Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department is seeking about Bt100 million to purchase modern weapons with which to equip its forest rangers to deal with poachers and illegal loggers, many of whom are armed with more advanced weaponry.
The department chief, Atthaphon Charoenchansa, said that forest rangers are currently equipped with five-gauge shotguns, which are obsolete compared to the weapons used by some poachers, leaving the rangers at high risk and ill equipped to defend themselves.
There are currently 8,663 rangers forming 1,328 patrol units. They are responsible for protecting about 100,000 square kilometres of forests throughout the country.
The budget being sought from the government will not be sufficient to purchase new weapons for all the rangers, so each unit will receive an average of two new guns to deal with the poachers, especially those looking for paying or Siamese rosewood and Agarwood, which are precious and fetch high prices, said Atthaphon.
He said that the department has also developed the “smart patrol system”, in which GPS devices, modern communication equipment and information applications have been employed to boost the efficiency of forest surveillance.
