The wife of Premchai Karnasuta has been charged with having carcasses of endangered wildlife and may face two more charges related to false registration and imports as the ivory found in their house came from African elephants.
Wandee Somphum, the person who certified the origin of the ivory in the registration form, also faced the same charge.
The charge is punishable by up to four years in jail and a fine not more than 40,000 baht.
Police are also considering charging Kanita Wittayanand with violating the 2015 ivory law for misinforming authorities about the ivory origin. The penalty is seizure of the ivory but not a fine or imprisonment.
They were taken to the Criminal Court after the questioning for the first detention. The court granted them bail for a surety of 300,000 baht each.
During the three-hour questioning at the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division of the Royal Thai Police on Tuesday, Mrs Kanita said she inherited the ivory from a relative in 1981 and did not know its origin so she registered the origin as Thailand.
A check based on her statements showed the alleged previous owner of the ivory had died and the statute of limitations had expired. However, she did not have proof of the import from the Customs Department and of the inheritance from the previous owner.
Police are coordinating with the Customs Department to check whether the ivory had been declared when imported. If not, she might face another charge of breaking the imports law.
Banyat Chai-arun, director of the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said authorities started requiring people to register ivory in their possession in 2015 when the ivory law took effect.
He said Mrs Kanita had not received the full ownership certificate for the ivory because she registered it using photos and the origin of the ivory had not been verified.
Mr Premchai was caught in a prohibited zone of the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in Kanchanaburi with weapons and carcasses of endangered animals on Feb 4. A search of his house the next day found ivory registered under the name of his wife.
According to the registration, the ivory came from Thai elephants. A DNA test later showed the tusks were of African elephants, the possession of which is prohibited by law.
Kanita Wittayanand (seated) talks to deputy police chief Gen Srivara Ransibrahmanakul at the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division on Tuesday.
