Thailand fights illegal wildlife trade with new unit
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Nawee Changpirom and a team within Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) are working to stop the trafficking of wild animals.
For years, Changpirom has rescued animals including leopards, hornbills, and even live coral hidden during smuggling. The DNP created a Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) in 2023 to monitor online activity, as social media has become the primary channel for illegal animal sales.
WCU agents monitor social media platforms for posts advertising animals needing “new homes” and use undercover tactics, like posing as utility workers, to gather evidence for warrants. Though they have successfully intercepted animals headed for use as pets or in laboratories, the team often arrives too late to save them, or struggles to locate sellers.
Rescued animals, like a six-month-old langur intercepted at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport en route to India, often arrive at the DNP center in poor condition, sometimes sedated to keep them quiet. While traffickers face up to 15 years in prison, many evade prosecution. In 2019, Boonchai Bach, a known wildlife trafficker, had charges dropped before ultimately being sentenced by the Supreme Court, but remains at large.
The WCU continues to face challenges including a lack of cooperation from social media companies and limited resources.
