Bangkok Post News (2199)

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<bigger>Green light given to import rare furniture from Burma Bid to stop
smuggling of wooden products 

</bigger>

Thai authorities have agreed to allow imports of rare wooden furniture
from Burma through 15 border passes in Tak in an attempt to stop the
20-year smuggling of wooden products, said a Forestry Department source. 


An agreement on permission for the imports of rare wooden furniture from
Burma into Thailand was reached at a meeting of concerned Thai officials
in the North held at the Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force Headquarters
in Mae Sot District on Wednesday. 


The move came after more than 200 furniture importers blocked Mae Sot-Tak
Highway at Huay Ya Ou Checkpoint in Mae Sot last Saturday to protest
against Regional Police Bureau 6 police's seizure of 2,500 teak windows
and 3,000 teak doors imported from Burma by a Thai businessman. 


Tak Governor Huekharn Romornsuek said it was agreed that customs
officials must be strict with all customs procedures concerning wood
furniture imports and deliveries to ensure transparency. 


According to Mae Sot Customs Office chief Bovornsak Puangdej, wooden
furniture can be imported from Burma through 15 border passes in Tak: Ban
Rim Moei, Ban Mae Pa, Ban Wang Kaew, Bang Wang Takhien, Ban Mae Ku, Ban
Mae Kone Kane and Ban Huay Mai Paen in Mae Sot, Ban Huay Pang Yang and
Ban Mae Tan of Tha Song Yang district, Ban Chong Chaeb, Ban Muen Ruechai,
Ban Valley Tai and Ban Valley Nua of Phop Phra district, and Ban Wang Pha
of Mae Ramat district. 


Meanwhile, Sarayudh Thanapanyo, chairman of Tak's Innovation Club, said
many wooden furniture factory operators here, also club members, have had
to pay some officials and police under-the-table money for importing wood
from Burma for more than 20 years. 


He said: "Since 1973, the factory owners have had to pay more than
300,000 baht to concerned officials for importing wooden windows and
doors per ten-wheel truck. 


"Even after the importers pay import tariffs under Article 5 (bis) of the
Customs Act, officials still demand money from them on the way.""When
they refuse to pay, they will be harassed. For example, some are wrongly
accused of having fake tax receipts or false lists of merchandise while
some are suspected of taking illegal logs from Thai forests. Those
officials will seize the wood for examination, causing grievances to

traders," he added. 


According to a Forestry Department source, at least six illegal sawmills
and wooden furniture factories were found along the Thai-Burmese border
opposite areas ranging from Tha Song Yang District to Phop Phra District
last year. 


Sixty-one people were arrested and a total of 2,604 illegal logs, 11,157
pieces of processed wood, and 247 pieces of furniture were seized in Tak
during February-April 1998 for 177 illegal logging cases. 


In May 1998, a total of 42 people were arrested with 454 illegal logs and
1,412 pieces of processed wood in Tha Song Yang, Mae Ramat, Mae Sot and
Phop Phra districts in 68 illegal logging cases


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