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SPECTRUMSunday and Spectrum Editor: Paul Ruffini Chief Sub-editor: Noel Boivin Copy Editors: Mark Child, James Stover Writers: Piyaporn Wongruang, Father Joe Maier,

Henry Zwartz, Mon Mon Myat Design Editor: Kritini Upayokin Designers: Nattaya Srisawang, Kanokthip Khunteeraprasert and Piyapan Dissaneewet Cover photo: Tawatchai

Kemgumnerd Phone: 02-616-4060 Email: spectrum@bangkokpost.co.th

SPECTRUM is edited by Pattnapong Chantranontwong for The Post Publishing PLC, 136 Na Ranong Road, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110

SMUGGLING ROUTES OF ILLEGALLYLOGGED ROSEWOOD

Source : The Department of National Parks,

Wildlife and Plant Conservation

POSTgraphics

THAILAND

Nanning

MYANMAR

CHINA

LAOS

CAMBODIA

VIETNAM

When aranger fallsin the forest

The scarcity of Siamese rosewood is driving upprices and giving rise to increasingly organisedand dangerous illegal logging gangs like the onethat gunned down a young national park officer

earlier this month By Piyaporn Wongruang

REST IN PEACE: Thaweesak’s mother, Dueang, holds hisphoto during the funeral ceremony at the family home.

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On the evening of March 14 in the deepforest of Pang Sida National Park, aranger was shot dead in an encounterwith a group transporting illegallylogged Siamese rosewood. At the sametime in Bangkok 300km away, inter-

national conservationists were wrapping up a meetingof the Convention on International Trade in EndangeredSpecies (Cites), which gave greater protection to thetree which is rapidly disappearing from Thai forests.

Thaweesak Chomyong was a 33-year-old formerparamilitary border patrol ranger stationed in Kan-chanaburi province who returned to his small villagein Sa Kaeo province near the park late last year to helpcare for his ageing parents. He was soon hired as a parkranger on a temporary basis with a salary of 7,500 bahta month. Much of his work consisted of conductingpatrols through the rugged terrain of the national park,looking for illegal loggers, encroachers and so on. It’sa demanding job, but his military training preparedhim for the rigours and he never thought of quitting.

On March 13, Thaweesak and five other rangers,along with two wildlife experts from non-governmentalorganisations, went into the forest to monitor con-servation efforts to protect tigers in the park. Beforethey left, they were warned by the park chief, NuwatLeelapata, and other staff that they might encounterillegal loggers along the way as they would be on aroute commonly used to smuggle rosewood, knownin Thai as phayung, out of the park. The rangers wereequipped with HK33 rifles, but had a limited supplyof ammunition. >>

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SOMBRE CHIEFS: Pang Sida National Park Chief Nuwat Leelapata, left, and Thap Lan Chief TaywinMeesap were visibly upset at Thaweesak’s cremation.

LEFT BEHIND: Apparently the illegal loggers whofelled this Siamese rosewood in Thap Lan parkwere surprised by patrolling forest rangers.

DRIVEN BY GREED: From far left: Parkofficials look over seized rosewood inthe Huay Sala Wildlife Sanctuary in SiSa Ket province; bank notes seized atthe scene in the wildlife sanctuary;logged rosewood hidden near areservoir at Khao Phra Viharn NationalPark, Surin province. PHOTOS:

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PARKS,

WILDLIFE, AND PLANT CONSERVATION

DEPARTMENT

IN REMEMBRANCE: Parks department chief Manopat Huamuangkaew is presented with a flag at the cremation. MOURNERS’ MARCH: Park staff and friends pay their last respects to Thaweesak at his cremation.

>> On March 14 at midday the team detectedtracks made by two-wheeled contraptionsthat were probably being used to push heavyloads through the forest. The rangers decidedto split into two groups, one to monitor thetigers and the other to follow the tracks.Thaweesak joined the second group.

Led by experienced park ranger ChooBuphangam, the team eventually spotted somemen conveying logged rosewood through theforest on the two-wheelers. The poachersspotted the rangers at the same time, and anexchange of gunfire ensued. All of the illegalloggers managed to escape, but Thaweesaklay dying on the ground from a bullet woundto his back. For one night Thaweesak’s bodywas left lying on a piece of rosewood. It was

not until the evening of March 15 that therangers were able to bring his body from theforest and a cremation ceremony wasarranged.

ILLEGAL TRADE INTENSIFYINGIllegally logged Siamese rosewood is almostnever purchased by Thais, but instead issmuggled out of the country. Many Thaisregard rosewood as a sacred tree which shouldonly be used to make religious furniture oredifices. In the past, Siamese rosewood grewin many areas of the country, but is nowconfined to four key forest zones in nationalparks and wildlife sanctuaries which some-times border neighbouring countries. It takesat least 100 years for a seedling to grow intoan adult tree. The scarcity and difficultiesfaced in growing the trees have made pricesskyrocket, and the gangs are willing to riskgetting caught, or to hire people who wouldbe. One two-metre long piece of the rosewoodcan be sold for 40,000 baht or more.

Illegal logging reportedly intensified in theNortheast a few years ago in line with increaseddemand from China. Logging of Siamese rose-wood is labour intensive because the treesare usually scattered about and not concen-trated in groves.

Manopat Huamuangkaew, chief of theNational Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conserva-tion Department, said Thaweesak’s death istragic proof that those involved in illegal log-ging, especially of rosewood, are becomingmore brazen, violent and organised.

