I have found out that my tortoise is on the endangered species list CITES, obviously when I got her from Chatuchak the man didn't point it out. My question is this, has anyone ever appealed to the govt. in England and won the appeal. We will be leaving Thailand soon and I would really like to take her with us otherwise we need to find a new owner. Any advice appreciated.

I have found out that my tortoise is on the endangered species list CITES, obviously when I got her from Chatuchak the man didn't point it out. My question is this, has anyone ever appealed to the govt. in England and won the appeal. We will be leaving Thailand soon and I would really like to take her with us otherwise we need to find a new owner. Any advice appreciated.

Simply the answer would be no. I import and export CITES animals around the world. You would need an export permit issued from the CITES dept. near Chatuchak market. They would not do this as it would be an admittance that the trade in endangered animals in Thailand is not improving. If that was issued, you would then need an import permit from DEFRA in the UK. If the animal is Annex A (ie - Hermanns, Star, Burmese Brown, European Spur Thighed) it would not be possible to import. If it was Annex B (ie - Red Foot, Horsefield, African Spurred, Leopard) then a permit could be issued if the export permit was issued by Thailand beforehand.

In short, I think attempting this would be a complete waste of time. However, I supply details for CITES dept. (DEFRA) uk - +44-1173728749. The application procedure costs £5 (private import) or £10 (commercial import) per species. However, as said before, you need to supply a copy of the export permit from Thailand when you apply for the import permit for UK. The UK side takes 15 days. The thing that will for sure stop this though is the fact that there is no way you will get an export permit in Thailand.

Sorry for the bad news.

Sincere thanks for your reply. Looks like Diana will be looking for a new home soon. I am very cross, she just mooches around the garden happily. Why did the man sell her to me if he knew (as I am sure he did) that she could'tn be exported again. Hey ho, TIT