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Bangkok Post(18/7/99)



Seized wood legal, claims timber firm
Inquiries centre on permit irregularities


Cheewin Sattha

Wood seized by the Forestry Department on Friday was legally obtained from
the Forest Industry Organisation's Uttaradit plantation, timber trader
Polpana Co asserted yesterday.

The department suspected 1,795 sheets of wood found at Natthaphan Kha
Watsaduphan Partnership on Ram Indra Road in Bangkok were processed from
smuggled logs and ordered the closure of the firm, a subsidiary of Polpana,
on Friday.

Polpana managing director Chartchai Kijjaroenwong said the logs were
legally cut from a state-owned plantation in Uttaradit and sold to the
Phothalay sawmill in Phichit.

The sawmill, owned by Polpana, was leased to Wut Lekprasert, which had
processed the logs and distributed the processed wood to Natthaphan, Mr
Chartchai said.

He said forestry police had already verified that the logs being kept at
Phothalay sawmill came from the Uttaradit plantation.

Mr Chartchai called for fairness for the Phichit forestry chief who was
suddenly moved from the province on Friday in connection with the alleged
log smuggling.

The department spotted alleged irregularities in hauling permits issued for
Phothalay sawmill by the Phichit forestry office, which were good for three
days instead of the regulatory one day.

It suspected the sawmill made a detour in transporting the wood from
Phichit to Natthphan company to avoid major forestry checkpoints.

Mr Chartchai, whose company is one of four firms seeking approval to import
logs from Burma, yesterday took press representatives across the border
from Mae Hong Son to prove the existence of 900 logs he had bought from Burma.

There have been numerous cases of logs claimed to be purchased from Burma
actually being cut illegally from local forest reserves.

Mr Chartchai said he could arrange a trip for forestry chief Plodprasop
Suraswadi to see the logs in Burma. 
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