‘‘It’s not like in the past, when only a fewpeople were involved. These people are wellarmed and dangerous,’’ he said.

The Parks Department has come up withan initial report detailing how logging gangsfell the trees and get them out of the forestand the country. The report says there arefour main groups responsible for the illegallogging. The first is made up of Lao andVietnamese investors who deliver the rose-

wood to buyers in China, Taiwan and HongKong. The second is led by Thai investorswho buy the logged rosewood from villagersin forest areas. The third comprises Cambo-dians who illegally cross the border into Thaiterritory to cut down the trees. Park officialssay that this group in particular is known tobe heavily armed.

Commonly 10 to 20 armed guards provideprotection to the loggers. Thai villagers some-times help them locate the wood.

The last group is made up of people fromLaos who operate in a similar manner to theCambodians but are not as heavily armed.

The report says the wood is smuggled outof the country by at least four different routes(see graphic, Page 3), with the final destinationusually southern China. Sometimes the rose-wood is taken out of the country via a seaportin eastern Thailand, or it may be smuggledacross the Laos or Cambodian border, andthen routed through Vietnam. The journey isoften overland but the Mekong River alsomay be used to transport the heavy loads ofwoods over long distances. The rosewood isusually processed into furniture either in Viet-nam or China. Quality rosewood furniture isprized in many places, including Hong Kongand Taiwan.

A SHIFT TO THE EASTParks Department statistics show that from2006 to earlier this year, park officials made2,481 arrests for illegal logging — 1,493 ofthose involving rosewood, with 23,283 piecesof rosewood seized. The Parks Departmentestimates that rosewood now grows in Thai-land in an area of only about 360,000 rai. Inthe far Northeast, park officials have steppedup their suppression efforts by joining forceswith military units. Several park officials toldSpectrum it’s widely suspected that thesmugglers now are shifting their operationsto forest areas in the eastern part of the country,particularly Thap Lan and Pang Sida national

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SURVIVING GIANT: An aged ‘phayung’, or Siamese rosewood stands tall in Pang Sida, for now. TEMPORARY STORAGE: Logged rosewood is sometimes stashed at reservoirs until it can be moved further.

TWO-WHEELED TRANSPORTER: Left, logged woodis transported out of the forest on contraptions suchas this. Above, intercepted rosewood is kept atsites in the parks.

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parks. Signs of organised illegal logging havealso been found in nearby Khao Yai NationalPark and other forests which, along with theThap Lan and Pang Sida parks, form theDong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, aworld heritage site.

Taywin Meesap, chief of Thap Lan NationalPark, said that from a few cases of illegalrosewood logging in the national park in thepast, park officials have made almost 100arrests in the last two years.

‘‘The problem has grown more complicatedand serious. It’s not just a few people goingto the forest and cutting a tree; now there areorganised crime gangs with sophisticated tac-tics,’’ said Mr Taywin, echoing Parks Depart-ment chief Mr Manopat.

Mr Taywin said that the fact that the treesare larger in the eastern forests is probablyone of the main reasons the gangs are movingtheir operations to Thap Lan and nearbyparks.

He said that Parks Department investiga-tions indicate some villagers living near forestboundaries have been playing key roles inthe illegal logging activity, and some havebecome investors. Some villagers grouptogether and form teams to supply logs orderedby investors. In some villages, park officialshave learned, as many as 10 teams operate toillegally cut down rosewood trees. Once theyare given an order, a team, which may includeup to 20 members, goes into the forest to fill

it, with some of members acting as lookouts.After the logs are felled some members areassigned to transport the heavy logs throughthe forest while others act as guards.

Mr Taywin said the trend toward heavilyarmed gangs is very worrying. Park officialsat Thap Lan have seized automatic rifles fromgang members. Park officials also say somegang members are given drugs so that theycan work around the clock.

Once the trees have been felled the logsare moved to various locations — from bushesbehind villages to nearby reservoirs, and pro-gressively further from the park. One parkofficial admitted that once the wood is out ofthe park, it is beyond their authority to chaseafter the loggers and make arrests.

Mr Taywin conceded that illegal loggingand the transport of the logs would not occurif the loggers didn’t have cooperation fromoutsiders, possibly including ‘‘officials’’.

‘‘The logged wood is illegal, so to get itthrough, they need to ‘clear’ the route,’’ saidMr Taywin. He said he’s even investigatedhis own staff for possible collusion. The parkchief said the investigation hasn’t been con-cluded, but that if any officials were found tobe involved they would be punished.

In the meantime, he added, park officialshave stepped up patrols and are trying toforge better relations with villagers aroundthe forest. Those providing tips may berewarded. Local participation and cooperation,

Mr Taywin said, is the best way to addressthe problem.

JOINT EFFORT NEEDEDBack at Pang Sida National Park, where rangerThaweesak was slain, park chief Mr Nuwatagreed that the gangs are getting more organ-ised and deadly. Mr Nuwat was Mr Taywin’sassistant at Thap Lan before he was madethe park chief at Pang Sida. He said there isnot much rosewood at Pang Sida comparedwith other forests, but the fact that it is closeto the Thai-Cambodian border probablyencourages illegal logging. He speculated thatCambodians may have been involved in theincident that took Thaweesak’s life becauseempty packages of Cambodian cigarettes werefound at the scene.

