San Francisco Frontiers - Thai wildlife investigators track traffickers through social media

Thai wildlife investigators are using social media monitoring and undercover surveillance to locate illegally traded animals, while rescued creatures often require treatment before they can be moved to sanctuaries.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation established its Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit in 2023 with three permanent employees. The unit tracks purchases and gathers evidence for operations against traders in protected wildlife.

Its director, Polawee Buchakiet, told AFP that social media had become the principal channel for illegal animal sales. Sellers sometimes present transactions as rehoming and crop photographs closely to conceal locations.

Raid unit head Nawee Changpirom said his team had found leopards, hornbills and an anteater, as well as living corals hidden above a ceiling. Investigations cover items and animals ranging from African elephant ivory to monkeys intended as pets or for laboratory use.

Thailand’s diverse wildlife, proximity to countries with rare species and transport links by land, sea and air make it a significant location for the cross-border trade. The source report described wildlife trafficking as one of the world’s widespread and profitable forms of organised crime.

An undercover investigator using the pseudonym Tee said he had posed as an electricity repair worker to photograph courtyards from poles and as a surveyor to examine neighbouring properties. Such evidence helps the unit obtain court warrants to enter premises and seize animals.

Tee, 43, said some cases remained unresolved because officers could not locate sellers or reached animals too late. Smuggling, separation from habitats and family groups, stress and unfamiliar diseases can leave the animals severely weakened.

At the department’s Bangkok treatment facility, veterinarian Thanawadee Phaichana cared for a six-month-old leaf monkey intercepted in luggage at Suvarnabhumi Airport. It had been destined for India, where demand for exotic pets has increased. A second monkey in the same bag died after rescue.

Thanawadee said traffickers sometimes administer sedatives or mild anaesthetics to prevent movement or noise. Animals recovered in Bangkok and nearby areas generally receive initial treatment at the facility before transfer to a sanctuary. Older, healthier animals may eventually return to the wild; younger ones can struggle to acquire survival skills.

Trafficking offences can carry prison terms of up to 10 years for protected species and 15 years for endangered species. Recent operations include a July raid that recovered a leaf monkey, a gibbon and hundreds of turtles, alongside several airport interceptions.

Enforcement has also faced setbacks. A Thai court dismissed a case against suspected trafficking leader Boonchai Bach in 2019. The Supreme Court later sentenced him to imprisonment, but he remains at large.

The unit faces limited staffing and funding and difficulties obtaining cooperation from social media platforms. Nawee said undercover buyers sometimes use their own funds. He argued that ending demand for exotic pets would have the greatest effect on the trade.

Nawee described difficulty securing information from platforms as an additional obstacle to investigations.

X.Roberts--SFF