ID :
200692
Thu, 08/11/2011 - 14:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/200692
The shortlink copeid
Elephants and street-begging mahouts rounded up in Thailand
BANGKOK, August 11 (TNA) - Bangkok has joined force with officials in Nonthaburi province to enforce animal protecton laws, leading to the round up of street-begging mahouts and their elephants.
In Nonthaburi Province on Thursday, Deputy Bangkok governor Theerachon Manomaiphiboon and Nonthaburi livestock development chief and veterinarian Somchai Khorwanichkit led the joint raid on three street-begging mahouts who forced elephants to live and work in the Bangkok metropolitan region.
The mahouts from Buri Ram province were remanded into custody and would be charged with unauthorized transport of elephants. The mammals would be quarantined within Kanchanaburi province for 30 days.
Theerachon said it was the first time that Bangkok authorities took part in a crackdown on illegal mahouts outside the capital, noting stringent actions and fines imposed on mahouts had discouraged their arrivals in Bangkok lately.
Nevertheless, he said the problem had recently been on the rise again, explaining that due to the lack of the legal enforcement in the Bangkok metropolitan region, mahouts had brought elephants into the provinces of Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani and Nakhon Pathom, before transporting them on pick-up trucks to work in Bangkok at night.
The Deputy Bangkok governor said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) therefore coordinated with authorities in these provinces in strengthening legal enforcement, particularly the Animal Epidemics Act, under which violators would face a maximum penalty of fines of up to 10,000 baht, or six-month imprisonment, or both. (TNA)
In Nonthaburi Province on Thursday, Deputy Bangkok governor Theerachon Manomaiphiboon and Nonthaburi livestock development chief and veterinarian Somchai Khorwanichkit led the joint raid on three street-begging mahouts who forced elephants to live and work in the Bangkok metropolitan region.
The mahouts from Buri Ram province were remanded into custody and would be charged with unauthorized transport of elephants. The mammals would be quarantined within Kanchanaburi province for 30 days.
Theerachon said it was the first time that Bangkok authorities took part in a crackdown on illegal mahouts outside the capital, noting stringent actions and fines imposed on mahouts had discouraged their arrivals in Bangkok lately.
Nevertheless, he said the problem had recently been on the rise again, explaining that due to the lack of the legal enforcement in the Bangkok metropolitan region, mahouts had brought elephants into the provinces of Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani and Nakhon Pathom, before transporting them on pick-up trucks to work in Bangkok at night.
The Deputy Bangkok governor said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) therefore coordinated with authorities in these provinces in strengthening legal enforcement, particularly the Animal Epidemics Act, under which violators would face a maximum penalty of fines of up to 10,000 baht, or six-month imprisonment, or both. (TNA)
