A huge market in illegally trafficked animals exists in Thailand. From the AFP (via Google News): Thousands of tourists and locals throng the congested aisles of Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak market every weekend, hunting for everything from a new pair of shiny leather shoes to a puppy. But among the racks of caged creatures is an illegal trade in [...]

From the AFP (via Google News); As deforestation and a loss of natural prey threatens Siamese crocodiles with extinction, the farms that once helped endanger the species are now helping save it, conservationists say. There are fewer than 50 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild in Thailand and about 200 in the entire Mekong river region, but [...]

As the price of oil around the world continues to rise, gas smuggling in Thailand has been increasing as well. From the Bangkok Post: An increase in oil prices has intensified petrol smuggling from Malaysia into four districts of the southern province of Songkhla. Oil business operators have stocked up on the illegally imported petrol in the hope [...]

Source: Wichayant Boonchote, “Smuggling of fuel from Malaysia on the increase,” Bangkok Post, May 1, 2008.

In Thailand, a basic counterfeit passport is able to be created in 2 hours for $245. For a higher quality counterfeit passport, the price rises to $1,000 to $1,250. Source: AP, “Thailand still king for counterfeiting,” Taipei Times, October 5, 2005, (last accessed: May 1, 2006).

Jeffrey Sheban of the Columbus Dispatch has written an article on the role of Thailand in the global trade in Counterfeit Goods. Experts consider Thailand, a country of 65 million, to be the primary staging point for counterfeit goods produced in China, where up to 90 percent of the world’s knockoffs are made. Organized gangs with [...]