Tiger Temple Goes To Court

[Bilqis]

Kanchanaburi the proceedings start today

Tiger temple sues conservationists and newspaper reporter over complaints of illegal wildlife possession, animal torture and alleged illegal trade in tigers with foreign countries without permit.

Three local conservationists are being handed over by police to court on Wednesday the 3rd of February at 10:00AM at the provincial court of Kanchanaburi Province. The three are being accused of defamation by the infamous Tiger Temple after a news article in the Thai Post newspaper in April 2009 where accusation were made about animal torture, illegal wildlife trade and possession taking place at the tiger temple. All three conservationists and animal welfare experts were quoted in this article as having a derogatory opinion of the tiger temple.

[Garry9999]

Tiger Temple

Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua - well known as Tiger Temple is located about 40 km from town at highway 323. The Tiger Temple started as a rescue centre for wild tigers.

Warning: In the past, reports from Tiger Temple volunteer workers increased that the tigers where maltreated and abused by the abbort of the temple and his staff. A shortly released report from the British conservation group Care for the Wild International (CWI) reveals disturbing evidence of animal abuse and illegal tiger trafficking at the temple.

Read the full report of Care for the Wild International (CWI) here. http://www.careforthewild.com/files/TigerT...8_final_v11.pdf

For that reasons we clearly DON'T RECOMMEND A VISIT at the Tiger Temple and ask visitors to Kanchanaburi province to boycott the temple.

Admission fee: 500 THB - extra fee! Take a photo with the tigers: 50 THB

How to go there: own vehicle, travel agency

http://www.kanchanaburi-info.com/en/saiyok.html

[needforspeed]

Hopefully they bring the witnesses/victims to the provincial court.

[Bilqis]

"The Tiger Temple started as a rescue centre for wild tigers." - apparently even this has been brought into question

[Garry9999]

Hopefully they bring the witnesses/victims to the provincial court.

Good idea

[needforspeed]

I was planning to go there with my children next month but, your right i cancelled and go to Singapore Zoo.

[geriatrickid]

I wonder if the allegations as to the drugging of the animals will be addressed? My understanding is that in order to reduce the potential of one of the "visitors" being attacked, the animals that come in contact with visitors are sedated.

I believe the allegations as there can be no other explanation for the lack of maulings of the humans that regularly climb on the tigers. I find it odd that qualified animal care givers at rehabilitation facilities elsewhere in Asia and the west put an emphasis on keeping away from adult tigers , yet somehow the untrained staff and monks at this temple are able to move about so easily.

I also wonder if the evidence that is alleged to have been gathered showing monks and staff beating the animals will be presented to the court?

IMHO, any foreign tourist that intentionally visits this temple for a photo-op deserves to be mauled.

[Garry9999]

There are unfavourable reports about this place all over the internet. Seems difficult to believe they are trying to sue 3 local conservationists and newspaper reporter.

TIT I guess. Rule number 2 - never criticise Buddhism.

[Bilqis]

whereas drugging of the animals if it does take place is deplorable, I think it is extremely difficult to prove and thus may be a diversion from the several possible infringements occurring at the temple which may be more physically demonstrable deviations from accepted animal care and husbandry. and also national and international laws and treaties - (e.g. C.I.T.E.S.)

there is a press release from WFFT (defendants) - check their web site.

[Garry9999]

WFFT - PRESS RELEASE - 2/2/2010

Tiger temple sues conservationists and newspaper reporter over complaints of illegal wildlife possession, animal torture and alleged illegal trade in tigers with foreign countries without permit.

Three local conservationists are being handed over by police to court on Wednesday the 3rd of February at 10:00AM at the provincial court of Kanchanaburi Province. The three are being accused of defamation by the infamous Tiger Temple after a news article in the Thai Post newspaper in April 2009 where accusation were made about animal torture, illegal wildlife trade and possession taking place at the tiger temple. All three conservationists and animal welfare experts were quoted in this article as having a derogatory opinion of the tiger temple.

At the Tiger temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yannasampanno, Kanchanaburi) hundreds of foreign tourists daily vist the zoo to see and make pictures with the tigers. Entrance fee is 500 baht per person while making “special photos” costs 1,000 baht extra. For a morning experience people pay 4,500 baht per person to feed the cubs and watch the cub-exercise session.

