Karon Police Chief Pol Col Khundet Na-NongKhai confirmed the investigation is ongoing. “The suspect is still being sought,” he told the Phuket News.
On Friday afternoon (Oct 10), Trin Thip Mongkol, Deputy Mayor of Karon Municipality, along with Phuket MP Chalermpong Saengdee and officials from the Khao Phra Thaeo Wildlife Sanctuary, visited Kata Noi Beach after receiving complaints from local residents and the Monsoon Garbage Facebook page about slow lorises being used for tourist photos.
“When officers arrived, no suspect was at the scene. Instead, they found a small slow loris left behind in a bag believed to belong to the owner. The animal appeared abandoned as the suspect had fled upon noticing officials approaching,” MP Chalermpong said.
“The officers seized the loris and filed a report with Karon Police for illegal possession of protected wildlife under the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019). The animal has since been transferred to the Phang Nga Wildlife Animal Sanctuary for care and rehabilitation before eventual release back into its natural habitat,” he noted in his Facebook post.
MP Chalermpong warned that keeping, trading or using protected wildlife for commercial purposes is a criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment and fines. He urged the public to report such cases to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation’s 24-hour hotline at 1362. Possession without permission carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a fine of up to B10,000, or both.
“Slow lorises are endangered, venomous, and highly sensitive to light. Being forced to pose for photos causes extreme stress and often early death. Many are captured from the wild as babies after hunters kill their mothers, feeding Thailand’s illegal wildlife trade,” he stated.
MP Chalermpong urged tourists and residents to help stop this cruelty.
“Every photo taken means another loris is taken from the wild,” MP Chalermpong said. “If people stop paying, the poaching will stop too.”