BKK POST: SALWEEN SCANDAL / PO

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

February 20, 1998


                                     



                   SALWEEN SCANDAL / POLICE STEP UP
                              INVESTIGATION

              Wife of top
              forestry official
              fails to identify
              cash courier 

              Prawat's wife did not see the man
              clearly

              The wife of a senior forestry official yesterday helped police
              sketch a man said to have brought five million baht to her house.

              Juree Thanadkha, wife of Mr Prawat, who tried to donate the
              money to the Thai-help-Thai Fund, has told police she was busy
              cooking when the man left the money in a cardboard box.

              She only glanced at him and could not identify him, she said.

              However, fingerprints from the box could lead to the man, said
              Pol Maj-Gen Wisuth Suwannasuth, commander of the Scientific
              Crime Detection Division. But police handling the case have yet
              to submit prints of some suspects.

              Mrs Juree told police that when Mr Prawat, the deputy director,
              came home from work, he opened the box and found the
              money.

              Chanasak Yuwaboon, permanent secretary for interior, who
              heads a panel investigation the Salween scandal, said everyone
              involved would be interrogated.

              Mr Chanasak, however, failed to confirm if that included
              Governor Pakdee Chompooming of Mae Hong Son province,
              where the Salween National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary lie.

              He was not worried about the investigation and insisted his panel
              was determined to establish the facts about the logging, which
              reportedly involves a number of local authorities.

              Mr Chanasak would meet the prime minister, who set up the
              panel, and agencies concerned to plan the direction of the
              investigation and would accompany the interior minister to visit
              the Salween forests on Feb 28 for a first-hand assessment.

              Governor Pakdee insisted he had nothing to do with the logging
              scandal. He was sorry it had taken place but it had been a long
              time ago and had now stopped.

              "I'm not wrong but I'm ready to accept any punishment there is,"
              said Mr Pakdee, who added he had rejected bribes offered by
              log operators.

              A number of giant trees were found cut in the Salween National
              Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. Illegal loggers managed to push
              logs into the bordering Salween river and claimed them as
              Burmese timber so that they could be "imported legally" into
              Thailand allegedly with the cooperation of local authorities.

              Over 10,000 logs were found in the illicit process and are now
              stalled as the Salween illegal logging has become a notorious
              scandal after the 5 million baht bribe attempt on Mr Prawat.




                                     




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Last Modified: Fri, Feb 20, 1998