Parks officials act like thugs

Indeed, I was appalled to read what has been going on at the WFFT. The picture of a supposed state official wearing a brown balaclava, so as to conceal his identity, was shocking. Such behaviour by an official of the NPD is simply not acceptable; it smacks of base thuggery and bullying. One expects a ragtag of people acting officially in banana republics and failed African states, but I think we are entitled to a little better here in Thailand.

Moreover, the disproportionate number of “officers”, apparently in the order of 100, was clearly designed to intimidate, and the employment of firearms by over 30 of them totally inappropriate. If this small, ill-attired army were not acting under the instructions of the deputy-general of the Parks Department, Teerapat Prayyunsit, as he apparently avers, then we are entitled to know what he is going to do about this deplorable behaviour. Particularly since the poaching and killing of elephants is rife in Phetchaburi’s Kaeng Krachan National Park, as has been reported. Indeed, such manpower might be more appropriately deployed to deter and catch those who are slaughtering elephants there.

Mr Wiek feels strongly enough to risk rocking the boat by holding a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Bangkok, and I admire him for his courage and determination in prosecuting his case. But perhaps you can lend a hand by getting the NPD to comment officially on what is happening at the WFFT in Petchaburi. Who authorised the excessive display of force and what has happened to all the animals that have been removed from there in the many raids that have been taking place over the past week? There appears to be a deafening silence emanating from the department.

John de Laurent

Bangkok