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Two Phuket firms raided for illegal possession of protected timber

Two Phuket firms raided for illegal possession of protected timber

PHUKET: Crime suppression officers from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment today (July 25) seized just over seven cubic metres of allegedly illegal timber from the Underwood factory on the bypass road and another 4.4 cu m from Ayutthaya Atlantic, also on the bypass road.


By Darawan Naknakhon

Friday 25 July 2014 03:30 PM


Officials inspect some of the huge slabs of timber found at Ayutthaya Atlantic.

Officials inspect some of the huge slabs of timber found at Ayutthaya Atlantic.

Pratew Mansap, 38, at Ayutthaya Atlantic, was found in possession of seven large planks of Takian Sai wood. Takien Sai (Shorea gratissima) is listed as an endangered species by the UN-affiliated International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

At the Underwood factory another nine large pieces of the same timber were found, totalling 7.01 cu m.

Neither the Underwood factory nor Ms Pratew was able to produce the correct paperwork, the officers alleged.

Investigators are now attempting to get more details of the timber’s origins.