The elephant and ivory trade in Thailand (PDF, 800 KB) - Traffic

This, of course, may not be easy to demonstrate, particularly if the specimen in question has been in the
country for some time or if the owner has changed (Anon., 2006a).
The Government of Thailand has indicated its intention to revise WARPA in order to modernize and revise
the articles to improve domestic wildlife management and implement international agreements such as
CITES. The Government was working on the revision, but the CITES MA could not confirm when the new
Act will be finalized (Anon., 2007a).
As a Party to CITES, Thailand has certain trade monitoring and reporting obligations in order to comply
with this international convention, particularly in respect of Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP14). See
Appendix 1 for an analysis of Thailand’s record in respect of ETIS and the country’s international position
in illegal ivory trading.
Management
From 1992 to 2002, management of wild elephants and ivory were the responsibility of the National
Committee on Wild Animal Reservation. The Committee chair was the Minister of Agriculture and
Cooperatives and the secretary was the Director-General of the Royal Forest Department. Members
included Permanent Secretaries of Agriculture and Cooperatives, of Interior and of Foreign Affairs;
Director-Generals of the Departments of Local Administration, of Land, of Fisheries, of Livestock
Development, of Customs and of Foreign Trade; and up to 10 distinguished members appointed by the
Cabinet. The Committee was charged with carrying out and managing the provisions of the Wild Animal
Reservation and Protection Act of 1992 (WARPA).
In October 2002, as part of a major restructuring of the Thai government system, a new Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment (MoNRE) was established, including a new Department of National Parks,
Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNPWP). In February 2003, WWF Thailand met with the Director
General and 17 senior staff of the DNPWP; the Director General instructed his Department’s CITES Office
and the Extension and Promotion Office to develop a joint CITES/Ivory enforcement team to start
working on the problem of ivory in hotels (Mather, undated). The tasks of this team would be:
• inspection and identification of ivory souvenirs/products on sale in hotels;
• informing hotels about the law, and the penalties for breaking the law;
• public relations about strict enforcement which will be implemented in the near future;
• confiscations, arrests and prosecutions.
The results of the team’s efforts in 2003-04 will be presented under the Retail Outlets and Prices section
below.
Two ministries are responsible for managing domesticated elephants in Thailand, the Department of
Livestock Development (DLD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Division of
Registration (DOR) under the Ministry of Interior. The former deals principally with elephant care and
health, and the latter with registration and movements within the country.
The elephant and ivory trade in Thailand
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