Illegally-felled logs, weighing between five and six tonnes, were seized from a six-wheel truck parked along a road in Kanchanaburi on Sunday afternoon after one of its front tyres blew out.
Forestry officials, led by Paithoon Inthabut, chief of Kanchanaburi’s Salak Phra Wildlife Sanctuary, rushed to the road at the entrance of Khiriwong housing estate in tambon Wang Dong in the province’s Muang district after being alerted at about 5.20pm.
The officials found a six-wheel truck with a Ratchaburi licence plate loaded with logs parked in the area, with its front left tyre blown out. Nobody was in the truck, Thai media reported.
In the back were a variety of rare tree species, believed to weigh 5-6 tonnes, that carried no official stamps.
Police are checking the ownership of the truck and the logs and will take legal action.