and follow the US into the garbage disposal?

Dont worry about Thais buying houses. They will be spending their wage increase on the increased prices for food and other staples. Anyone will a lick of common sense understands that. Just a ploy to get votes from people that are uninformed.

If Baht 215 for a days work in the rice fields or factories is such a fair deal, why don't some of you yo-yo's take these jobs. Working for less than $10 per day at this hard labor is a joke and insult to the Thai Nation.

If International Companies move to Thailand to exploit the thai labor force they have no HONOR! These are human beings and deserve a fair wage for a fair days work. Just because people are born into poverty

doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated as equals. My father told me when I was a child that no man, Not even the President of the United States was a better man than I just because of his title or power or wealth!

Yea i understand your point. But they are telling people that they will increase the minimum wage. And unless they have the foresight to understand a little simple economics, PRICES for everything will have to increase accordingly to offset the wage increases. So, what are they really gaining ? Higher prices for the food and other staples they need?

As far as your complaint about international companies "investing" in Thailand. I dont think you need to worry about it. The ex- prime minister living in Dubai owns many Thai companies, and he is paying those same low wages also, and his family is reaping the benefits. So maybe you should ask that Thai billionaire businessman to have some honor and pay the people bettter, instead of getting on your soapbox and complain about the evil foreigners. Besides ,they are having most products made in China these days, so dont worry about them coming to Thailand, its cheaper to make things in China.

It would be better with some competition...have had the Gold package the last 14 years or so and my impression is that it is getting poorer and poorer over time ... same movies shown on different channels and repeated eternally....if there was a serious competitor out there I would swop asap but I have not seen any.

The good thing is that they usually transmit the important boxing matches live .... before they used to do it with UFC from time to time but that is stopped unfortunately...don't even send them later on as they used to on Channel 102...maybe too expensive.

Competitors are not allowed and if they were, they would most likely be extinguished. "Stinks of Monopoly" I was told by an executive of True some years ago that "sorry the fees are high because the government wont allow us advertising"

They now have advertising (and make a fortune) so why are the fees not coming down, could this have something to do with greed?

About time someone from True joins in this discussion on TV "not brave enough"?

Pricing has to do with profits [you might consider it greed]. Cable providers are notorious for jacking up prices as high as possible, especially in markets with little or no competition. But if you think the rates will be reduced cause they obtained advertising revenues, i suggest that you take off the rose colored glasses. Yea i have gold package here in NewYork, the cable provider has one competitor and they came around way after this company "built" the cable tv, internet, phone infrastructure in this area. So , yea they do the same thing, my bill is $100 US per month just for the tv. and have same crap, movies from 20 years ago, playing on numerous channels, etc. Thats just the way it seems to be. So i wouldnt expect much if you complained to the government about it.

How about they improve their 3G network?

wheres the 4G