Increase in smuggling of rare rosewood behind clashes

Over the past two years, 15 loggers and 28 rangers have died from these clashes. 

A total of 48 deaths have been reported since the beginning of 2006, deputy DNP director-general Niphon Chotibal said. There are around 11,000 forest rangers employed by the DNP both on a full-time and part-time basis nationwide. 

These trees were usually felled by loggers protected by armed foreigners using weapons that were superior to those used by rangers, Niphon said, adding that this was the key reason why the casualties sustained by the DNP were so high. The felling normally happens in the Northeast and in Prachin Buri’s Thab Lan National Park

Earlier this week, two people were killed in a shootout between forest rangers and a group of hilltribe poachers who were hunting tigers in Huay Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan National Parks. The area covers Umphang district in Tak province.

A DNP source said the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry planned to purchase better weapons after hearing about the rangers’ inferior firepower. 

“A key reason for the high number of casualties – despite training provided by US forestry authorities – is the inferior firepower of the rangers when faced with poachers of Phayoong wood,” the source said.

Niphon said there were four national parks where rangers were attacked by poachers and loggers. Much of the wood was taken from regions where the Thai, Cambodian and Laos borders met, making it easier for smugglers to escape.

To further cope with the problem, Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi on Wednesday ordered Natural Resources and Environment Minister Vichet Kasemthongsri to step up security. 

A permit allowing the planting of Phayoong wood is also being considered. 

More than 2,300 cubic metres of illegally cut Phayoong rosewood, priced at Bt300,000 a unit, has been seized by the DNP. 

It will be sold legally to interested buyers.