Open letter to Thai Minister after 4 months of no reply.

[Guest guest]

*** This letter has been sent on today the 9th of November. This is the

fourth request sent to the minister without any reply or action taken, and

therefore we kindly as anyone who feels that the biggest case of smuggling

of apes ever in the world needs to be addressed to copy this letter, if

needed amended, and send it out to the minister under their own

letterhead.***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

H.E. Mr. Suwit Khunkitti

 

Minister of Natural Resources and

 

Environment (MoNRE)

 

92 Phaholyothin Road

 

Saphan Kwai

 

Bangkok 10400 Thailand

 

 

 

 

 

November 9, 2004

 

 

 

Re: 4th request for information about illegal orangutans in Thailand

 

 

 

Att: Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

 

C.c.: Prime Minister Pol Lt-Col. Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra

 

CITES authority Ministry of Forestry - Indonesia

 

CITES authority DNP - Thailand

 

BOSF head office - Indonesia

 

Petition members International NGO's

 

John Sellar- CITES Chief Enforcement Officer

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Excellency Khun Suwit Khunkitti,

 

 

 

We would like to refer to our letters dated August 14th and September 22nd

of this year. Unfortunately we have not received your reply or comments in

these matters, or indeed any acknowledgement whatsoever. Furthermore we have

not received any reaction to our petition signed by 50 international

Non-Governmental Organizations that was handed over to you by us on October

14th at the CITES convention in Bangkok.

 

 

 

Hereby we would like to kindly remind you about the following matters;

 

 

 

1. Four (4) live orangutans were confiscated from two different

locations during raids by Forestry Police and DNP officials in the last

quarter of 2003. One has since died at one of the DNP wildlife breeding

centers; three remain at the Kao Prathapchang Breeding Center in Ratchaburi.

These three orangutans are believed to have been smuggled in from East and

Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. These animals urgently need to be sent back

to Indonesia if repatriation, no doubt the most desirable option from a

conservation point of view, is to be successful.

 

 

 

2. Nine (9) orangutans were found by one of our investigation teams at

the Lopburi Zoo. It is believed that five (5) juveniles of this group of

orangutans were brought into the Lopburi Zoo a few months ago. No import

permits according to the CITES convention can be found regarding these

animals. It is therefore believed that these animals have been illegally

obtained and/or imported. The five orangutans were taken to the Kao

Prathapchang Breeding Center in Ratchaburi at the end of September, however

no police report was made by the Department of National Parks although the

animals were illegally obtained. We feel it is very strange that illegal

wildlife is not officially confiscated and that the culprit owners go free,

however as these animals are not bound to any legal process they should be

free to be immediately repatriated.

 

 

 

3. The Cambodian CITES authorities have repeatedly confirmed to us that

22 orangutans were smuggled into Cambodia from Thailand earlier this year.

These orangutans ended up at Koh Kong Safariworld, a zoo on an island

bordering Trat province. We kindly ask you to look into the illegal trade in

orangutans also where Thailand is used not as final destination, but also as

transit route.

 

 

 

4. At the end of September of this year, Safariworld did confess in

writing to the Forestry Police Department that 47 orangutans were indeed

illegally obtained by them and were not born at the zoo. On the 4th of

October a letter from the Commander of the Forestry Police to the-General of the Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plants was

sent requesting to confiscate and remove these illegal orangutans from the

zoo, therefore making the DNA check easier without mixing up the legal and

illegal apes. Safariworld stated they were willing and ready to hand over

these animals; the law mentions very clearly that illegal wildlife should be

confiscated, and in the case of a confession this should have been done on

an immediate basis. We would like to be informed as to why no action has

been taken by the DNP.

 

 

 

We again look forward to your cooperation to determine whether these above

mentioned orangutans are illegally obtained, and if found so to determine

whether the animals can be returned to their country of origin as stipulated

in the CITES agreement under article 8.1.1. as Thailand is a signatory of

this convention.

 

 

 

 

 

Yours truly,

 

 

 

 

 

Edwin J. Wiek

 

BOSF representative Thailand

 

edwin.wiek