He added that the gangs at Pang Sida oper-ate in much the same way as they do in otherforests — there is a division of labour betweenthe loggers and the ‘‘protectors’’.

Mr Nuwat said that the park covers a verylarge area and officials do their best to protectit. He pointed out that the responsibility toend illegal logging does not end in the forest,as the logs still have to be moved out of thecountry, which falls under the purview ofother state agencies.

‘‘I want to stress that the illegal logging ofrosewood is a serious problem,’’ said MrNuwat. ‘‘The question is, how can these gangscontinue their illegal acts despite the fact

that we have been working so hard to suppressthem? We do need cooperation from otheragencies; this is a challenge for all of us.’’

During the Cites meeting, Siamese rose-wood was moved to Appendix II, meaningtrade is regulated and therefore there shouldbe better monitoring of the logged wood thatis smuggled out of the country, as well as theprocessed wood in other countries.

Mr Nuwat said listing rosewood on theCites list would help protect the trees but itis necessary to devise appropriate measuresto ensure the listing is effective. He suggestedmoving Siamese rosewood to Appendix I,which would absolutely ban trade in the trees.

Mr Nuwat said that park officials are step-ping up their patrols and have joined forceswith military units, but to solve the problemover the long term a serious and progressivepolicy is needed. He said stiffer patrols, whichare still limited by inadequate resources, aremerely an attempt to solve the problem atthe end point, while the origin — the demandfor the wood — is neglected.

‘‘I haven’t seen any master plan to help ussolve the problem, and in the meantime thegangs keep advancing in their capabilities.

‘‘Progressive action, and education, areneeded. Some villagers told me after beingarrested that they didn’t see any problemwith cutting down the trees and asked, ‘Whyshould we care about them?’ I would say weare losing this war.’’

Bangkok Post

SUNDAYREAD MORE AT BANGKOKPOST.COM T H E N E W S P A P E R Y O U C A N T R U S T JULY 7, 2013 40 BAHT

KCMYE

PUBLIC SURVEY: ‘CORRUPTION OK IF WE BENEFIT’

Tolerance ofgraft remains‘dangerous’POST REPORTERS

>> A ‘‘dangerous’’ trend in public opinionhas been revealed by an opinion pollwhich shows the majority of people findgovernment corruption acceptable if theybenefit from it personally.

The Abac Poll, released yesterday,found 65% of respondents had no prob-lem with corruption if they benefitedfinancially from it, the agency’s assistantdirector, Poontharee Issarangkul NaAyutthaya, said.

The poll was conducted between Mon-day and Friday and questioned 2,107people aged 18 and over in 17 provinces,including Bangkok.

Ms Poontharee said people’s toleranceof corruption had not changed sincethe previous quarterly poll conductedin March. In that poll, 65.5% of respon-dents said they were fine with graft solong as they received a slice of the pie.

Ms Poontharee said the latest findingspresented a ‘‘serious concern’’.

Separated by gender, 67.7% of maleswere okay with government graft, while60.5% of females gave it the all-clear.

The age bracket most tolerant of cor-ruption was 30-39 year olds, followedby 20-29 year olds.

Blue-collar workers and farmersproved the most tolerant with 78.9%,followed by school and university stu-dents (73.3%), private employees (67.1%),housewives and retirees (63.5%), tradersand entrepreneurs (62.8%) and state offi-cials (54%).

Chulalongkorn University political sci-ence lecturer Chaiyan Chaiyaporn saidthe results reflect ‘‘a dangerous publicattitude’’. The attitude seems to havearisen because people had grown tired

at the failure to stamp out graft andwere now simply accepting it on thecondition that they benefit, he said.

‘‘That thinking is wrong. What theydon’t realise is that corruption coststhem through taxes. What they thinkthey gain is actually a lie because whatthey have lost amounts to much more,’’Mr Chaiyan said.

The solution is that the public needsto be made aware of the damage graftcauses not only to the country, but to itsfuture generations, he said.

Narong Boonsuayfan, an assistant pro-fessor at Walailak University, decriedthe release of the poll results, saying itcould encourage more people to condonecorruption.

The results may suggest it was alrightto accept acts that are unprincipled andunethical, he said.

Ms Poontharee said the harmful atti-tude to graft remains prevalent, whichwould make combating corruption instate projects difficult.

Ms Poontharee said the governmentshould have a clear and accountableauditing system for state budgets, andinformation must be disclosed in detailon how the money is spent.

The government must also protectwhistle-blowers rather than investigatethem, particularly if they are state officials.

Commerce Minister NiwatthamrongBunsongphaisan said his priority wasto plug loopholes that create the oppor-tunity for graft in ministerial policies.

Mr Niwatthamrong replaced BoonsongTeriyapirom as commerce minister inlast week’s reshuffle after the former min-ister came under fire over claims of wide-spread irregularities and heavy financiallosses in the rice-pledging scheme.

CALMING CAIRO: Protesters cheer security forces as they arrive to calm clashes between ousted president Mohamed Morsi’s supporters and anti-Morsi groups nearCairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday. Gunfire erupted during the clashes and dozens have been killed. PHOTO: AFP Story, Page 7 >>

PARK RANGERS TRAIN SIGHTS ON LOGGING-GANG TARGETSAfter the shooting murder of a young comrade during a patrol in March, national park officers seek torebuild confidence through an intensive one-week weapons-handling programme By Piyaporn Wongruang

FIRING SQUAD: Pang Sida chief Nuwat Leelapata observes his men during the training. GUN CONTROL: A military trainer demonstrates proper form when shooting a weapon.

