Thai Police Raid Warehouse Full Of Reptiles

[webfact]

Thai police raid warehouse full of reptiles

In this photo released by FREELAND Foundation, an official holds live pangolins after a raid at a house in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand, Friday, Oct. 22, 2010. Thai police have raided a secret warehouse where wildlife smugglers had cached thousands of reptiles for shipment overseas after being illegally collected. (AP Photo/FREELAND Foundation)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai police on Friday raided a warehouse where wildlife smugglers were storing thousands of illegally collected reptiles for shipment overseas, a conservation group said.

Police seized various snakes, turtles, tortoises and pangolins from the warehouse in the central province of Ayutthaya and arrested its owner, the Thailand-based FREELAND Foundation said.

They included species protected under international agreements and Thai law.

The warehouse was run by a criminal syndicate that was shipping at least 1.2 tons of wildlife out of Thailand every week to consumer countries, it said. Several secret holding facilities are believed to exist, it said.

Southeast Asia supplies illegally traded wildlife to a global market estimated to be worth $10 billion-$30 billion annually, FREELAND said in a statement.

It said the illegal trade to supply demand in China and Vietnam for freshwater turtles, tortoises, snakes and pangolins threatens their survival in the wild.

The raid was notable because it uncovered a major holding facility and involved the arrest of an alleged major trafficker, FREELAND director Steven Galster said in the statement.

"In the past, portions of these shipments were seized along highways and border checkpoints, resulting sometimes in the arrest of truck drivers," he said.

-- (c) Associated Press 2010-10-23

[Thai at Heart]

Some might think this headline means they raided a politician's private club.

[Phuket Stan]

Some might think this headline means they raided a politician's private club.

Was thinking the same....strange that there are no names of alleged culprits....when a truck/ute is stopped name and photo of driver is usually attached....ahh well

[JatujakShopper]

Nice to see police officials doing something positive. Useless Factoid: Pangolins are actually mammals.

[nomadic]

Some might think this headline means they raided a politician's private club.

I assumed they meant the house of parliament.

[samjaidee]

Nice to see police officials doing something positive. Useless Factoid: Pangolins are actually mammals.

That was my first thought. Headline say reptiles and they show a picture of mammals. Typically Thai.

[toybits]

I thought they were talking about Parliament.

[rotary]

TIT

[Tokay]

Looks like a Pattaya Soi 6 bar raid to me.

[Bagwan]

Some might think this headline means they raided a politician's private club.

I assumed they meant the house of parliament.  

Seeing that these creatures appear to have their heads stuck up their fundamental orifices I assumed that they were politicians

[ukrules]

Funny looking creatures !

[Shock]

Nice to see police officials doing something positive. Useless Factoid: Pangolins are actually mammals.

That was my first thought. Headline say reptiles and they show a picture of mammals. Typically Thai.

Mmmm yes. Well cannot expect much else from people who also firmly believe that whales and dolphins are fish.

Little info from wiki - In July 2010, Customs officers in Guangdong, China, seized more than 7.8 tonnes of frozen pangolins and 1,800 kg of pangolin scales from a fishing vessel after it was stopped for inspection. 2090 Pangolins in total were killed.

Seems pangolins are a popular food source and used for many medicinal purposes too - shame!

[SergeiY]

Nice to see police officials doing something positive. Useless Factoid: Pangolins are actually mammals.

That was my first thought. Headline say reptiles and they show a picture of mammals. Typically Thai.

Mmmm yes. Well cannot expect much else from people who also firmly believe that whales and dolphins are fish.

hello experts on " Typically Thai" - check the source of the news and then go out and apologise to some random Thai and tell them how stupid and ignorant you are.

[dekbahnnok]

The Chinese will eat anything and many people are willing to do anything to feed the enormous demand. Eventually they will be eating Soyent Green (sorry about the spelling).

[Colabamumbai]

The warehouse of a criminal syndicate.......They must mean it belonged to the police.

[SergeiY]

The Chinese will eat anything and many people are willing to do anything to feed the enormous demand. Eventually they will be eating Soyent Green (sorry about the spelling).

Actually their eating habits are more very naturally and not based on industrialized food like the residents the other nations buy in their walmarts.

[EyesWideOpen]

had cached thousands of reptiles for shipment overseas ......

China is not overseas....

[asiawatcher]

The Chinese will eat anything and many people are willing to do anything to feed the enormous demand. Eventually they will be eating Soyent Green (sorry about the spelling).

I bet many would not even know the link - FYI (others) Soylent Green was a movie about the food shortages whereby it was revealed in the end bodies were being recycled into food. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green

[reichard]

The Chinese will eat anything and many people are willing to do anything to feed the enormous demand. Eventually they will be eating Soyent Green (sorry about the spelling).

"In his well-known 1903 book, The Island of Formosa, the American consul, J.W. Davidson, described how the Chinese in Taiwan ate and traded in their aboriginal victims' flesh. "During the outbreak of 1891, savage flesh was brought in, in baskets, the same as pork, and sold like pork in the open markets of Tokoham before the eyes of all."

http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/fp.asp?xItem=1456&CtNode=119

[Zolt]

The reptiles were waiting for shipment overseas.

Hmmm, Snakes on the Plane anyone?

