Thailand and animal abuse:

As I said, now I will write about poaching and animal trafficking, especially the illegal activities taking place in Thailand which is one of the most notable regions when it comes to this issue. Illegal trade involving animals can be seen everywhere from hand bags made out of crocodile skin to rucks made from leopard or tiger skin. Wild animal trade from Thailand feeds from the tourists who buy a pretty crocodile skin purse sold in the streets or at the beach. Another issue which is also part of the animal trafficking is the trading of live animals with Europe where they are sold as rare and exotic rainforest creatures for a profit. Finally the third issue related to Thailand is probably the most present one due to lack of regulation, the use of animal performances is a business that only requires an animal to be beaten till it does what you want it to do and then you can start charging money to curious tourists who come and watch your monkey cycle or serve a cup of tea.

The trading of skins, ivory, turtle shells… comes from the illegal poaching taking place in the dense rainforest where the regulation of these activities is very hard. Another reason for the selling of these products such as rugs or handbags is that they are very cheap to produce and can be sold at a relatively high price because they are made from real tiger skin for example. All this poaching of tigers, elephants, turtles and crocodiles lead to near extinction for this species and then organizations and even the Thai government would invest great sums of money trying to save these animals which keep getting killed as their numbers grow due to this money. It is all a vicious circle which can only be cut if the poaching business is harshly regulated not only by the Thai government but by all the nations close to this region like India, China and Philippines.

The trading of live animals to Europe affects mainly young animals such a small crocodiles, otters, baby tigers or leopards... they are usually shipped hidden with other products such as livestock. European companies involved in the animal trade would buy them and sell them for a substantial profit in pet shops where the government performs very little inspections. A particularly easy animal to trade is exotic fish from the Thai coasts as it can be taken and put into plastic bags and the just privately shipped as it is not bulky to carry a few plastic bags.

The final issue which is the one I am most concerned about would be the use of animals as a form of entertainment which will be discussed in a separate post. 

Links to the pictures´source:

http://www.livemint.com/rf/Image-621x414/LiveMint/Period1/2012/12/25/Photos/000_Hkg982160--621x414.jpg

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/02/26/livetrade/02liveanimaltrade.adapt.1900.1.jpg