Thailand tackling illegal ivory and rosewood trade

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Thailand tackling illegal ivory and rosewood trade
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, July 22 -- Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation will propose legal amendments concerning the ivory trade to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to protect Thailand from trade barriers.

Parks director-general Nipon Chotibal said that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) resolved at its 65th meeting in Geneva for Thailand to effectively the control local ivory trade, so his department would take action in positive response to the resolution.

He said the department would ask the NCPO to include African elephants in the list of protected wild animals under the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act BE 2535 (1992).

Mr Nipon said that the amendment would enhance the ability of the authorities to take legal action against wrongdoers.

He also proposed a law controlling possession and trade of local ivory. He said that such legal measures could save Thailand from being banned from trading animals and plants permitted under CITES.

They include orchids, aloe wood, ornamental plants, crocodile skins, parrots, insects and snake skins. Loss of this trade would cause economic damage worth tens of billions of baht to the country, Mr Nipon said.

In another development, the NCPO has included rosewood in the list of protected woods. Owners of rosewood must seek permission before felling a rosewood tree or transporting it. Punishment of wrongdoers is increased by 10 times to a fine from 50,000 to 2 million baht and/or a jail term of one to 20 years. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-07-22

[HeijoshinCool]

Mr Nipon said that the amendment would enhance the ability of the authorities to take legal action against wrongdoers.

And get bigger bribes fines.

[ChrisY1]

By simply adding African elephants to the endangered species listings......will have zero impact on the sale of smuggled ivory here in Thailand.....closing the ivory sales centres and private selling...it's simple.

Yes...blackmarket ivory will continue.....but the message would be out that ivory is taboo........

[UbonRatch]

When they cut out the Thai internal Sino-Thai funders they might get somewhere. Until then, forget it. As for all this fine and or jail sentence, which is never implemented, forget it too! Jail, and no buy-out option............. that is the way to sort out the corrupt <deleted> in this country!

[noitom]

Someone from the press or the Thai military dictatorship should inform Mr. Nipon that "such legal measures" in and of themselves mean nothing. It is the "enforcement" of law and order, prosecution, and punishment of law breakers all the way up the food chain to Thai Mr. Bigs. Busting a few mahouts and forest poachers and their associated Thai photo ops means absolutely nothing until the Thai military dictatorship shows the will to change by rounding up and cuffing a few Thai Mr. Bigs, the funders, backers, and bankers.

[chainarong]

I have heard all this lots of times before, Thailand has always been tackling , been fixing things for a hundred years, they try to hoodwink the rest of the decent world that all these nasties are being addressed, this is the year 2014, in the west, why is Thailand still trying to conn us that they are doing anything , Thailand needs to prove to the international community, by having a clean sheet on all issues for 2015, Christ you've had enough time, bet ya can't.

[monkeycountry]

Notice the main goal is not to save elephants from extinction, but to save Thailand from a blacklist. If the blacklist did not exist, Thailand could not care less about the fate of the elephants.

The needed amendment is very simple, make all ivory trade illegal, and throw perpetrators in jail.

[HappyinNE]

Notice the main goal is not to save elephants from extinction, but to save Thailand from a blacklist. If the blacklist did not exist, Thailand could not care less about the fate of the elephants.

The needed amendment is very simple, make all ivory trade illegal, and throw perpetrators in jail.

Too obvious and not Thainess. I agree with your solution, unfortunately in Thailand will not happen.

[chotthee]

Great job to the Thai army.

[Payboy]

I suggest takin' baby steps here. Start with declaring the wooly mammoth an endangered species.