Phuket Tourists Warned About Illegal Slow Loris Touts

[webfact]

Phuket tourists warned about illegal slow loris touts
Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: -- A seven-day educational campaign against profiteering from slow lorises and other wildlife is now underway on the streets of Patong.

Last night about 30 government officers handed out English-language brochures on the illegal use of wildlife in one of the most tourist-dense areas of Phuket, between Loma Park and Soi Bangla in Patong (map here).

The officers were from the Khao Phra Thaeo Wildlife Conservation Development and Extension Centre, Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division and other relevant departments.

Patong’s popular walking street, Soi Bangla, has over the last year seen frequent raids on touts offering tourists slow lorises for photo opportunities. Despite the crackdowns and the threats of more (story here) Phuket Gazette readers frequently write in claiming to have seen touts toting the small protected creatures through the bustling nightlife.

Slow lorises are listed in Appendix II (animals strictly measured and monitored to ensure their numbers do not decline) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). They are also protected by the Thailand Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act BE 2535.

“There have been a lot of tourists complaining about touts offering different types of wildlife, especially slow lorises, for photo ops. They say that the situation sometimes causes problems and that the animals look like they are suffering,” said Awat Nitikul, chief of the Environmental Conservation Unit based at Phuket’s Khao Phra Thaew wildlife sanctuary in Thalang.

“From the beginning of 2012 to the present, 17 slow lorises have been rescued in Patong and taken to the Phang Nga Wildlife Nursery Station to be treated and protected,” Chief Awat added.

The possession of a protected species without a permit carries a penalty of up to 40,000 baht or up to four years imprisonment, or both, Chief Awat explained after a slow loris raid in October last year (story here).

The campaign in Patong will continue until March 14.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-tourists-warned-about-illegal-slow-loris-touts-20435.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-03-08

[stevenl]

Good start but the brochures should be in Russian.

[laurentbkk]

Good start but the brochures should be in Russian.

why ? do you think its also the fault of Russian ? wow it seems they are the needle in the foot of many here .

[stevenl]

Good start but the brochures should be in Russian.

why ? do you think its also the fault of Russian ? wow it seems they are the needle in the foot of many here .

Because in general the westerners are more conscious of this being no good than the Russians. And with about 1/2 of the people walking Bangla Road speaking Russian and less than 1/2 speaking English Russian makes more sense than English.

[Payboy]

They're probably on display only because nobody here wants to eat them. Venomous and all that.

[NomadJoe]

So this may help for perhaps a few days. Meanwhile the touts just move off Bangla. Now I am seeing the loris touts walking the loungers on Kata Beach and in the Kata/Karon bars. The Patong police are paid off handsomely by the katoey soi boss where they hide. K. Awat has shown to be the only one that can do anything about this. Even then I have seen the guys arrested are out a couple days later with new slow loris's. K. Awat has published his personal mobile for people to call. It's 086 689 7040. You can also send a complaint with photos to the DNP via their website at http://www.dnp.go.th/complain/index.asp with pictures of the touts and spotter if possible. Hopefully with enough arrests eventually it will no longer be profitable for them.


In case anyone is unaware, when a gibbon or loris is captured they kill the mother to make it easy to capture the baby. Then before the loris's can be used for photo's with tourists, their poison glans are removed and their teeth are pulled out so they can not harm anyone when they bite.

Edited March 8, 2013 by LivinginKata
email removed as per forum rules

[JetsetBkk]

Last night about 30 government officers handed out English-language brochures on the illegal use of wildlife in one of the most tourist-dense areas of Phuket, between Loma Park and Soi Bangla in Patong.

What a complete waste of time, personnel, effort, paper and money. (Although no doubt some of the "government officers" enjoyed their look-see in Soi Bangla. )

They should all be looking for the touts, not handing out leaflets to people who are already complaining about this exploitation. And next week, these tourists will have gone home. Are these "officers" going to do the rounds again for the next dozen plane-loads of tourists? And again every week thereafter?

Jesus H. Christ! What a pathetic farce.