Continued, Page 4 >>

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Senior park ranger Chatchai Lai-krathok successfully finished hisshooting training course yes-terday — most of his bullets,however, failed to hit their papertarget 10m away.

Mr Chatchai, 39, was among 50rangers to attend a patrol tactics trainingcourse at Pang Sida National Park. Henow knows the necessary steps to firethe rifle. But, more importantly, givenhis poor aim, he was taught not topoint his rifle recklessly and threatenhis colleagues’ lives when engaging inraids against forest encroachers andloggers.

‘‘I was just a security guard whoknew only how to use a baton and hadnever had any military training. I neverhad weapon use skills and when Ireceived one-on-one training from mypeers here, I just thought I alreadyknew it all,’’ said Mr Chatchai, who

has been working at the park for nineyears.

Since last Sunday, Mr Chatchai andother park rangers from Khao Yai, ThapLan and Pang Sida national parks haveattended a week-long training pro-gramme designed to help them improveability to use weapons when confrontingorganised logging gangs.

The training was set up following atragic incident at Pang Sida, part ofDong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Com-plex. On March 14, Thaweesak Cho-myong, a newly recruited park rangerwas on patrol deep in the forest. Whenhis patrol encountered a band ofSiamese rosewood (phayung) loggers,gunfire was exchanged and Thaweesakwas killed.

Several officials believe logging gangshave shifted their operations from theNortheast, where the National ParksDepartment had been aggressively

cracking down on their operations, tothe eastern forests, including the parksin the forest complex. The gangs havebecome more organised, heavily armedand have proven to be ruthless.

Pang Sida chief Nuwat Leelapatasaid the murder has had a devastatingeffect on the park rangers’ morale. Theywere terrified of gunshots and couldnot perform their duties.

Mr Nuwat tried to find ways to lifttheir spirits. He wrote a proposal askingfor funding from the Rapid ResponseFacility, a grant programme which offersassistance to counter major threats towildlife conservation, primarily inUnesco-designated natural world heri-tage sites.

The chief won the grant and, with100,000 baht, plus some funds fromthe park, he and his counterpart atThap Lan, Taywin Meesap, designeda training regimen — a seven-day,

seven-night intensive programme onweapon use and tactics when con-fronting encroachers.

‘‘I even tasked my men to arrestloggers at night, but because they fearedthem, those people were let go andjust simply walked away,’’ he said.

‘‘So, I thought if they had a chanceto use them [weapons] properly, getused to gun sounds, and be trained onhow to deal with engagements, theymay become more confident and theirmorale will be raised.

‘‘Sometimes I still think if that youngranger had been trained like this, wemay not have lost him.’’

Mr Nuwat said park rangers are gen-erally locals who have no knowledgeabout weapons. These men are notrequired to have received training beforebeing recruited.

‘Jet-setter’ monk accused ofsex with under-age girl

Into turbulence, Spectrum, Pages 3-5 >>

KING-OUA LAOHONG

>> Embattled monk Luang Pu Nen KhamChattiko could face 20 years in jail afterbeing accused of having sex with anunderage girl, according to the Depart-ment of Special Investigation.

He is likely to be defrocked in absentiaas the DSI had found clear evidence ofhis intimate relationship with one ofeight women.

The DSI will today conclude its probeinto the alleged intimate relationshipbetween the monk and a woman whoclaims the monk had fathered her child,said the agency’s Security Crime Bureauchief Pong-in Intarakhao.

The woman, who lives in Si Sa Ket,told the DSI she was approached by themonk, who is also known as Phra WirapolSukphol, when she was studying inMathayom 2 (Grade 8) and only 14 yearsold, said Pol Lt Col Pong-in. She wasliving with her grandmother at the time.

The woman alleged that Phra Wirapolhad offered to give her valuable items ifshe agreed to be his girlfriend. She andthe monk later had sexual relations.

After she fell pregnant, the monk tookher to stay in Warin Chamrap district ofUbon Ratchathani where he rented ahouse for her. The monk had asked her

grandmother to stay with her to takecare of her baby boy. The child is now11 years old.

Pol Col Pong-in said the DSI wouldspeed up its interrogation of sevenwitnesses who had learned about themonk’s intimate affairs with the woman.The witnesses include a kamnan andlocal administration officials.

The DSI would forward the findingsto the Si Sa Ket provincial chief monkand the Ubon Ratchathani chief monkfor them to defrock Phra Wirapol.

The DSI will seek the extradition ofthe controversial monk, who is currentlyvisiting France, if he fails to return toThailand by July 31.

DSI chief Tarit Pengdith said themonk’s alleged affair with the womanwhen she was 14 was a serious crimeand she would be placed under witnessprotection.

He will present the details to a DSImeeting by month’s end.

Mr Tarit wants the case treated as aspecial investigation as it affected thereligion and the public’s faith.

Phra Wirapol came to media attentionafter a video clip of him on a private jetbegan circulating last month.

4SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2013 Bangkok Post

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Irrigation dept offers firm floodway studyAPINYA WIPATAYOTIN

>> The Royal Irrigation Department hasoffered to let the company that won thebid to build a floodway on the westernside of the Chao Phraya to use its envir-onmental impact assessment report.

The report is a key requirement thatKorea Water resources Cooperation(K-Water) must fulfil before constructionof the floodway can begin.

