AYUTTHAYA: A truck driver was arrested on Wednesday morning for alleged involvement in illegal logging as he was delivering 15 cubic metres of processed wood from the North to Ayutthaya, the Department of Natural Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation announced.
Spokesman Sompot Maneerat said Pongsakorn Jannok, 40, was driving a 10-wheel truck full of pradu wood, or Burmese rosewood (Pterocarpus macrocarpu) on the Bang Pahan-Pathum Thani road.
The 15-cubic-metres load of wood was worth about 10 million baht. It was seized.
The suspect, a native of Si Sa Ket, said he was hired by the truck owner, identified only as Nat, to deliver the wood from Phitsanulok to Ayutthaya and then wait in the province.
He identified his coordinator as a man named Prawit, who handled payment, and implicated a local politician in Uttaradit as the mastermind. According to Mr Pongsakorn, he was paid 25,000 baht per delivery and this was his third trip.
The suspect said he did not know where the wood was originally from or the final destination.
Mr Sompot said the processed wood was believed to have been illegally logged in the North and was destined for a factory in one of the central provinces.
Department director-general Thanya Netithammakun said the wood was valued around 3 million baht in the country, but its value would increase about three-fold once smuggled out.
Mr Thanya said the truck driver faces charges of illegal possession, smuggling and trading of protected wood, but would be treated as a state witness if he has information which helps authorities crackdown on the network's illegal operation.
