Investigation finds Thai wild tigers targeted by foreign professional gangs

By The Nation

 

Vietnamese poachers recorded their kills of wild tigers in Thailand.

 

New findings from a three-month investigation have revealed that professional gangs were dispatched across Thailand’s borders to target the Kingdom’s wild tigers. 

 

Freeland, a Bangkok-based international non-governmental organisation working in Asia on environmental conservation and human rights, on Tuesday congratulated Thai authorities for making this discovery and already arresting one of the gangs.

 

The investigation was initiated after the successful arrest of two Vietnamese men by Thai police in late October following a tip-off from a Thai driver-for-hire. 

 

The driver had been travelling between the west-central towns of Tak and Phitsanulok when he considered the baggage belonging to two foreign customers to be suspicious, so he called the police. 

 

Police officers stopped the vehicle, inspected the bag, and discovered a fresh tiger skeleton inside. 

 

They arrested the owners of the bag, took the suspects and the tiger remains to Nakhon Sawan police station, and inspected the suspects' belongings, including their phones.

 

Police then contacted Freeland for analytical assistance. 

 

The NGO’s forensics experts were dispatched to the scene and provided on-the-job training. 

 

Using Cellebrite digital forensics technology, police found evidence that the poachers, originating from Vietnam, had crossed Laos into Thailand for targeted hunting in the Kingdom's forests. 

 

The poachers documented their trips on their phones, including tiger kills.

 

Freeland believes the poachers were working on assignment from a Vietnamese criminal syndicate. 

 

“We do not think this was the poachers’ first time in Thailand, and we have reason to believe they were planning to strike again,” said Sangchai, director of Freeland-Thailand.

 

Following the discovery of the gang and the poached tiger, Thai rangers were put on high alert. 

 

“This gang has been removed as a threat, but we should be aware that whoever employed them may dispatch more hunters to kill our country’s tigers,” said Petcharat, adding, “Police, rangers and the public must remain vigilant.”

 

Freeland is now trying to create an information exchange to suppress cross-border poaching and trafficking, which it believes extends to the criminal exploitation of rosewood trees.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30362743

 

— The Nation 2019-01-22

Tigers in the wild...priceless! 

Vietnamese poachers...worthless! Build a wall... ????

 

 

Of course, no Thai would do that...... 

Chinese need their tiger powder. One would have thought they'd learned how to copy viagra by now.

Might be time to mobilise the military to become real forest ranger's and seek out these poachers instead of swanning around on goal courses etc doing

S F A, or tending the gardens etc of the chiefs. You never know, they might just learn or do something useful for a change. 

Pesky professional foreigners, don’t they know this a job for local amateurs. 

Fatso from that construction company won't be too happy to know others are poaching on his turf. 

45 minutes ago, djayz said:

Fatso from that construction company won't be too happy to know others are poaching on his turf. 

Fatso is probably relying on his pals to divert attention and outrage elsewhere...

For a few more dollars...

 

 

You know, I just never got off to killing and hunting animals. I cant see how people do.

 

But I do think a new show to out do UFC would be MEN VS. LIONS!!

Think about the views! Wow!

Yep, ask Premchai, he'll tell you!

Indeed. Thais never hunt these tigers. ????