The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has drafted two regulations to strictly control the domestic ivory trade for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to announce as law.
The move is an attempt to escape an international ban on the country's wild flora and fauna trade.
The department was forced to act after the standing committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) criticised Thailand's Ivory Action Plan.
The Cites committee said at its meeting earlier this month in Switzerland that the plan lacked substantial measures to control the quantity of ivory stocks in shops and the failure to regulate markets that sell ivory from African and Asian elephants.
Currently, the law allows the legal sale of items made from ivory sourced from Thai domesticated elephants, which leads to the sale of ivory from African elephants as well as wild Asian elephants.
Niphon Chotiban, chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, yesterday spelt out details of the department's plan.
All forms of ivory from Africa will be prohibited under the 1992 Protected and Conserved Wildlife Animal Act. This will give forestry authorities the power to take legal action against any person who illegally possesses African ivory.
Trading or importing African ivory is already illegal in Thailand but wrongdoers can only be prosecuted under a charge of illegally importing it as a prohibited item, which carries a light penalty.
The second regulation, aimed at establishing control of the domestic ivory trade, will require any shops, persons or elephant farm owners in possession of ivory to report the amount they have, including those on live elephants, to forestry officials.
Ivory carving workshops must also be registered with the department and any transfer or trade of ivory items must be recorded and reported to the department.
The standing committee of Cites will make a decision on March 31 as to whether Thailand should face a wild fauna and flora trade ban. This would subject Thai orchids, leather goods and aquarium fish to international sanctions.