The floodway is one of nine modulesunder the government’s 350 billion bahtwater management scheme.

K-Water won the bid for constructionof the floodway last month, but the Admin-istrative Court ruled that potentially harm-ful projects under the water managementscheme must be subject to public hearingsand environmental and health impactassessments before work begins.

Department spokesman Thanar Suwat-tana said the department started its assess-ment for the 280km floodway last year

before bidding commenced in anticipationof the requirement.

The company could conduct and sub-mit its own report, but Mr Thanar saidthe department was also offering itsfindings.

He said the assessment has alreadyinvolved several public hearings in areasthat would be affected by the project.

The report is expected to be completedin October, when it will be forwarded tothe Water Management and Flood Pre-vention Commission.

Mr Thanar said K-Water could submitthe department’s study to the governmentor it could choose to add to or amend thereport.

However, a new impact report wouldbe required if the company makes anymajor changes to the existing plan.

Mr Thanar said the floodway wouldrequire about 43,000 rai of land in 20provinces to be reclaimed. The companymust take responsibility for the cost of

reclaiming the land, while the governmentwill oversee the legal issues involved.

Mr Thanar said the floodway will startin Khanu Woralaksaburi district in Kamp-haeng Phet and end at the Mae KlongRiver in Tha Muang district of Kanchana-buri.

The floodway is aimed at speeding upthe flow of water through the Mae KlongRiver to the Gulf of Thailand.

Mr Thanar said the capacity of theMae Klong River would increase from800 cubic metres per second to 1,000 cu/m.

Thai-Water Partnership chairman Han-narongYaowalerssaidthecompanyshouldcarry out its own impact assessment, asthe project was being carried out by theprivate firm, not a state agency.

He said he worried that the depart-ment’s study would not be precise enoughand there would be a good chance that itwould be rejected by the committee vettingthe assessment report.

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NHOPES RAISED FOR EASE IN VIOLENCE DURING RAMADAN HOLY MONTH

Aziz calls for ‘sensitivity’ in SouthPOST REPORTERS

LET’S TALK ABOUT PEACE: Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok greets the Chularatchamontri, spiritual leader Aziz Phitakkumpon, at a meeting at the National Administration Centre forIslamic Affairs Chalerm Phrakiat in Nong Chok district yesterday.

>> The country’s top Muslim spiritualleader is urging security officers in thedeep South to take a more sensitiveapproach during the holy month ofRamadan.

Deputy prime minister in charge ofnational security Pracha Promnok relayedthe message yesterday after meeting AzizPhitakkumpon, the ChularatchamontriMuslim spiritual leader, in Bangkok todiscuss the southern unrest.

Pol Maj Gen Pracha quoted the Muslimleader as calling for a more sensitiveapproach to enforcing law and order inthe region during the upcoming holyfasting month.

The beginning of Ramadan will beannounced by Mr Aziz early next week.

The Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN)separatist group earlier issued sevendemands to the government in exchangefor curbing violence during Ramadan.

Security authorities widely dismissedthe demands as impossible.

Pol Maj Gen Pracha insisted the gov-ernment was still on the right track in itspeace talks with the BRN and other sep-aratist groups.

Pol Maj Gen Pracha was appointedto take charge of national security inlast week’s cabinet reshuffle. He alsotook the helm of a panel directing thegovernment’s strategies on southern bor-der issues, a task he conceded was prov-ing challenging.

Arhama Mina, the imam of Khok Phodistrict mosque in Pattani, said he wasconfident Ramadan would be morepeaceful in the deep South this year.

More stringent security measuresand additional forces had been put inplace in every area of the violence-plagued South ahead of Ramadan, hesaid.

Internal Security Operations Com-mand Region 4, meanwhile, is runninga series of activities to encourage anti-

drug youth networks in the South tohelp fight against drug problems andviolence during Ramadan.

About 500 members of an anti-narcotics youth network yesterday

marched from Yala’s Muang district toSirinthon military camp in Yarang districtof neighbouring Pattani province andheld activities to welcome the month ofRamadan.

Pol Maj Gen Pracha said his southernborder panel was also looking to dealwith the issue of stateless Rohingyamigrants being held in Thailand.

The government is currently holding

more than 2,000 Rohingya at crowdedshelters across the country, he said.

Five Rohingya migrants recently diedafter falling sick as a result of the crampedliving condition at the shelters, he said.

Chaturon ordersfull review ofObec’s schoolvan schemeLAMPHAI INTATHEP

>> The Education Ministry’s controversialschool van purchase scheme requires athorough review, newly-appointed Edu-cation Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng says.

At the budget bill debate for the 2014fiscal year, the ministry proposed thepurchase of 1,000 vans at a cost of 1.23billion baht. The 12-seater vans wouldaccommodate students from smallschools who were transferred to studyat larger ones under the ministry’s schoolmerger policy.

Mr Chaturon said that as chairmanof a budget-screening subcommittee,he was previously told the vans wouldbe purchased to serve students frommerged small schools. However, he laterfound out some would also be providedto provincial educational zones.

‘‘As the chairman of the budget-screening subcommittee, I asked theOffice of the Basic Education Commis-sion [Obec] to reconsider the van pur-chase scheme. Now as the educationminister, I ask it to reconsider the schemeagain,’’ he said, after a meeting withministerial authorities.

