STOP THE KILLING OF PROTECTED WILD ANIMALS FOR TOURISM!

13 March 2016
Wildlife General

Prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha

STOP THE KILLING AND EXPLOITATION OF WILD ANIMALS FOR TOURISM!

Dear Prime-minister of Thailand,

for over 20 years now we have witnessed the illegal killing and exploitation of endangered and protected wild animals for tourism. Every day criminals are taking young wild animals such as loris, gibbons and monkeys to tourist destinations such as Phuket, Samui, Krabi, Pattaya and elsewhere in the country. These baby animals have been taking from the wild after their mothers were killed, so that they can be used a photo props.

The killing, trade and possession is ILLEGAL UNDER THAI LAW, but local authorities in all the above mentioned tourist destinations are turning a blind eye to these organized criminals or mafia, in many cases profiting themselves from these criminals and their criminal actions.

The amount of protected wild animals exploited right now is higher than ever in the last 20 years and it has to be stopped, RIGHT NOW!

This is how these gibbons are kept at the homes of the criminals!

It is very obvious that the police is not able or willing to enforce the law, so we hereby urge you to stop the mafia from further exploiting and poaching protected wild animals by ordering the army to stop this network of organised crime, and restore Thailand’s good image of a country where illegal wildlife trade and possession will not be tolerated.

Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT)
Animal Activist Alliance (AAA) Thailand
Thai Animal Guardians Association (ThaiAGA)