Hunt a frog, wear a shackle
Among the convicted criminals having to wear electronic monitoring (EM) devices on their wrist, ankle or elsewhere so the authorities can keep track of them are hunters caught poaching the nearly extinct giant Asian river frog.
Probation Department chief Prasarn Mahaleetrakul said at the weekend the poachers nabbed in the Khlong Muey forest in Surat Thani’s Khao Sok National Park were among the 495 offenders, including 28 women, who’ve been shackled with an EM device since January 1.
The devices have to be worn for 30 days as a condition of probation, the aim being to deter them from committing more crimes.
Prasarn said 335 offenders had completed the term without incident and shucked their shackles. The other 160 are still walking funny.
Several people caught hunting the giant Asian river frog – variously known as Blyth’s river frog and as kob tood in Thai – in the woods of Khlong Muey forest were also charged with carrying guns and ammunition in a national park.
They were given suspended two-year jail terms and a year’s probation and must report to probation officials eight times over the two years and serve 48 hours of social service.
They were also barred from entering Khlong Muey for at least 30 days, and that’s why they’re wearing EM devices.
Blyth’s river frog is hunted as food and to trade. The females are much larger, possibly reaching 260 millimetres in length from snout to vent – more than 10 inches.