Thai, Laotian arrested for allegedly felling trees in national forest reserve
Two men, a Thai and a Laotian, were arrested early on Tuesday after they and three others allegedly felled two trees in a forest reserve in Ubon Ratchathani's Sirindhorn district.
The arrest was made by officials from the Bonthrik-Yodmon Wildlife Sanctuary in Ubon Ratchathani's Boonthrik district at 2.24am.
The chief of the wildlife sanctuary dispatched officials to Huay Yodmon National Forest Reserve after learning that Laotians had crossed the border to fell trees and haul the logs back to sell to Chinese businessmen.
The officials spotted five men hauling two logs about 200 metres from the Lao border. Three of them managed to flee across the border.
The arrested Thai was identified as Maitree Ngernlook, 33, a local resident, and Sutep Charonesook, 24, a resident of Phonthong, a district of the Lao province of Champasak.
The two admitted that they had been hired by a Chinese man to fell and haul the logs to sell to him. They said they had done it several times previously.