At least a dozen tigers are being dragged from their small enclosures every afternoon down to a sun-backed hot valley to pose with tourists. These tigers are extremely lethargic and allegations have been made that they are being been drugged. When tigers are not obedient before, during or after the photo-session they are sprayed by the keepers with urine from bottles in their eyes and faces and/or hit with wooden sticks on their backs and heads. All tigers at the Tiger Temple are hybrid tigers that originated from a commercial tiger farm in Ratchburi province. The value to conservation of hybrid wildlife is zero. The release of hybrid wildlife back to the wild is considered a biological crime by conservation experts worldwide. In the past years several tigers from the tiger temple have mysteriously disappeared once mature, and some when there were excess cubs. The copy of a contract was found in 2008 where the tiger temple agreed to send tigers to an illegal tiger farm in Laos, signed by the tiger farmer, the abbot of the temple and a member of the temple board. The export or exchange of protected wildlife such as tigers is illegal by Thai law and the international treaty CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species). The Department of National Parks, Plants and Wildlife has never issued a permit to the tiger temple to exchange or export tigers. As a matter of fact the tigers at the temple have been confiscated in 2002 as they were illegally obtained, but were allowed to stay at the temple as the authorities had no shelter available to care for the tigers while the authorities were looking in to the legal case. A zoo permit was issued on a plot of land next to the temple on the name of a commercial enterprise in July 2009, however nothing has been built there to this date and the tigers are currently still being exploited on temple grounds.

Comments and complaints made by many conservationists and animal welfare activists were made to make people aware about the torture, illegal trade and the real value to conservation and to make a stop to the suffering of animals.

People being charged:

Edwin Wiek

Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT)

Tel: 08-90600906

[email protected]

Web: http://www.wfft.org/

[Briggsy]

Extremely easy to prove by taking blood samples. This of course would never be allowed by the temple.

Also DNA testing would show where the tigers came from. (Tigers from Khao Yai do not wander over to Thung Yai Naresuan). This would also not be allowed.

The defamation law in Thailand is very powerful and can be used to gag people for years whilst the proceedings are dragged out. The legal system is arbitrary and strange verdicts certainly do happen. The punishments for defamation are long prison sentences.

This temple has shown itself to be consistently evasive, at best, and deceitful, at worst, regarding how the tigers came to be at the temple, their living conditions and care at the temple and the motive for keeping the tigers.

This is a lucrative and illegal business hiding behind a thin facade of religious morality and a claim of providing a refuge for tigers.

[Bilqis]

I believe there were in fact some tests carried out about a year ago, but I have heard neither hide nor hair of the results.

On the visit one of the "officials" commented on how well looked after the Tigers were - so no bias there then!

one of the reasons for taking blood samples is to determine f the Tigers are hybrids as this makes them useless for any conservation purposes.

THe number of wild Tigers in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region is about 350!

[Curt1591]

Sybelle Foxcroft states that she has worked at the temple and has made photocopies of documents showing illegal trading. Sounds pretty straightforward to me.

[cmsally]

Doeas anyone know, if this is anyway connected with the Tiger Zoo in Chiang Mai?

Which incidentally seems to go under the name Ubon Zoo - so maybe also a Lao connection.

[simon43]

...The three are being accused of defamation...

My limited understanding of Thai law is that you can be sued for defamation, even if what you say is true! It is the loss of face factor Easy to sue someone in Thailand who is subject to Thai law. The temple would be laughed out of court if they tried to sue overseas.

Simon

[Fatboysrule]

My first visit was great as I believed the hype about the temples aims. I was also in awe of being so closed to the tigers for the first time in my life. But at Christmas I took my children there during their visit to Thailand. I left early, feeling dirty, to be part of the exploitation of the tigers and to have been so stupid to have not seen through the whole scam. The drive of the assistance to get people to contribute more and more money was so obvious this time. I then started researching about the temple and their claims and found it to be a tin of worms.

But if you look at the qualifications and credentials people that the temple is sueing, then you can see what the tiger temple is really about

[IanForbes]

On my one and only visit to the temple about 6 years ago I certainly wasn't impressed. I vowed never to go back. The little cages the tigers were kept in were dismal, and you were a 100 meters away from the one they brought out to be photographed with tourists. By contrast, the tiger park and crocodile farm north of Pattaya was a 1000 times better. The Kanchanaburi tiger park was all hype and BS with very little substance.