‘‘It [Obec] has to reconsider the neces-sity of the van purchases, methods tomanage small schools rather than havingthem merged or closed, and which prov-incial educational zones still want touse the vans,’’ he said. ‘‘It must reconsiderby looking at the plans again from thebeginning, not just reducing the numberof vans to be purchased.’’

Obec has asked permission to submitits revised plan to the ministry next Mon-day before submitting it to the Bureauof Budget for further consideration.

Mr Chaturon said the ministry’sbudget amendment should have beensubmitted to the bureau on Friday, butthe minister will ask for a postponementdue to the cabinet reshuffle.

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>> Continued from Page 1

ROOKIE RANGER: New recruit Phitak Fonglom, 32, during the intensive training course.

And when they get formal trainingsupported by the department, it is oftenmostly about smart patrolling usingtechnology such as GPS navigationdevices to guide their patrols. Theyrarely receive proper training in weaponuse due to budget constraints.

At Pang Sida, for instance, parkrangers mostly get one-on-one trainingfrom their peers who don’t generallyknow much about weapons. The chieftried to invite military officers to helptrain his men but because of budgetshortages, he managed to run only ashort weapon-use course.

Mr Nuwat said it is necessary forpark rangers to be well equipped andhave adequate provisions.

There should be a regulation requir-ing proper training for newly recruitedpark rangers. However, they also needgood quality weapons and, moreimportantly, they need social securityto cover costs in the event of illnessand injuries, something which is stillmissing from their scant benefit pack-age.

‘‘Many of them are temporarilyhired, but they are valuable humanresources as they help protect our for-ests,’’ Mr Nuwat said. ‘‘They deserveto be treated better than they are now.’’

Tim Redford, Surviving Togetherprogramme director at the FreelandFoundation, which helped design thecourse, said the weapons and engage-ment training was essential as therehad been an escalation in threats to

the park rangers’ safety. He said loggershave become more dangerous andorganised in their operations as thevalue of rosewood has increased dra-matically.

The threat the rangers face everyday has increased significantly sincedemand for rosewood over the pasttwo years skyrocketed.

‘‘I suspect that as this timberbecomes scarcer the price will increaseeven more and criminals will be willingto take even bigger risks,’’ Mr Redfordsaid.

‘‘As they make more profit they willarm themselves more and be willingto engage the rangers more often.’’

With this training course, Mr Redfordsaid course graduates will have theability to patrol in a safer manner, bemore organised and able to operate asa team.

‘‘I do feel this training course willhelp them, as these rangers had mostlynever been trained,’’ he said. ‘‘Trainingis not a one-off activity and patrolrangers need continual training on newskills and on refresher training courses.’’

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SPECTRUMSunday and Spectrum Editor: Paul Ruffini Copy Editors: Mark Child, Justin Heifetz, James Stover Writers: Piyaporn Wongruang, Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai, Tibor Krausz, Jessica

Mudditt Design Editor: Kritini Upayokin Designers: Nattaya Srisawang, Kanokthip Khunteeraprasert and Warunwipa Kasempongpanit Cover photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill

Phone: 02-616-4060 Email: spectrum@bangkokpost.co.th

SPECTRUM is edited by Pattnapong Chantranontwong for The Post Publishing PLC, 136 Na Ranong Road, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110

With resources stretched to near breaking point,forest rangers and the tigers they are trying to

protect are coming under threat from well-armedpoachers By Piyaporn Wongruang

A different killerlurking in the forest

FALLEN COMRADE: Forest rangers from Wefcom carry the body of Anthong Ngamying at his royallysponsored cremation ceremony last Sunday.

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BURNING BRIGHT: This tiger once roamedThung Yai-Naresuan and Huay Kha Khengsanctuaries but was later seen dead in apicture with a Mong poacher.

Yoo-ae, 18, could not decidewhether or not to leave the cem-etery. The Karen girl’s motherand friends were urging her togo, but she replied, ‘‘No, I wantto stay a little longer,’’ her eyes

filling with tears.Yoo-ae was pregnant and due to give birth

at the end of this month.Outside the cemetery hall was the body of

her husband, Anthong Ngamying, 22,undergoing cremation following a Buddhistfuneral ceremony.

Yoo-ae kept staring at his remains andsobbing. ‘‘I don’t know what to do with mylife now,’’ she said softly after regaining hercomposure.

A few weeks earlier, Yoo-ae was in a happymood when she and her young husbandreceived the good news from a doctor inUmphang that their baby would be deliveredon Sept 30.

But on the night of Sept 12, forest rangerAnthong died after two bullets from an AK-47 tore through his chest during a clash witha gang of tiger poachers in Umphang WildlifeSanctuary, on the Myanmar border in Takprovince.

POACHERS’ NEW PREYThis was not the first violent clash with tigerpoachers. Over the past few years, tiger poach-

ing has become more common in the 18,000square kilometre Western Forest Complex(Wefcom), and four forest rangers have beenkilled, and six injured by poachers.

The area is home to 11 national parks andsix wildlife sanctuaries, including Thailand’sfirst Natural World Heritage site, the 6,400sq km Thung Yai-Naresuan and Huay KhaKheng sanctuaries that form the heart of theWefcom.

The chief of the eastern side of the sanc-tuary, Superintendent Sompong Thongsik-hem has taken a personal interest in cases ofpoaching.

