NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Security and park authorities have captured 18 Cambodians inside Thap Lan National Park and seized a chainsaw, provisions and other equipment typically used by timber cutters poaching precious phayung trees.
Khon Buri district chief Vijit Kitwirat and deputy Khon Buri police station chief Pol Lt Col Sommat Mungthaisong on Monday announced the arrest of 17 Cambodians after authorities sealed off the park on Saturday.
The arrests followed the apprehension of a Cambodian man in the same area on Saturday and seizure of a chainsaw, a home-made gun and 37 bags containing food, they said. Other men had fled deep into the forest during the operation, leading authorities to block all routes out of the park.
The district chief and deputy police station chief said the suspects admitted they had crossed the border into Thailand in Chanthaburi and met up with a man who hired them to harvest protected phayung, or Siamese rosewood.
All were detained at a park office in the district for further questioning, which officials hoped would lead to the Thai mastermind. They were to be handed over to Khon Buri police station for legal processing after interrogation.
Phayung is a protected species, listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Sacks of provisions and other items found in Thap Lan National Park on Saturday. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)