The park’s Central Network Anti-Poaching System (NCAPS) cameras were able to capture the gang returning to the site to transport the logs. The officials then showed up to make arrests, before some gang members fired at the officials and damaged their vehicles with gunshots. Seventeen other gang members, some of them Vietnamese, have arrest warrants issued against them. The Forest Protecting Operation Centre is now expanding the investigation in a bid to further penetrate the gang and break its cycle of criminal activity. The fallen Phayung trees were found to be suitable for tissue-breeding as they were aged and giant, and rare in the pristine environment, Phayak Prai chief Cheewapap Cheewatham said yesterday.

Source: The Nation Bangkok October 31, 2017 13:36 UTC