‘‘The problems with poachers have becomemuch worse recently,’’ he said when Spectrumvisited him in his office deep in the ThungYai-Naresuan, the sanctuary furthest to theeast.

‘‘But we’ve been working hard to protectwildlife in the area,’’ he said, recalling thefirst time tiger poachers were found to beoperating in the area, especially in ThungYai-Naresuan and Huay Kha Kheng.

It was just three years ago that news arrivedthat tiger poachers were in the area. In early2010, Supt Sompong and his team learnedthat at least three tigers had been killed inHuay Kha Kheng, only 10km from the ranger’soffice in Thung Yai-Naresuan.

The three killed were two cubs and theirmother. What shocked the forest >>

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‘‘By coming to check on us

first, this incident showed

me that they were well-

prepared for the hunt. It

made me to believe that

we were encountering an

organised poaching gangSUPT SOMPONG THONGSIKHEM

EASTERN PARK CHIEF OF

THUNG YAI-NARESUAN

EVER VIGILANT: Above, Supt Sompong and hisforest rangers search for evidence left by poachers.

MORE EVIDENCE: Forest rangers find a temporaryshelter and drug paraphernalia in Thung Yai-Naresuan forest.

>> rangers was that they had been poisoned,apparently at random, and the poachers tookeverything from the mother, leaving only thecarcass.

Following an investigation, the rangerslearned more about the suspects. It wasbelieved that some hilltribe people living nearthe forest may have been responsible. Noarrests have been made.

Following that incident, forest rangers foundmore evidence of the use of poison. Somewild animals, including muntjac deer, werefound poisoned and used as bait — a methodthat recalled an incident that occurred morethan 15 years ago, when a flock of vultureswas found dead after feeding on carrion,leading forest officials to believe the deadanimals had been poisoned.

Around the end of 2010, two adult elephantswere killed and poisoned, presumed to havebeen killed to be used as tiger bait. Forestrangers from three wildlife sanctuaries —Thung Yai-Naresuan, Huay Kha Kheng andUmphang — teamed up to investigate thecase, and in mid-2011, they encountered agang of tiger poachers.

On June 6, 2011, a group of six or sevenmembers of the Mong hilltribe travelled toThung Yai-Naresuan to check on the deploy-ment and number of rangers at a local check-point. The next day, one returned, but therest were not with him. On June 24, HuayKha Kheng rangers reported a clash with agroup of poachers, and the hunt for thembegan.

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SURVIVOR: A baby gibbon was found in a bag carriedby a dead Mong poacher shot by forest rangers.

‘‘If we had the resources, we

would not be so concerned

by the situation, but the fact

is we don’t, and we are

stretched thin because of

the area we have to coverANAK PATTANAVIBOOL

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

SOCIETY

UNCARING: A picture found in a mobile phone showsa Mong poacher sitting on the corpse of a tiger.

Thung Yai-Naresuan sanctuary isincreasingly threatened by poachers.

The forest rangers tracked them and werefinally able to arrest one Mong injured bygunshot and a Vietnamese national in a resortin Umphang district.

What shocked the forest rangers was apicture of the Mong poacher posing with adead tiger. The forest rangers compared thetiger’s markings with those on their databaseand learned it was a tiger that had beenspotted in Huay Kha Kheng and Thung Yai-Naresuan, not a tiger in Myanmar as claimedby the suspects.

‘‘By coming to check on us first, this incidentshowed me that they were well-prepared forthe hunt. It made me to believe that we wereencountering an organised poaching gang,’’said Supt Sompong.

‘‘But these were only the poachers we man-aged to detect. We have no idea whetherthere are more in the forest.’’

After the arrest and eventual conviction ofthe two suspects — they received jail termsof five and four years — the forest rangersstepped up their efforts to detect poachers.

One of the tactics they employ is the ‘‘smartpatrol’’, a group of forest rangers equippedwith GPS and other technology that enablesthem to detect and report anything unusualthey come across in the forest quickly andaccurately.

Supt Sompong noted that the forest rangers’new tactics seemed to be working, and that poach-ing seemed to have been eradicated for around18 months. That is, until his men encounteredthe gang of Mong poachers earlier this month.

On Sept 5, Huay Kha Kheng forest rangersreported an encounter with a gang of Mongpoachers. They called in reinforcements tohelp track them down. They later found baitranging from muntjac, bears, wild pig andgibbon on the forest floor in Huay Kha Kheng.

The forest rangers tracked the poachersuntil learning that they had sneaked intoeastern Thung Yai-Naresuan. Thirteen forestrangers tracked the poachers when theyentered Umphang.

On night of Sept 12, they couldn’t see thatthe poachers were armed. Suddenly, as theteam prepared to make arrests, the poachersopened fire, spraying them with bullets froman AK-47.

As a result, Anthong and fellow forest rangerBoonsin Inthapanyawere, 51, were shot andkilled. Two other forest rangers were badlyinjured. One poacher was killed.

The forest rangers tracked the rest of thegang and a few days later managed to arrestanother two. Unbelievably, one of them wasa friend of Anthong’s father, an ex-comradewhom he had fought alongside against thegovernment during the communist insurgencynearly 40 years ago.

‘‘Anthong’s father insisted on seeing him.When they met, he kept asking his formercomrade, ‘Why did you kill my son?’ ’’ saidChief Sompong.

So far, Umphang police have helped theforest rangers to track a further two poachers.

