Krabi

UPDATE: Man arrested for possessing exotic wild cats

Published

3 months ago

December 13, 2018

UPDATE: Man arrested for possessing exotic wild cats | The Thaiger

In a follow up to our article yesterday about the man being arrested ‘in possession of exotic mixed wild cats;, Junie Kovacs, the Founder of the Lanta Animal Welfare has sent The Thaiger an update, saying…

“Even though members from Lanta Animal Welfare and wild life officers tried to convince the man that it would be best to sterilise the kittens, he refused.”

This is yesterday’s story….

A man has been arrested after being found in possession of mixed protected wild cats which, authorities claim, are very ‘fierce’.

Officers went to a house in Koh Lanta, Krabi after they were notified that a man was keeping protected Leopard Cats.

A male three year old Leopard Cat weighing two kilograms were found inside a big cage at the house. 33 year old Supakdee Sangkhao said he was the the owner of the cat.

Officers also found a female Bengal Cat and 17 kittens walking around the house. Officers believe the kittens are a mixture of Leopard Cat and Bengal Cat.

Supakdee has also been charged with illegal possession of protected animals.

Supakdee says, “Local people gave me this Leopard Cat since it was very young. A European tourist gave me the Bangal Cat. I didn’t know that keeping them was illegal.”

The mixture of these two wild cat cat breeds are very popular amongst people who like cats. They are quite large and have fur like tiger. They cost from ten thousands to hundred thousand baht. Police suspect that Supakdee was breeding the cats commercially and are conducting further investigations.

Krabi

Investigation into mine explosion on a Phang Nga Bay bird’s-nest concession island

Published

3 days ago

March 20, 2019

The Thaiger & The Nation

Investigation into mine explosion on a Phang Nga Bay bird’s-nest concession island | The Thaiger

by Sittichai Sikhawat

Police have launched an investigation into an explosion at a bird’s-nest concession area in Phang Nga bay, where one man was killed and another injured on Monday night. The island is Koh Lao Dua, six kilometres north of Koh Yao Noi.

Story HERE (one man has died since The Thaiger story).

25 year old Boodrod Thongdee died following the blast, while 35 year old Somchai Thongdee was injured.

Somkid Thongdee, who was with the two victims at the time, survived the explosion without injury. He maintains that they had entered the area to collect wild orchids. One of the men stepped on a mine planted along the beach.

A local community leader, however, is raising doubts about their claim, saying that locals had long known that the concession area was out of bounds.

(Do tour operators and inquisitive tourists know about the locations? Are there clear and obvious warning signs along the beaches?)

“Some measures have been used to deter thieves,” the community leader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The day after the blast police found more mines planted in the concession area.

One of them was apparently similar to a device that police had seized from bird’s-nest watchers last year.

SOURCE: The Nation

Hot News

Two injured after stepping on suspected mines at a Krabi island

Published

4 days ago

March 19, 2019

Kritsada Mueanhawong

Two injured after stepping on suspected mines at a Krabi island | The Thaiger

Two Thai men have sustained serious injuries after stepping on a mine at an island near Ao Nang, Krabi.

The Ao Nang Police were notified about the two men being injured from the incident in Ao Nang at 6pm last night.

35 year old Somchaai Longj sustained injuries on his legs, shoulder and a broken leg from the explosion and was taken to Krabi Hospital. The other injured person was 25 year old Boonrod Thongdee who was taken to a hospital in Phang Nga.

38 year old Somkid Tongdee says that he was heading from Koh Mak in Phang Nga Bay with two others friends to an island near Ao Nang in Krabi to collect wild orchids near a cave.

“Boonrod stepped on something in the ground before we heard the sound of an explosion.”

At this stage police speculate that the bomb might belong to a company who received a concession to produce and farm bird nets. They speculate they might have placed the mines to prevent and deter thieves.

The Thaiger has sought comment from provincial police about the possible presence of live mines on a Krabi island.

Bangkok

TAT expects 2.3 million tourists for this year’s Songkran

Published

4 days ago

March 19, 2019

The Thaiger

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is expecting more than 2.3 million local and foreign tourists will join the various Songkran celebrations this year. They say that should generate 20 billion baht+ in revenue for tourism and tourism-related services.

TAT’s Governor Yuthasak Supasorn says 300,000 international arrivals are expected to celebrate the five day festival starting April 12, along with two million locals who will travel to celebrate Songkran this year. Songkran falling on a weekend this year will also bolster local tourism numbers.

The number of Songkran-specific visitors is up this year, partly because of the growing popularity of the festival internationally and the government extending the holiday to five days this year, now starting on April 12 (although ‘Songkran, the Thai New Year, is actually on April 13).

Songkran festival extended HERE.

He admits that the bad publicity about the poor air quality in the northern regions is a problem, especially around Chiang Mai which has become a big international visitor favorite over recent yers.

Chiang Mai is one of nine provinces in the North struggling with smoke haze, mostly because of open-air burning of farm waste and rubbish, and localised bush fires. The heavy smog has caused temporary suspension of flights between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son although flights into Chiang Mai have been unaffected so far.