NONG KHAI, Thailand – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suchart Chomklin has ordered a joint crackdown on illegal timber operations in Nong Khai province, resulting in the arrest of four suspects and the seizure of more than 275 cubic meters of restricted timber. The action followed findings linking local warehouses to a cross-border timber smuggling network.
Under the order, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation coordinated with the Department of Special Investigation and the Royal Forest Department to carry out searches at three locations: Nong Khai Timber Warehouse, Lockwood Co., Ltd., and S.C. Charoensup 789 Co., Ltd. Senior officials from each agency led the operation and announced the results on site.
Authorities said the searches stemmed from an expanded investigation into an illegal rosewood logging network uncovered in northern Thailand. Financial and transport tracing later identified Nong Khai province as a storage hub for protected timber prior to export to neighboring countries.
Inspections uncovered large quantities of logs and processed timber without valid ownership or transport documents. Seized materials included Siamese rosewood, Burmese padauk, and Burmese rosewood, with a combined volume exceeding 275 cubic meters. At Lockwood Co., Ltd., officials seized more than 2,500 pieces of timber totaling about 59 cubic meters and arrested three suspects.
At S.C. Charoensup789 Co., Ltd., officers seized more than 16,600 pieces of padauk and Burmese rosewood timber totaling over 216 cubic meters and arrested one suspect, a Chinese national. Authorities said all seized timber will undergo legal review and that legal action will proceed as agencies continue efforts to dismantle illegal timber trafficking networks and protect forest resources. (NNT)
