Thailand – baby elephants are brutally starved and tortured

Via: Thai Visa / Daily Mail

There are few things more adorable than a baby elephant.

Little more than 3ft tall and naturally curious, they are the undisputed stars of the scores of elephant camps created in the forests of Thailand to offer tourists the opportunity to get close to the world’s largest land animals.

For many of the 850,000 Britons who go on holiday to Thailand every year, a trip to an elephant park is an unmissable part of their trip.

While some are doing good work, the vast majority of elephant camps are commercial enterprises, making money from tourists keen to have their photos taken with the young ones, bathing with the elephants or riding them, or watching them paint.

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Some camps even dress up their elephants and have them perform unnatural and demeaning tricks, all in the name of entertainment.

But beyond the happy smiles of tourists posing with elephants, there is a hidden dark reality, of murder, smuggling and torture for the calves on show.

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The booming Thai tourist industry is fuelling a huge illegal trade in baby elephants that are taken from the wild in Burma, beaten, starved and tortured to break their spirit before being paraded in front of fee-paying holidaymakers.

The reports we have recently received indicate that at least 50 to 100 elephant calves are still being taken from the forests of Burma every year to supply the tourist camps.
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EVEN WORSE, it is estimated that for every calf smuggled across the country’s 1,200-mile border with Thailand, up to FIVE adult female and adolescent elephants from the calf’s immediate family group are gunned down in cold blood.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/571626-the-agonising-blows-that-expose-the-evil-secrets-of-thailands-elephant-tourism-con/

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After finishing playing with the baby elephant (see photo), you can go to Tiger Kingdom and have your picture taked with the ‘druged-out’ tigers.

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Oh, and HAPPY HOLIDAY!

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Cambodia – Troops fire on Bangkok Airways plane (See photo)

Via: The Australian

CAMBODIAN troops have fired shots at a passenger aircraft flying near the country’s disputed border with Thailand, believing it to be a spy plane (See photo).

“The Cambodian military fired because there was a Thai passenger plane – Bangkok Airways (See photo) – which could not land at Siem Reap airport because of bad weather,” said Thai deputy army spokesman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong.

“It was misunderstood by Cambodia to be spy plane (See photo),” he said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident near the northern Cambodian tourist destination of Siem Reap.

Cambodian military at the border – the site of deadly territorial clashes between the neighbouring countries last year – confirmed troops had opened fire at an aircraft.

“It was dark (See photo) so we could not see what type of plane it was. But it was circling many times and then our soldiers fired 18 shots from a machine gun, but it missed the plane because it was flying very high (See photo),” Commander Seng Phearin said.

“I think a passenger plane (See photo) would not fly around the border. We suspected it was a spy plane (See photo), so we fired to defend our airspace,” he said.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/troops-fire-on-bangkok-airways-plane/story-fn3dxix6-1226424925033

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Briton of Chinese origin arrested with six fetuses

Via: Pattaya Daily News

Police from the Children and Women’s Protection Sub-Division on Friday told a news briefing that Chow Hok Kuen, a 28-year old British citizen of Taiwanese origin, was apprehended at a hotel room in Bangkok’s Chinatown area.

At the site, police found and seized six roasted baby corpses covered in gold leaf which were hidden in a box packed in the baggage for smuggling to Taiwan.

The detention came after the police learned that there were announcements related to sales of fetus corpses posted on some websites in Taiwan by citing that the fetuses had been performed in the black magic ritual in Thailand.

The human fetuses to be used for black magic purpose were popular among Taiwanese as they believed that the baby corpses would bring them good luck and fortune.

An initial investigation found that Chow Hok Kuen has run a business related to amulets in Taiwan and has travelled to Thailand for several times to purchase some amulets for further sales in Taiwan.

The suspect arrived in the kingdom in early May, saying that he was hired to bring the human fetuses from a Taiwanese man in Thailand who said he often delivered the corpses by placing them under a tree in a public park.

This was the second time he brought corpses, the suspect said, adding that all six foetuses at Bt200,000 (some US$6,600) and will be sold on websites in Taiwan with a starting price of $6,600 each.

Initially, Chow Hok Kuen has been charged with hiding and possessing the fetuses, aiming at covering up the death and causes of the deaths.

However, the police are tracking persons related to the case, particularly a Taiwanese man in Thailand, for further probe about the origin of the fetuses.

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2012/05/19/briton-of-chinese-origin-arrested-with-six-foetuses/

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(2 of 2) Thailand – Youth urged to use condoms as Valentine’s Day nears

Via: The Nation

Conducted last month, the survey covered 1,014 respondents aged between 12 and 24 in Bangkok. Of them, 31 per cent have been sexually active.

The study also showed that some Thai boys have had their first sexual experience at the age of 12, while the youngest age for girls was 13.

Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr Paijit Warachit said yesterday that that ONLY 53.2 PERCENT of the youth used condoms.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Youth-urged-to-use-condoms-as-Valentines-Day-nears-30175548.html

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