Thailand to protect last teak forest: report
Copyright 2000 Agence France Presse
November 6, 2000
BANGKOK, Nov 6 - Thailand is to adopt drastic measures to protect its last tract of teak forest, including stepping up armed patrols and building checkpoints to foil poachers, a report said Monday.
Forestry Department chief Plodprasop Suraswadi said the new forest protection operation would be supported by the Third Army which patrols the northern border region, the Bangkok Post reported.
He told top forestry officials that sawmills must be regularly inspected to make sure they are not supplied with logs cut illegally from the teak forests in Mae Yon national park.
Deliveries of wood out of the forest should also be halted at checkpoints, he said. A spokesman for the forest department was not immediately able to comment on the report.