[Bilqis]

Does anyone know what happened in court yesterday? they were going for bail I believe.

[ProfessorFart]

The bottom line is that for all the 'evidence' around the internet, none of it, and I mean not a word of it, is substantiated.

OK, its a grim shithole of a place and a tourist trap but that doesn't make it illegal.

[desi]

This will be interesting to see how it pans out. Besides the report from Care For the Wild, does anyone have information direct from vets working at the Tiger Temple?

[Curt1591]

But if you look at the qualifications and credentials people that the temple is sueing, then you can see what the tiger temple is really about

Beyond heading their respective organizations, what are their qualifications and credentials?

[Garry9999]

The bottom line is that for all the 'evidence' around the internet, none of it, and I mean not a word of it, is substantiated.

OK, its a grim shithole of a place and a tourist trap but that doesn't make it illegal.

It's a good point, who are the WFFT?

[Bilqis]

http://www.wfft.org/

wildlife friends foundation Thailand

[ProfessorFart]

They are a company. Where is their evidence? Who are they?

Its a real boon that all these fake NGOs and self proclaimed experts like CWI and WFFT, none of whom have any claims to be experts in the fields they claim to represent, now have to put up or fall on their <deleted>.

I rather fancy I hear the clumping of <deleted> on the ground.....

[robbo1]

I have been there once 18 months ago I thought it was the most overated place that I have seen in Thailand will never go back to it and never recommend to anyone.

There is so much more to see in Kan just avoid the place like the plague

[Garry9999]

http://www.wfft.org/

wildlife friends foundation Thailand

Actually, the web site doesn't really say who they are.

The Wildlife Friends of Thailand is a group of people from Thailand, European countries and America that are of all ages.

Our goal is in the first place to provide a safe shelter for abused and neglected wild animals.

The centre is build on temple land, the abbot of the Kao Look Chang temple has generously given us a huge plot of forest for the animals to live.

[Curt1591]

Edwin is the "Secretary-General" of WFFT, so I guess he must be qualified!

In in their typical M.O., their court appearance press release has a short paragraph about court, then continues with the same accusations.

[goo]

I agree - there is nothing substantiated about the claims against this place. Whilst I hated it when I visited, and the monks certainly have zero respect amongst the Kanch community, I have seen nothing published which makes the place illegal. Ok, they are certainly a money making 'company' now, their claims to be a tiger refuge are laughable, but it still isn't illegal. Nothing hasbeen tested in a court. All these claims by the animal welfare cretins are just unsubstantiated <deleted>.

[desi]

All tigers at the Tiger Temple are hybrid tigers that originated from a commercial tiger farm in Ratchburi province. The value to conservation of hybrid wildlife is zero.

The export or exchange of protected wildlife such as tigers is illegal by Thai law and the international treaty CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species).

A simple question... Ok, we have a temple full of hybrid tigers, with a conservation value perceived at zero. So why are zero valued tigers being protected? The only danger I see is if they mess with the official tiger breeding program already in place around the world.

The temple (seems to be) breeding the tigers like crazy (I saw 15+ babies from at least three different litters - 4 months, 6 months and more). So these particular tigers are adding to the world's tiger count, but due to the unprofessionalism of their breeding program they can't be counted.

[Garry9999]

KANCHANABURI, Thailand, February 3, 2010 (ENS) - Three advocates for wildlife conservation and welfare appeared in a Kanchanaburi court this morning to answer charges of defamation brought by the Tiger Temple, a tourist attraction in Kanchanaburi.

Edwin Wiek, founder and director of Wildlife Friends of Thailand, a wildlife rescue center near Hua Hin, has been charged along with two other conservationists over remarks in an April 2009 article published in the "Thai Post," a daily Thai-language newspaper. In the report, accusations were made concerning illegal possession of and trade in tigers at the temple, and abuse of the animals.

The other two defendants are Sawan Sangbunlang of the Thai Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Dr. Surapon Duangkae of the Wildlife Fund Thailand under Royal Patronage. This organization closed in July 2009 due to lack of funds.

If convicted, they could face jail sentences

source http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2010/2010-02-03-01.html