[ignoramus]

Serg, your reply regarding the Chinese diet was stupendously superfuous, to say the least. Weirdly, I read it as an apology for their dietary habits. The fact of the matter is that the Chinese will and do eat anything that lives/lived. Slightly more accurately perhaps, to pander to your unerring eye, is the fact that the Chinese consume to an extent unknown to all other peoples, e.g. items such tiger penis, bear paw and (live) bear bile, rhino horn etc etc etc (the list is neverending). Good old Mao's favourite food was reputed to be bear paw soup. Charming. Your words of wisdom will henceforth be ignored.

[ukrules]

The fact of the matter is that the Chinese will and do eat anything that lives/lived. Slightly more accurately perhaps, to pander to your unerring eye, is the fact that the Chinese consume to an extent unknown to all other peoples, e.g. items such tiger penis, bear paw and (live) bear bile, rhino horn etc etc etc

I've seen this in many travel programs and on my own short visits to China and I really do wonder what they do with all the nice cuts of beef / chicken breast that we generally eat in the west ?

I ate some food with beef in it, scrawny shredded pieces of fat laden beef, this was at quite a good restaurant in Shanghai. There was no tenderloin or chicken breast on the menu that I noticed.

Also - what is it with the chopsticks, I can't use them and everyone present at the dinner in question (all Chinese) found it highly amusing when I requested a knife and fork. Why aren't chopsticks sharp either ? I could make them much more useful if I took a pencil sharpener with me, but I digress...

[geriatrickid]

had cached thousands of reptiles for shipment overseas ......

China is not overseas....

Inland seas. Considering the flooding, well, you know.....................

Anyway, can I go and throw rocks at the people responsible for this disgusting event?

[SergeiY]

Also - what is it with the chopsticks, I can't use them and everyone present at the dinner in question (all Chinese) found it highly amusing when I requested a knife and fork. Why aren't chopsticks sharp either ? I could make them much more useful if I took a pencil sharpener with me, but I digress...

Its about to be highly civilized and cultivated or just a barbarian or savage right of the wood or from some battlefield.

The knife represents nothing but a miniaturised sword, it is a weapon. But when its dinner time you don't come with your weapons to your table, even if you dinner together with your enemy.

[SergeiY]

Serg, your reply regarding the Chinese diet was stupendously superfuous, to say the least. Weirdly, I read it as an apology for their dietary habits. The fact of the matter is that the Chinese will and do eat anything that lives/lived. Slightly more accurately perhaps, to pander to your unerring eye, is the fact that the Chinese consume to an extent unknown to all other peoples, e.g. items such tiger penis, bear paw and (live) bear bile, rhino horn etc etc etc (the list is neverending). Good old Mao's favourite food was reputed to be bear paw soup. Charming. Your words of wisdom will henceforth be ignored.

Birds nest and bear paw recipes among historic cookbooks

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-436169/Birds-nest-bear-paw-recipes-historic-cookbooks.html

Yes, in the west you don't eat everything. you eat only chicken breast and tenderloins steak, the other parts of the cadaver are shredded and and become animal food until everyone ends up with BSE.

Your food in the walmart comes from some factories and that is closer to Soylent Green than if some Chinese eat also chicken feet or insect eggs or reptiles or all parts of a pig.

[ukrules]

The knife represents nothing but a miniaturised sword, it is a weapon. But when its dinner time you don't come with your weapons to your table, even if you dinner together with your enemy.

I see, so the reason they don't eat a large porterhouse, big lumpy tenderloin or breast of chicken is because they don't have the utensils to cut it up and eat it. All they can do is poke it around the plate with a blunt peace instrument

Edited October 26, 2010 by ukrules

[lannarebirth]

The fact of the matter is that the Chinese will and do eat anything that lives/lived. Slightly more accurately perhaps, to pander to your unerring eye, is the fact that the Chinese consume to an extent unknown to all other peoples, e.g. items such tiger penis, bear paw and (live) bear bile, rhino horn etc etc etc

I've seen this in many travel programs and on my own short visits to China and I really do wonder what they do with all the nice cuts of beef / chicken breast that we generally eat in the west ?

I ate some food with beef in it, scrawny shredded pieces of fat laden beef, this was at quite a good restaurant in Shanghai. There was no tenderloin or chicken breast on the menu that I noticed.

Also - what is it with the chopsticks, I can't use them and everyone present at the dinner in question (all Chinese) found it highly amusing when I requested a knife and fork. Why aren't chopsticks sharp either ? I could make them much more useful if I took a pencil sharpener with me, but I digress...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/16-products-they-only-sell-at-chinese-walmarts

[SergeiY]

The knife represents nothing but a miniaturised sword, it is a weapon. But when its dinner time you don't come with your weapons to your table, even if you dinner together with your enemy.

I see, so the reason they don't eat a large porterhouse, big lumpy tenderloin or breast of chicken is because they don't have the utensils to cut it up and eat it. All they can do is poke it around the plate with a blunt peace instrument

Its all prepared in the kitchen where the cook have some instruments to slice up everything into tiny parts that you will sitting on the table and have dinner and don't need to bring a sharp knife for yourself.

Chopsticks is all about to avoid to having a weapon on the table.

Bring some Chinese to a BBQ party and he could report how uncivilised and savage-style western meat-eating habits are.

[chantorn]

With all the police in the warehouse, no wonder the Warehouse Full Of Reptiles