SPECIAL REPORT: Blood-hued Phayung almost gone as corrupt officials pave way for logging
BY KAENG E-KHIEW Waterfall in northeastern Buntrik-Yod Mon Wildlife Sanctuary a mature male elephant lay dead, with traces of a highly volatile bullet left in its mouth and its bud. Another AK47 bullet was found buried in its ribs.
A check of camera traps installed one kilometre away near the Thai-Cambodia-Lao border showed a man in what appeared to be a foreign military uniform and carrying an AK47 gun and GPS device, which brought to Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn’s mind the gangs of Phayung (Siamese Rosewood) loggers and drug traffickers roaming in the forest.
PIYAPORN WONGRUANG