B10m log cargo floats free

PHANG NGA: Heavy monsoon seas unleashed a 10-million-baht cargo of Indonesian logs and scattered them across waters off Phang Nga at the weekend. Now the company that owns the cargo is offering a 500-baht reward for each of 532 logs and has asked police to prevent Thai villagers “salvaging” them. On Friday evening, the logs were being towed on a barge behind a boat when strong winds and a surging swell off Tab Lamu snapped the ropes binding the logs to the barge. Pol Maj Tanet Poungmanee, of Tai Muang Police Station, said that he received a call at about 7 pm telling him that the logs had broken loose from the barge, which was being towed by the Ranong-bound Indonesian vessel “TK Belawanjaya”. The logs rolled into the sea and waves carried many to shore where local residents claimed them and took them back to their homes. The logs were cut from trees native to Southeast Asia and called “takien thong” in Thai. Takien thong is a strong, light hardwood that is used for both heavy and light construction, for furniture and for veneers. The logs are between four and nine meters long and 60 to 70 centimeters in diameter.