According to Pol Col Wirat Poung-in, policechief at Umphang Police Station, the policehave been tracking them and according totheir informants, the two have likely escapedand hidden in a Mong village on the otherside of the border.

The police have contacted Myanmar policeand asked for their help. They have providedthem with photos of the two, and hopefullythey will find them and arrest them soon.

A few days ago, while awaiting the poachers’capture, another forest ranger in Huay KhaKheng was shot in the neck, and is in criticalcondition in Sirirat Hospital, after encounteringa gang of poachers. Evidence of poisoningwas found, including 10 dead gibbons, likelyto be used as bait.

GOING BY THE NUMBERSIn Wefcom, especially in its heart, the Thung

Yai-Naresuan and Huay Kha Kheng wildlifesanctuaries and the adjacent Umphang sanc-tuary, tigers and other big animals have beenused as indicators to help target protectionand conservation measures in the area.

This is because these animals, especiallytigers, are a flagship species categorised as aprotection dependent species, meaning theyneed protection in order to survive.

And their survival is vital to the success offorest protection and conservation as a whole.Tigers are at the top of food chain. Theirsurvival and existence means the survivaland existence of other species, and thereforethe survival of the forest.

Anak Pattanavibool, the country pro-gramme director of the Wildlife ConservationSociety (WCS) and a lecturer at KasetsatUniversity’s Forestry Faculty said the Depart-ment of National Parks, Wildlife and PlantConservation, has been working with the WCSand WWF to study tigers in order to create adatabase to help better manage conservationefforts.

Led by its prime researcher SaksitSimcharoen, who has more than 20 yearsexperience tracking tiger populations, thedepartment has learned that around 100-120tigers roam the forests. There are around60-65 in the three main sanctuaries — ThungYai-Naresuan (east and west) and Huay KhaKheng — and the rest are in Mea Wong park,Klong Lan park and other nearby reserves.Such a population, Mr Anak said, makes itthe best in Southeast Asia.

The researchers understood the dangerthat poaching posed to the tiger population,so, in mid-2000, they developed early threatdetection via the implementation of smartpatrols. In eastern Thung Yai-Naresuan, for

example, nine forest ranger teams are assignedto patrol the forest.

But there are limitations on what can bedone. Wefcom has rough terrain that is noteasy to access, and there are only a limitednumber of forest rangers. In addition, somesanctuaries and parks have communities eithernext to them, or within them, and poachingcan be a temptation to an accomplishedhunter.

For eastern Thung Yai-Naresuan, whichcovers around 1,520 sq km, Supt Somponghas only around 100 forest rangers, meaning

each man is responsible for more than 15 sqkm.

Mr Anak said the smart patrol system isstill the best way to deal with the problem ofpoaching, but it needs to be strengthened bythe provision of adequate resources and man-power.

While acknowledging that poaching maybe linked with criminal networks the sanctu-aries, Mr Anak believes that if the forest rangerscan protect their areas, then they can effectivelydeal with the threat.

Mr Anak said the sizes of the forest areasare outpacing the available human resources.With each forest ranger having to take care ofan average of 15 sq km of forest, this, he said,is far behind manpower levels in countriessuch as India.

At Kaziranga National Park in Assum State,for example, up to 600 rangers protect anarea of less than 1,000 sq km. This meanseach ranger has much area to cover thanthose in Wefcom, and that is part of thereason why the around 100 tigers there arebetter protected protected.

In Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, Mr Anakadded, military officers are recruited to helpprotect the forest. Around 1,000 of them patrolabout 1,000 sq km, and because of that around100 tigers live safely there.

‘‘If we had the resources, we would not beso concerned by the situation, but the fact iswe don’t, and we are stretched thin becauseof the area we have to cover,’’ said Mr Anak.‘‘This is part of the reason why we cannot saydefinitely that we are being successful inprotecting the areas via the patrols.’’

Mr Anak suggests the department prioritisetasks in order to manage its limited resourcesbetter. For instance, he said, the pristine areasof the World Heritage sites should be a priority,and should be given adequate resources.

Even if poachers do sneak into these areas,with intensive and blanket patrols they willbe detected early and arrested.

But forest rangers need to be trained andequipped in order to perform at their best.Currently, their weapons are outdated andoften cannot fire because they are old andbroken.

‘‘I would like to say that we have a systemin place, and that we are getting what weneed,’’ said Mr Anak. ‘‘The areas that havetigers tell us that they are well protected, soit is not acceptable that forest officials arepunished every time tigers are killed in theirareas.

‘‘Scientific monitoring via smart patrolsand transparent reporting, rather than pun-ishment, will help this. We need this becausewildlife conservation is something scientificand it needs transparency for effectivemanagement.’’

Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy park chief,agrees with Mr Anak that forest rangers needmore support. He said the department isplanning to discuss the issue with the BudgetBureau in order to ask it for more financialsupport.

Mr Theerapat said tigers are crucial to theecosystem of Wefcom and the departmenthas been trying every way it can to protectthe species.

In addition to bolstering the managementof the sanctuaries, the department will try toexplore an action plan and set goals for tigerconservation up to 2022 and stress supportfor forest rangers’ work as well as educationamong nearby communities.

Mr Theerapat also believes that poachinghere links to networks across the border, andthe department has been trying to work bilat-erally with other states in order to have thecriminal gangs suppressed.

‘‘But in the long term, it’s really aboutpublic awareness. If they care about wildlifeand the forest, they will not go poaching,’’said Mr Theerapat.